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A
LECTURES,
4&C.
LECTURES
on
THE MANUSCRIPT MATERIALS
OF
ANCIENT lEISH HISTORY.
DELIVERED AT THE CATHOLIC LTaVERSITY OF lUELANO,
DURING THE SESSIONS OF 1855 Airo 1856.
EUGENE O'CURRY, M.R.I.A.,
: Rori;*<«?n or irish iiistort akd ARCHiBOLOGT ni the catbolic usivebsitt of IBBLAND:
COnREMPuNDINri MEMBER OF THE SOCIBTT OF AXTIt^IAUIBs OF SCOTLAND, F.TC.
DUBLIN:
I'UBLISHED BY JAMES DUFFY, 7 WELLINGTON QUAY, AND
22 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON.
1861.
[1 ii* rirht uf TmiMlation ii rr*rTTo«J. . n
J. F. FOWLEB, PRINTER,
3 CROW 8TBXBT, DAXE STREET,
DVBULM.
PREFACE.
If I have any regret for the shortcomings of the following
analysis of the existing remains of our ancient literature, and
the evidences of the literary attainments and cultivated tastes
of our far removed ancestors, of the Milesian and other races,
I must sincerely declare that my regret arises much more from
the consciousness of my incapacity to do merited justice to my
subject, than from any concern for what my own reputation
must suffer, in coming before the world in so prominent a
character, and with such very incommensurate qualifications.
When the Catholic University of Ireland was established,
and its staff of Professors from day to day announced in the
public papers, I felt the deepest anxiety as to who the Pro-
fessor of Irish History should be (if there should be one), well
knowing that the only man living who could fill that im-
portant ofiice with becoming efficiency as a scholar was already
engaged in one of the Queen's Cc^lleges. At tliis time, how-
ever, I can honestly declare that, it never entered into my
mind that / should or ought to be called to fill this important
situation, simply because the course of my studies in Irish
History and Antiquities had always been of a silent kind ; — I
was engaged, if I may so speak, only in underground work,
and the labours in wliich I had spent my life were such that
their results were never intended to be brought separately
before the public on my own individual responsibility. No
person knows my bitterly felt deficiencies better than myself
Having been self-taught in all the little I know of general
letters, and reared to mature years among an imeducated
people (though a people both intelligent, and fond of learning
ATI PREFACE.
when opportunity pennits them to apply tliemselves to it), I
always felt the want of early mental training, and of early
admission to those great foimtains of knowledge which can be
approached only through the medium of languages which,
though once generally cultivated in my native province, had,
under sinister influences, ceased to exist in the remote part of
the country from which I come, not very long before I was
bom. And it never occurred to me that I should have been
deemed worthy of an honour which, for these reasons, I should
not have presimaed to seek. To say so much I feel due, not
only to myself, but to the exalted and learned personages who,
without any solicitation whatever on my part, overlooked my
many deficiencies so far as to appoint me to the newly created
Chair of Irish History and Archaeology in this National Uni-
versity.
The definite idea of such a Professorship is due to the dis-
tinguished scholar to whom the first organization of the Uni-
versity was committed. It was that idea which suggested the
necessity for this first course of Lectures, " On the MS. Materials
of Ancient Irish History", as well as for that which immediately
followed it, and in which I am still engaged, *'0n the Social
Customs, Manners, and Life of the People of Ancient Erinn";
— two preliminary or introductory courses, namely, on the two
subjects to which this professorship is dedicated : on the exist-
ing remains of our History, and the existing monuments of our
Archaeology. For, without meaning the smallest disparage-
ment to previous labourers in these fields, I found, on exa-
mining their works, that, although much had been done in
particular directions, and by successive writers, who more or
less followed and improved upon, or corrected, each other,
still the great sources of genxiine historical and antiquarian
knowledge lay buried in those vast but yet almost entirely
unexplored compilations, which to my predecessors were inac-
cessibly sealed up in the keeping of the ancient Gaedhelic, the
venerable language of our country. To point out the only way
to remedy this state of things, then, and if possible, by a critical
analysis of the great mass of documents which still remains to
us in the ancient tongue, to open the way, — as far as lay in my
w
1>
(
\'
til-
\»
M!
ii
A
I!
It
I
stl:
Ulli
CCSr>
1^1
X PREFACE.
and forms of Dress, as well as its manufacture and ornamenta-
tion; 9® the Ornaments (including those of gold and other
metals),^used^ by all classes, and their manufacture ; 10® the
Musical Instruments of the Graedhelic people, with some accoimt
of theirj'cultivation of Music itself; 11° the Agriculture of
ancient times, and the implements of all sorts employed in it ;
12° the Commerce of the ancient Graedliil, including some
account of the Arts and Manufactures of very early times, as
well as of the nature and extent of the intercourse of the people
with traders of other nations; and 13° their Funeral Rites, and
places of Sepulture. Of these great divisions of my present
general course, I am happy to say that all but the last three
have been completed, and that the Lectures forming these are
now nearly ready for the press, — should the public reception of
this first volume be so indulgent as to permit mc to hope that
the remainder may be allowed to appear in turn.
I cannot conclude these prefatory remarks without bespeak-
ing the attention of my readers to two important featiures in the
present volume which I trust will be found to possess no little
value. I allude to the very extensive Appendix ; and to the
interesting series of Fac-Similes, which will be found at the
end.
In the Appendix I have not only given in full the original
text of every one of the very niunerous quotations from the
ancient G^dhelic MSS. referred to and translated in the text, —
(extracts which will, I hope, be found useful and convenient to
the student at a distance from our libraries, both as authorities
and as examples also of the language, the records quoted being
compositions of almost every age during many centuries back), —
but also many original pieces of great importance, not hitherto
published, which I have endeavoured to edit fully with trans-
lation and notes.^"^ Besides these, I have there collected also se-
veral separate notes and memoranda upon various subjects, which
(«) The end of the Appendix (p. 644,— App. No. CLVTI.), I have thought it
right to insert a statement respecting the Irish MSS. at St. Isidore's, in Rome,
dra¥ni up, since these Lectures were delivered, for the Senate of the Univer-
sity. It will be found to contain some interesting matter in connection with
the subject of this volume.
PREFACE. XI
could not properly have been introduced in the course of the
Lectures themselves. The preparation of this Appendix has
cost me, I may almost say, as much labour as that of the entire
text ; and it has been a chief cause of the great delay which
has taken place in the publication of the book.
In the series of Fac-Similes (the addition of which was
adopted on the suggestion of my learned colleague and friend,
Dr. W. K. O'Sullivan), I have taken advantage of the oppor-
tunity presented by the publication of a general work on our
early MSS. to lay before the learned in other countries a cam"
plete set of examples of the handwriting of the best Gaedhelic
scribes, from the very earliest period down to the century
before the last. For tjjjps purpose I have for the most part
selected my examples from those passages which have been
quoted in the text, and of which the original Gaedhelic will be
found in the Appendix, in order that scholars may be able to
compare the contracted writing with the frill sentences as I have
expanded them. But I have also inserted several examples,
(as in the instances of the earliest Latin ecclesiastical MSS.,
one of which is, I believe, contemporary with St. Patrick, and
three of which are attributed to the very hand of St. Colum
Cille), from writings which are mentioned indeed, but which
there was no occasion to quote in the course of the Lectures.
These fac-similcs have been executed with admirable coiTcct-
ness in the establishment of Messrs. Forstcr, lithographers, of
this city. I can confidently recommend them to Continental
scholars as perfect representations of the handwriting of various
ages ; and I hope they may be found of some practical use, not
only in the identification of Gaedhelic MSS. yet hidden in
foreign libraiies, but also in the determination of the ages of the
MSS. with wliich they may be compared. They will be found
to be arranged in chronological order.
I have to apologize for the length of time which has elapsed
from the first announcement of this book to its publication, as
well as for the many errors, of print and others, which will be
detected in it, but most of which will be found corrected at the
<»nd of the volume. Those, however, who are aware of the
Xll PREFACE.
crushing succession of domestic afflictions and of bodily infir-
mities with which it has pleased Providence to visit me during
the last three years, will, I am sure, look with indulgent eyes
on these defects, as well as on those concerning which I have
already confessed and asked pardon beforehand.
In conclusion, I have only to acknowledge the deep obliga-
tions under which I am placed by the kindness of many emi-
nent literary friends in the preparation of this volume. Among
these I cannot but warmly thank, in particular, the learned
Secretary of the Brehon Law Commission, the Very Rev.
Charles Graves, F.T.C.D., Dean of the Chapel Royal, for
much of kind consideration and many valuable suggestions;
the Rev. James H. Todd, S.F.T.C.D., .President of the Royal
Irish Academy, to whom, with my last named friend, the
revival of Irish literature owes so much, and whose countenance
and cordial assistance to me have been for so many years of
inestimable value; my dear friends, John Edward Pigot,
M.R.I.A., and Dr. Robert D. Lyons, M.R.I.A., from whom I
received most valuable assistance in the plan and original pre-
paration of these Lectures ; and to the former of whom I owe,
in addiion, the untiring devotion of the vast amount of time
and trouble involved in the task ,his friendship undertook for
me of correcting the text, and preparing for and passing
through the press the whole of this volume ; and my able and
truly learned friend, Mr. Whitley Stokes, who prepared for
me the references to the MSS. quoted by Zeuss (pp. 27, 28 of
this volume), the only new passage, I believe, which has been
introduced into the text of the following Lectures since their
delivery.
Eugene O'Currt.
Dublin, December 16, IMO.
CONTENTS.
LECTUBE I. iNTBODUcnoN. Ot th£ Lost Books, etc., . 1—28
Katunl rererence for ancient monuments and records,!. — ^Neglect of Antiquarian
rnqmrj in Ireland, 2. — Elevated rank of men of learning under the ancient Irish
law, 2^ — Great antiquity of literature in Erinn, 8. — Of literature in ancient Erinn
beftse the time of St. Patrick, 4.— Loss of the earlier writings, and its causes, 5.—
N^;lect of the language in more modem tin>es, 6. — Literature, nevertheless,
encouraged by the native chieftains, even after the loss of national independence,
6, 7. — Of thi Lost Books of Ancient Erinn, 7. — ^The Cuilmenn, 8.— The
iSaltaiV of Tara, 9. — Poem by Cuun 0*Locham, 10. — The Book of the Ua Chony
hkaU, 13.— The On Droma Snechia, 13.— Its author, 13, 14.— The Senchus Mdr,
or Great Book of Laws, 16— Accoimt of a private library (that of St. Longarad,
of Ossory) in the 6th century, 17.— The Book of St. Mochta, 19.— The Book
of Cuana, 19 ^The Book of Dubh da Leith€, 19.— The Saltaxr of Cashel, 19.— List
of the Lost Books recorded, 20. — Lost Books extant in Keating's time, 21.— Lost
Books known to the O'Clerjs, 21, 22.— The Irish MSS. in the Library of Trin.
Coll., Dublin, 23.— MSS. in the Library of the Royal Irish Academy, 24.— Irish
MSS. in the Library of the British Museum, and in the Bodleian Library at
Oxford, 25.— Other collections of Irish MSS. in England, 25.— Irish MSS. on the
Continent — ^Brussels, Paris, Rome, etc., 26. — Irish MSS. referred to in the Gram-
matka Celtica of iSeuss, 27.
LECTURE n. Of the Earliest Existing MS&, . . . 29—51
Account of the Cuilmenu, 29 and 41.— Of the recovery of the Tale of the Tain
B<'» Chuai/(/n/, 29. — Account of the Tain Bo ChuaiUjn^, 30. — Personal descrip-
tions in this ancient tale, 37, 38. — Mythical and legendary inventions introduced
into it, 39. — Historical value of this tale, 40.— Authorship of the Saltaxr of Tara,
42. — Account of King Cormac Mac Airt, 42. — Personal description of King
Comtacj 44, 45. — Laws and legal writings of the reign of ConnaCy 46. — Of the
Book of Acaiil, 47 Cennfcelad "the Learned'', 48.
LECTURE III. Of the Early Historic Writers. The Ancient Annals, 62 — 73
List of the principal Annals, 52. — Of the earlier Chronologists and Historians,
53. — The Synchronisms of Flaun of Monastcrboice (11th century), 63. — The
Chronological Poem of Gilla Caemhairiy 65. — Of Tighemach, the Annalist, 57
and 61. — Account of the Monastery of Clonmacnoise, and of its foundation by St.
Cinran (6th century), 58.— Of the Annals of Tiohernach, 62. — The Chrono-
k)gical Poem of Eochaidh O'Flinn, 69. — Account of the Foundation of Emania,
B.C. 405 (taken by Tigherna :h as the starting point of credible Irish History),
70.— The Destruction of Emania by " the Three Collas'* (a.d. 831), 72.
Xiv CONTENTS.
LECTURE IV. The Anciekt Annals, (continued), . 74—92
Ck>ntlnuation of the Annals of Tighemach^ 74. — Of the Annals of Innisfallen,
75 and 79. — Of the Monastery of Inis FaithUnn, in Loch Lein (Killamey), 76. — Of
Madsuthoin O'CearbhdUl (secretary and counsellor of Brian Borumha), 76. —
Legend concerning him, 76.— Of the so-called Annals of Botle, 81 (and see
105).— HiBtorical writers of the 12th, 13th, and 14th centuries, 82.— Of the An-
nals of Ulster, 83.
LECTURE V. The Ancient Annals (continued), . . . 93—119
Of the Annals of Loch Ce (improi>erly called the " Annals of Ealronan*", 93. —
Account of them, 100— Extracts and examples, 101. — Account of the Battle of
Moffh Slecht (a.d. 1256), 101.— Of the Annals of Connacht, 104 and 113.—
Of the Annals of Botle, 105.— Of the use of the Annals as materials for his-
tory, 119.
LECTURE VL The Ancient Annals (continued), . . . 120—139
Of the Chronicuh Scotobum, 120 and 126.— Of the life and death of DubhaUach
Mac Firhhisigh of Lecain (Duald Mac Firbis), and of his Book of Pedigrees,
120-122. — His rarious works, 123. — Of the Books of Lecain, and the Mac Firbis
family, 125. — ^Title and Preface of the Chbonicum Scotorum, 127. — Of the
Annals of Clonmacnois, 130. —The Story of Queen GormlaitAy 132. — Address
and Dedication of the Annals of Clonmacnois, 135-6.— Authorities quoted by the
translator, 137.
LECTURE Vn. The Ancient Annals (continued), . 140—161
Of the Annals of the Four Masters, 140, and 145, and 155. — Of the ^ Con-
tention of the Bards", 141.— Account of the 0*Clerys, 142. — Colgan*s account of
the "Four Masters", and particularly of Michael O'Clery, 143. — ^Dedication of
the Annals of the Four Masters, 146.— The " Testimonium", 147.— Of the Chro-
nology adopted by the Four Masters, 151.— Mistake of Moore in his "History of
Ireland", 163.— Anecdote of Moore, 154 —Of the race of Fergal 0'Gku» (to whom
the Annals are dedicated), 157. — Of the published editions of these Annals, 159. —
Of the splendid edition by Dr. John O'Donovan, published by Mr. George Smith,
160-1.
LECTURE Vm. The Works OF THE " Four Masters", . 162—180
Of O'Clery's Succession of the Kings (Reim Rioghraidh^), 162. — Preface t«
this work, 163.— Dedication and Address to the Reader, 164, 165.— Of O'Clery's
Book of Invasions (Leabhar Gabhdla), 168. — Dedication to it, 168.— Preface, or
Address to the Reader, 169.— Of the other works of Michael O'Clery, 173.— The
O'Clery MSS. in Belgium, 174 — Of Michael O'Clery's Glossary, 175.— Dedication,
to it, 175.— Preface or Address to the Reader, 176. — Of the writings of Cucoig^
cAncA^f (called " Peregrine") O'Clery, 178.
LECTURE IX. Of THE CHIEF existing Ancient Books, . 181—20
Of the old MSS. still existing, 181-2.— Of the Leabhar na h-Uidhre (Book
of the Dun Cow, of St. Ciaran), 182.— Of the Book of Leinster, 186.— Of the
Book of Ballymote, 188.— The Leabhar Mor Duna Doighre (called Zeo^Aar
Breac), 190, (and see also P. 852.).— Of the Yellow Book of Lecain, 190.— The
Book of Lecain, 192.— Of the principal vellum MS& in T.C.D., 192.— Of the
MSS. in the Library of the R.LA, 195.— Of the Book of Lismorb, 196.— Of the
MS. books of Laws (called in English the " Brehon Laws"), 200-201.
CONTENTS. XV
LECTUBE X. Ot thb Boors or Gknbalogies and Pedigrees, 20a— 22d
Of the system of official record of the Genealogies, etc., in ancient Erinn, 203-4 —
Credibilitj of the antiquity of our Genealogies, 205. — Actual historical account of
them, 205-6.~Of the Milesian Genealogies, 206-7.— The Lines of Eber and Ere-
mon, 207. — ^The Irian and Ithian races, 207.— Of the Eremonian Pedigrees, and of
Ugttimi Mdr, 207-8.— Of the Dalcassians, and the Eoghanachts of Munster, 208,
—Genealogy of the O'Briens, and other Munster clanns, from OUioll Oilum, 208-9.
— Genealogy of the Dalcassians, from Cormac CaSf 213. — Of the importance of the
reoocded Genealogies under the ancient law, 213-14. — Family names first intro-
duced (circa aj[). 1000), 214 Distinction between a " Genealogy"* and a '•Pedi-
gree*', 214.-. Form of the old Genealogical Books, 215.— Mac Firbis* Book or
GDrEALOGixs, 2I5.~Title and Preface of it, 216. — Ancient Poem on the charac-
teristics of different races, 224.
LECTURE XI. On the Existing Ancient Histobhs. The Histobic Tales, 229— 250
Of the existing pieces of detailed History in the Gaedhelic language, 229.— The
History of the Obigin or the Bobomean Tbibutx, 230.— The History of the
Waes or the Danes with the Gaedhil, 232.— The History of the Wabs or
Thohond, 233.— The Book or Munsteb, 237.— Of THE HISTOBIC TALES,
238.— Nature of these compositions, 239.— Of the education and duties of an
OUamK, 239.— Of the authority of the " Historic Tales**, as pieces of authentic
history, 241.— Of the classes into which they are divided, 243 1^ of the CathA
(or Battles), 243.— Tale of the "Battle of Magh Tuireadh'', 244.— Tale of the
Battle of Magh Tuireadh of the Fomorians, 247.
LECTURE XIL The Historic Tales (continued), . . . 251—272
2** Of the LoNOASA (or Voyages) ; Tale of the Voyage of Labhraidh Loingseach^
251-2.— Of the Music and Musicians of ancient Erinn, 255. — 3° of the Toghla,
(or Destructions), 258. — ^Tale of the *' Destruction of the Bruighean Da Dergd*\
258.— Tale of the " Destruction of the Bruighean Da Choga'\ 200.-4° Of the
AiBGNE (or Slaughters), 260.— Tale of the " Slaughters of Conga I Cldringnach'\
260-1.- Tale of the Revolt of the Attheach Tuatha (called the " Attacottr*, or
•* Attacots'*), 262-3.-5° Of the Fobbasa (or Sieges), 264-5.— Tale of the '• Siege
of JE:c/air" (Howth), 205.— ^tVAtrn^ *' the importunate", 266.— Tale of the "Siege
Drom Damhghaire^f 271. — Druidism, 271.
LECTURE XIII. The Histobic Tales (continued), . . 273—295
6° Of the OiTTE, or Aideadha (Tragedies, or Deaths), 273.— Tale of the
'Death of Conchobhar Mac Nessa'\ 273-4.— Tale of the " Death of Maelfalhar-
tach Mac R6na\n'\ 277.-7° Of the Tana (or Cow- Spoils), 277.— Tale of "the
T^ Bo Chuailgn^'\ 277-8.-8° Of the Tochmabca (or Courtships and Espousals),
278.— Tale of the " Courtship of Eimer'\ hy Cuchulainn, 278.— Of the several
other celebrated Tales of " Courtships", 282-3. 9° Of the Uatha (or Caves),
283.— Reference to several celebrated Tales concerning Caves, 283.-10°. Of the
Echtrai (or Adventures), 283.— References, 283.-11° Of the Sluaigheadha (or
Military Expeditions), 284.— Tale of the "Expedition of Dathi to the Alps",
284 12° Of the Imramha (or Expeditions by Sea), 288.— Tale of the " Expedi-
tion of the Sons of Ua Corra'\ 289. — Of the remaining classes of Historic Tales :
" /Mja** (Feasts or Banquets); "iit/AiWA^" (or Elopements) ; "^Serca" (Loves, or
XVI CONTENTS.
LoTe-ftorie«} ; ^^ Tomhadhma** (Lake-Irruptions); '' 7bcAom/a(/a** (Iii.migratioD8 -
of Cotonies); "Fw" (or Visions), 294-6.
LECTURE XIV. Of the Imaginative Tales amd Poems, . . 296—^19
Of the Ancient Imaginative Tales and Poems, and of the use to be made of them
in serious Historical investigation, 29G. — Of the Fenian Poems, 299. — Of the
Poems, etc., ascribed to Oisin (or Ossian), 800, and 804.~Clas8iflcation of the
FxNiAN Poems and Tales, 301. — Poems ascribed to Finn Mac CumhaUl, 302. —
Of Omn (or Ossian), and the Poems ascribed to him, 304.— Poems ascribed to
Fergus ^' Finnbhedii'*, son of Finn^ 300.— Poems ascribed to CaeilUMac Ronain,
806. — Of the ^^Agallamh na Standrach'' (or " Dialogue of the Ancient Men**),
807.— The Story of Gael ONeamhain and the Lady CredAi^ 808.— Description of
an ancient mansion and its furniture, 809. — Of other Fenian Poems, 312. — Of the
Fenian Tales in Prose, 313.— Tale of the " Pursuit of Diarmaid and Grainni^,
818.— Tale of the " Battle of Finntraghd^ (or Ventry Harbour), 816.— Tale of
the "Flight of the Slothfdl Fellow**, 316 — Reference to several other ancient
Imaginative Tales, 818 Reference to the " Three Sorrowful Tales of Erinn**, 319.
LECTURE XV. Of the Remains of the Eablt Chbistian Period, 820—338
Ancient Erinn caUed the *' Island of the Saints*', 320.— Nature of the existing
remains of the early Christian period in Erinn, 321.— Ancient copies of the sacred
writings, 321. — Of the "Domhnach Airgid**, and its shrine, 322.— Of the
Cathach, and its shrine, 327 — Of the relic called the Cuilefadh of Saint Colum
Ciiy, 332.— Of other relics called by this name, 334-6.— Of various other shrines,
(MS.) relics, 336 Of the ancient Reliquaries, Bells, Croziers, Crosses, etc^ still
preserved to us, 336.
LECTURE XVI. Of the early Ecclesiastical MSS., . . 839—864
Of the early Lives of the Saints of Erinn, 339 (and see 368).— Of the writings of
C(4gan and Keating, 341.- Saint Adamnan*8 Life of Saint Colum CiU€, 842.—
Saint Fiacc*s Life of Saint Patrick, 343.— The Tripartite Life of Saint Patrick, 344.
—Of the Contents of the Leabhar Mor Duna Doighr€ (called the Leabhar Breac\
in the R.I.A, 862— Of the study of the ancient "^ Martyrologies**, and other
ancient Ecclesiastical MSS., in the Gaedhelic, 363.
LECTURE XVII. Of the Early Ecclesiastical MSS. (continued), 366—371
Of the causes of the loss and dispersion of Irish Ecclesiastical and Historical MSS.
during the last three centuries, 366. — Analysis of what remains of the most impor-
tant of the Ecclesiastical MSS., 367.— Lives of the Saints of Erinn, 868 Of the
Pedigrees and Genealogies of the Saints of Erinn, 368. — Of those ascribed to
Aengus CeiU Z>^, 369.— Of the " Martyrologies**, or " Festologies'', 860.— Of the
Saltair na Rann^ 860. — Of tho Martyrology of Madmmr€ Ua Gormain (Marianus
Gorman), 361.— Of the Martyrology of Tamhlacht, 362.— Of the FeKre (or Festo-
logy) of Aegus Ceile De, 363.— The " Canon** of Fothath " na Canatne"j 364.— The
Invocation firom the Felire of Aengus, 366.
LECTURE XVIII. Of the Eably Ecclesiastical MSS. (continued), of the
BO-CALLBD "PROPHECIES**, ..... 872—391
1® of the Canons, 372.— Of the connection of the Church of St. Patrick with the
Holy See, 873.— 2° Of the Ecclesiastical and Monastic Rules, 373.— 3° Of
an Ancient Treatise on the Mass, 376. — 4^ Of an Ancient Form of the Consecra-
tion of a Church, 378.-6° Of ancient Prayers, Invocations, and Litanies, 878.—
CONTENTS. Xvii
30 Of ancient Piajen, InTocations, and Litanies, 378.— The Prayer of Saint
Airtran " the WiaeT, 878-9.— The Prayer of Colffu Ua Z>f«n<dWa, 379.— Ancient
Litany of the Blessed Virgin, 380.— The Litany oiAengua CeiU De, 380.— Of the
so-called <* Prophbcie8** ascribed to the Saints of Erinn, 382.— Of the so-called
"Pbophscdu'' anterior to the time of Saint Patrick, 383.— Of the "Prophecy"
in the Dialogue of the Two Sages'* (Agallamh an dd Shuadh), 383.— Of the '' Pro-
phedes" ascribed to Conn of the Hundred Battles (the BaiU CAuinn, etc.), 885.—
Of the '* Prophecy** ascribed to King Art '* the Lonely**, 891.
LECrUBE XIX.— Of thk so-called " Prophecies** (continued), . 392—411
Of the Trophedes" ascribed to Finn Mac Cumhaill^ 392.— Of the Legend of Finn*s
« Thumb of Knowledge**, 396.— Of the " Prophecy** of the coming of Saint Patrick
attributed to the Druids of King Laeghaire^ 397.— Of the *' Prophecies** ascribed
to the Sainta of Erinn, 898.— Of the " Prophecies** of Saint Caillin, 398.— Of the
" Prophecies'* of Beg Mac De, 399.— Of the " Prophecies** of Saint Colum CilU,
899. — Of the apocryphal character of the so-called " Prophecies**, 41 a
LECTUBE XX. Of the so-called •« Prophecies** (continued), 412—484
Of the " Prophecies** of St. Berchdn, 412.—" Prophecy** ascribed to St. Bricin,
418.—'* Prophecy** ascribed to St Moling, 419.— Of the " Prophecy** ascribed to
Sedna (6th century), 422.— Of the "Prophecy** ascribed to Maeltamhlachta, 423.
—Of the ** Prophecies** concerning the Fatal FestiTal of Saint John the Baptist,
423w— Dishonest use made of forged and pretended "Prophecies**, 480-1 ^-Giral-
dus Cambrensis and John De Ck>uroy, 432 — Sir George Carew, 434.
LECTURE XXL Becapitulation. How the History of Erinn is to be
wmiTEW ....... 485—458
Recapitulation, 435. — Of the various writers on the History of Erinn, 441. —
Moore*s " History of Ireland", 441. — Keating*s History, 442. — Mac Geoghegan's
History, 442. — " Cambrensis Eversus" (Lynch), 443. — The History of Erinn
must be written on the basis of the Annals, 443. — Of how to set about a History
of Erinn, 444. — Of the ancient traditions concerning the Milesian Colony, 446.—
Of the Cruithneans, or Picts, 450.— Of the reign of Ugain^ Mdr, iol. — Of the
reign of Labraidh Loingsench, A 52. — Of the reign of Couairi Mor, 453. — Of Con-
chobkar Mac Nessa, 453.— Of the Revolution of the Aitheach Tuatha (or " At-
tacoU"), 453.— Of the reign of Conn'' Cead-Cathach" ( Conn " of the Hundred
Battles**), 453.— Of the reign of Niall '' Naoi-Gkiallach'' {Xiall "of the Nine
Hostages*'), 454.— Of King Dathi, 454.— Of the use to be made of the " Historic
Tales*", the Monumental Remains, and the Ecclesiastical MSB., 464-45G. — Of
other miscellaneous materials for a History of Erinn, 456. — Of the necessity for
the study of the Gaedhelic language ; and of the want of a Dictionary, 457. —
Conclusion, 458.
APPENDIX ....... 4GI— 643
APP. No. L (P. 2). Of the Fili and Filidecht 461
APP. Na II. (P. 4). Of writing in Erinn before St, Patrick's time . 463
Of the Oghum character, and its uses, 464. — Of the Tale of BaiU Mac Buain,
4^. — Inscribed Tablets before the time of -4r^ (a.d. 166), 466 and 470 — Cormac
Cuilennain versed in Oghum, 468. — Of the Tale of the Exile of the Sons of Duil
Dermait (circa a.d. 1), 468.— Of the Tale of Core, son of Lughaidh (a.d. 400),
469.— 0*Flaherty on the Use of Letters in ancient Erinn, 409.— Of Cuchorb, 480.
2»
i
XVIU CONTENTS.
Talk of BaiU Mac Buain (original, with translation and notes) . 472
Poem by Ailbh^, daughter of Ck)rmac Mac Airt (circa a.d. 260), original, with
translation and notes), ..... 476
PoBM on the Death of Cuchorby by Meadhbh, daughter of Conn " of the Hundred
Battles" (b c. 1) (original, with translation, and note»), . . 480
APP. No. III. (P. 5). Three Poems by Dubhthach Ua Lugair {Chief Poet of the
Monarch Lakqhairb, a.d. 432), on the Triumphs of Enna Censelach, and his
son Crimthann, Kings of Leinster (original, with translation and notes), 488
APP. No. IV. (P. 8). Original of Passage concerning the Cuelmsnn, from the
Book of Leinster, ..;... 494
APP. No. V, (P. 9, and 31). Original (with translation) of Passage in an ancient
Law Glossary explaining the " Seven Orders of Wisdom'* (under the title Caoo-
dacr), ....... 494
APP. No. VI. (P. 10). Original of Passage in Poem of Cuan Ua Lochain, on
Tara, r^erring to the Saltair, ..... 496
APP. No. VII. (P. 11). Original of passage from the ** Book of the Ua Cong-
bhail**, referring to the Saltair, . . . . . 496
APP. No. VIII. (P. 12). Original of Passage from Keating, rtferring to the
Saltair, . . . . . . . 497
APP. No. IX. (P. 13). Original of rtference to the Cinn Droma Snechta in the
Books ofBal/ymote and Lecain, .... 497
APP. No. X. (P. 13). Original of second r^erence to the same in the Book of
Lecain, ....... 407
APP. No. XI. (P. 14). Original oj third rejerence to the same in the Book of
Lecain, ....... 497
APP. No, XII. (P. 14). Original of reference to the same, \n Keating, . 498
APP. No. XIII. (P. 14). Original of passage in the Book of Leinster concerning
the CiN Droma Snechta, ..... 498
APP. No. XIV. (P. 1 5, 16). Pedigree of Dxjkcm Galach, King of Connacht (in the
early part of the 5th century), ..... 498
APP. No, XV. (P. 16). Original of second reference to the CiN Droma Snechta,
in Keating ; and original (with translation) of corresponding passage in the Uraich-
echt, in the Books of Ballymote and 'Lecsiin, . . . 501
APP. No XVI. (P. 16). Original of second passage in the Book of Leinster ^ con-
cerning the same, ...... 601
APP. No. XVIL (P. 17). Original of Verse (and Gloss) from the Felire Aengusa,
referring to the Library q/'Longarad (temp. St Colum Cille), . • 601
APP. No, XVIIL (P. 29.) Of Letha, the ancient name for Italy in the
Gaedhelic, ....... 502
APP. No. XIX. (P. 32). Original of passage concerning the Cuilmenn, in the
Leabhar M6r Duna Doighre, ..... 604
APP. No. XX.. (P. 32). Original of passages concerning the same in two ancient
Glossaries (74, B.I.A. ; and H. 3, 18, T.C.D.), . . .604
APP. No XXL (P. 86). Of the Ben Sidhe (" Banshee*'), ISidh.—Firsidhe.^
Bensidhe^, ....... 504
APP. No. XXn. (P. 38). Original of Description of the Champion, Reochaid Mac
Eathemain,/roni th§ ancient Tale of the Tain Bo Chuailonk, . 506
CONTENTS. xix
AFP, No. XXUL (P. 38). Oriffinal of Description of the Champion Fergnt^Jrom
tietame, ....... 606
APF. No, XXrV. CP.38). Original of Description of Prince Etc, from the same, 606
APP. No. XXV. (P. 41> Of the daU of the Tain Bo CHUAiixurx {with extracts, in
vrigimal, with translation of passages from the MS, H. 3. 17., T.CJ>., and the Book
of Bailjfmote), ...... 607
APP. No. XXVI. (P. 44> Original of Description of CoRXAC Mac Aibt at the
Assembly of Tara ; from the Book of BalUfmote, . . 610
APP. No. XXVIL (P. 47). Original of commencement of Preface to the Book or
AcAXLL Cm the MS. B. 5, T.CJ^Oi attrilmted to King Connac Mac Aixi, . 611
APP. No. XXVUI. (P. 49, and 61). Original of remainder of same, . 612
Origiiial of another Teraion of the latter portum of this passage (from the MS. H.
S. 18.,T.C.D.), 613.-^PoE]f, bj Cinaeth 0*Hartigain (a.d. 973), from the Book of
BalljmoCe (origina], and translation), 613-14.
APP. No. XXIX. (P. 66, 57). Original of two passages concerning Fhum of Manas-
terboice (from Tigfaemach, and from OClen/'s Leabhar Gabhala), • 616
APP. No. XXX. (P. 68). Original of entries in the Chronicum Scotorum, and in the
Annals of Ulster, of the death o/Tigrebhach (aj>. 1088), r 51 7
APP. Na XXXL (P. 58 to 60). Of the Foundation oj Chnmacnoise, . 517
APP. No. XXXII. {F. 63, and 67). Of the Fragment of an ancient vellum copy of the
Ajtxals or TiGHSBXACH, bound up with the Annals of Ulster, in the Libmry if
TrisL ColL Dublin, ...... 517
Letter from Rer. J. H. Todd, P.B.IJL, to Mr. Curry, upon this Fragment, 617.
Original of the entire passage containing the sentence ^ Omnia Monumenta Sco^
tomm", etc., from the copy of the Annals of Tighemach in T.C.D. (H. 1. 18.),
519.— Original of version of same in the R. I. Academy MS. (33. 6.) 519 note —
Original of yersion of same passage as given by Dr. 0*Conor, 519 note. — Original
of Ballymote, 520. — Of the second tract of Synchronisms in same Book, attributed
to Flann, by the Venerable Charles O'Conor of Bally nagar (with translation of
parallel passage in an ancient tract of Synchronism in the Book), 520-21. — Of Ti-
ghtmach'i authority for the sentence in question, 521. — Eochaidh OTlinn, 621-
22.— Of the Synchronisms in the Book of Ucain, 522.— Fiann's Poems, 522-23.—
Quatrain identifying the author of the Poems (original and translation), 523.
AFP. Xa XXXIII. (P. 64). Original of stanza of Maehnura, quoted by Tighjcb-
y^CH, ....... 624
Al'P. No. XXXIV. (P. 64). Original of another ancient stanza quoted by Tighzr-
HACH, and Extract from Dr. 0' Conor's account of t/ie T.CJJ, copy of Tiquer-
»ACH, ....... 624
APP. No. XXXV. (P. GS). Of King Eochaidh Bcadhach, . 626
APP. No. XXXVI. (P. 08). Original of an Entry in Tighebnach, as to the Kings of
Leinster, ....... 626
AFP. Na. XXX VIL (P. 70). Original of commencement of Poem {ascribed to GiUa
an Chomdedh Ua Cormaic) in the Book of Leinster, . . 626
AFP. Na XXXVIII. (P. 70). Original {with Translation) of the account of the
Foundation of the Palace q/*£MAlN Macha, or Emania (from the Book of Leinster), 62G
AFP. "So. XXXIX (P. 75). Original of Entry in the Annals of TlOHfaMACH (at
A.D. 1405), concerning the Continuator of these Annals^ . . 529
XX CONTENTS.
APP. No. XL. (P. 76). Orifftnal of legendary accoumt ofMAKLSUTBAiM 0*C6aiUiaill,
q/*IiiiB Faithlenn, in Loch Lein {InnisfalUn, Lower Lake of KiUam€jf\ from ike
LiBSB FfjLYUB Fkbgubiobum, ..... 529
APP. No. XLI. (P. 76). Contents of the Liber Flayub FEBounoRUX (▲.]>. 1437), 631
APP. No. XLII. (P. 84). Original of entry in the Axmals of Ulstbr, concerning the
Death of the original compiler^ Mac BCiighiiiisa (a.d. 1498), . . 583
APP. No. XLIIL (P. 85). Original oj two Memoranda in T.C.D. copy of the Amvals
OF Ulster (H. 1. 8), . . . 533
APP. No. XLIV. (P. 90, 92). Of the commencement of the MS. called the Aknals or
Ulster, in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin (H. 1.8),. . 534
APP. No. XLV. (P. 94). Original of Memorandum inserted in the T.C J), copy of
the Aknals of Loch Ce (a.d. 1061), .... 534
APP. No. XLVI. (P. 94 J. Original of second Memorandum in same (a.d. 1615), 534
APP. No. XLVII. (P. 94). Original of third Memorandum in same (a-d. 1581), 534
APP. No. XLVIII. (P. 94). Original of fourth Memorandum m same (a B. 1462), 634
APP. No. XLIX. (P. 95). Original of entry {at a.d. 1681) in Fragment of Continua-
tion of the Ankals of Loch Ce, in the BriL Museum ; and of Note appended thereto^
by Brian Mac Dermot, Chief of i/LaghlAurg, . . . 634
APP. No. L. (P. 96). Original of entry of Death of Brian Mac Dermot (aj). 1592),
in the Annals of the Four Masters, .... 636
APP. No. LI. (P. 102). Original of entry in Annals of Loch Ce, at A.D. 1087, 636
APP. No. LII. (P. 101). Original of entry in same, at A.D. 1087, . . 635
AtP. No. LIU. (P. 101). Original of account of the BaUle of Magh Slecht (a.d.
1256% from the Annals of Loch C^, . . . . 636
APP. No. LIV. (P. 102), Original {and translation) of passage in the Tripartite
Life of Saint Patrick concerning the Idol called Cenn Crdaich, or Crom Cruach,
andthePlainof Magh Slecht, ..... 638
APP. No. LV. (P. 102). Original of Memorandum at the end of the T.C.D. copy of
the Annals of Connacht (H. 1. 2.), . . . . . 639
APP. No. LVI. (P. 109). Original of Memorandum in the BriL Museum copy of the
«o.ca//e</ Annals OF BoTLE, (under year 1594), . . . 689
APP. No. LVII. (P. 111). Original of Second Memorandum in same, 636
APP. No. LVIII. (P. 111). Original of third Memorandum in same, . 540
APP. Na LIX. (P. 112). Original of passage in O'DonneVs Life of Saint Colum
Ci//^(2. 52. R.L A.), ...... 640
APP. No. LX. (P. 115). Original of entry in the Annals of Connacht, at A J). 1464;
and Original of abstract of same in the handwriting of the Venerable Charles
0^ Conor of Ballynagar, ...... 640-1
APP. No. LXI. (P. 1 1 5). Original of Corresponding entry in the Annals of Loch Ce
(R. 1. 19., T.C.D.), ...... 541
APP. No. LXU. (P. 121). Original of Title of Mac Firbis' Book of Pedigrees and
Genealogies, . . . . . . .641
APP. No LXIII.(P. 126). Original of description of the Inauguration of the O'Dowda,
in the Book ofLecain, ...... 542
APP. No. LXIV. (P. 127). Original of Title, and commencement of Preface, of the
CHRONXCm SCOTORUM, ..... 642
APP. No. LXV. (P. 127). Original of a Note, by Mac Firbis, in the Chbonicum
ScoTORUM, ....... 143
CONTENTS. XXI
APP. Na LXVI. (P. 12«). Original of Memorandum in the Cbronicum Scotorum
(jLD. 722), explaining a deficiency therey . . ; . 543
APP. No. LXVII. (P. 146). Original of Dedication of the Annals op thb Four
Mabters, ....... 548
APP. No. LXVni. (P. 147). Original of Testimonium of the Annals o» thb Four
Mastkrs, ....... 643
APP. Na LXIX. (P. 158). Of the succession of the Chiefs of the OGara Famiiy,
from A^D. 932 to 1537 ; from the Annals of the Four Masters, . . 516
APP. No. LXX. (P. 1G3). Original of O'Clery's Pr^ace to the Reim Riooraidbx,
(nccetfum of the Kings), from the RI.A. MS. (40, 4), . . 548
APP. No. LXXL (P. 164). Original of O'Clenfs Dedication to the same, . 550
APP. No. LXXn, (P. 165). Original of O'Clery's Address to the Reader, prefixed
to the same (J^om the T.C.D. MS. ; H. 4. 6), . . .551
APP. No. LXXni. (P. 168). Original of O'Clery's Dedication to the Leabhar
Gabhala {Book of Invasions), from the T.C.D. MS. (H. 1. 12), . . 552
APP. No. LXXIV. (P. 169). Original of OClery's Address to the Reader, pr^ed
to the same {from a copy in the Library of the R.I.A., mctde in 1685), . 554
APP. No. LXXV. (P. 175). Original of Title and Dedication of 0*Clbrt*8 Glos-
■ART, ....... 557
APP. No. LXXVL (P. 1 76). Original of Address to the Reader, pr^xed to the same, 558
APP. No. LXXVIL (P. 178). [Erroneous reference as to List of Contractions, etc.] 560
APP. No. LXXVIII. (P. 178). Original (and Translation) of the Last Will of
CucHOiGHCBiCH£ O'Clery (called Cucogry, or Peregrine 0*Clery), . 560
AFP. No. LXXIX (P. 179). Original (and Translation) of Two Poejis by Cu-
coiGHCRicHE 0*Clert, ..... 562
APP. No. LXXX (P. 182). Original of Two Memoranda in the Leabhar na
b-Uidhrs (^concerning the history of that celebrated MS.), . . 570
Note conccming Conchobhar, the son of Aedh O'Donnell (ob. a.d. 1367), 570, note.
APP. No. LXXXI. (P. 183). Original of entry in the Annals of the Four
Masters (at a.d. 1470), . . .570
APP. No. LXXXIL (P. 184.) Original of entry in same Annals (at a.d. 1106), 571
APP. No. LXXXUI. (P. 184). Original of a Memorandum in the Leabhar na
H-Un>HRE, . . . . . . . 571
APP. No. LXXXIV. (P. 186) Original of a Memorandum in the Book of Leinster, 571
APP. No. LXXXV. (P. 187). Original of a second Memorandum in the same, 571
^VPP. No. LXXXVI. (P. 195). [Apology for not giving a complete List of the MSS.
in the Libraries of the RI A. and of Trin. Coll. Dublin], . . 571
APP. Ko. LXXXVII. (P. 21G). Original of Tule and Introduction to Mac Firbis'
Book of Genealogies, . . . . .572
Origioal (and Translation) of ancient Poem on the celebrated Builders of ancient
times, 577. Original (and Translation) of ancient Poem on the Characteristics
of the various Races in Erinn, 580. Original (with Translation) of ancient Poem
on the Characteristics of various Nations, 580.
Al'P. No. LXXXVIII. (P. 243). Original (and Translation) of passage^ concerning
the Historic Talks, in the Book of Leinster, . . . 583
APP. No. LXXXIX. (P. 243). Original (and Translation, with Notes), of the List
OF THE Historic Tales, m the Book of Leinster, 584
XXll CONTENTS.
APP. No. XC. (P. 276). Of the Place of the Death- Wound of Conchobbar Mac
Newa, ....... 5a»
Original (and TraoaUtion) of Note, by Michael O'Clery on this subject, 593.
APP. No. XCl. (P. 293;. Original of Stanza of a Poem by Saint Mochol»n6g, abotU
the Ua Corra ; from the Book of Febmoy, . . . 593*
APP. No. XCII. (P. 302, 303). Original of the first lines of Six Poems attribuied to
Finn Mac Cumhaill, ..... 594
APP. No. XCIII. (P. 306, 307). Original of the first line of Poem attribuUd to FsBGUB
FiNNBHEOiL ; and of first line of Poem attributed to Cakiltb Mac B021AIN ( from
the UiMNSEAMcnus), ...... 594
APP. No. XCIV. (P. 308, 311) Original of passage (poem) from the Agallamh na
Sean6rach, concerning Gael Ua Neamnainn and the Lady Credhi (^from the Book
or Lismobe), ...... 594
Original (and Translation) of Prose passage from the same, 597.
APP. No. XCV. (P. 315). Of the ancient Monuments called Cromlech, . 596
APP. No. XCVI. (P. 325). Original of passage in the " Tripartite Life^ oj Sav,t
Patrick, concerning the Domhnacu Aiboid, . . . 598
APP. No. XCVII. (P. 329, 330). Original of first stanza of the Prayer of Saint
Colum CilU (from the Yellow Book of Lecain) ; and Original (and Translation)
of passage concerning the Cathachfrom O'DonnelTs Life of Saint Colum CiUe. 599
APP. No. XC VIII. (P 331.) Original of Liscription on the Shrine of the Cathach, 599
AIT. No. XCIX. (P. 334). Original oJ entry in the Annals or Tighebnach (a.d.
1090), as to the Cuilefadh, ..... 599
APP. No. C. (P. 335). Original (and Translation) of reference to a Cdilefadh
of Saint Emhin, in a MS. of a.d. 1463, in the R.I.A. (43. 6.), . . 599
APP. No. CI. (P. 336). Of iginal (and Translation) of passage concerning the Mios-
Acu, from the Yellow Book o/* Lecain, .... 600
APP. No. ClI. (P. 338). Of the Relic called the Bacuall Isu, or * Staff of Jesus,** 6<)1
Original (and Translation) of the account o( the ancient tradition respecting this
relic in the " Tripartite Life" of St. Patrick, 6'Jl.— Remarks of the Rev. Dr. Todd,
P.R.I»A. , upon the accounts of this Relic, 602. — Original (and Translation) of
passage concerning it in the Annals of Loch C<^, 604 — Original (and Translation)
of passage concerning it in the Annals of the Four Masters, 605.
APP. No. cm. (P. 343). Original (and Translation) of Stanza in PoKM by Sai/U
Fiacc (alluding to the desertion of Tara), .... 606
APP. No. CIV. (P. 844.). Original (and Translation) of passage in the " Tbipab-
TITE Life" of Saint Patrick (concerning the chariot of Saint Patiick)^ . 606
Original (and Translation) of passage concerning the same in the Book of
Abhaou, 607
APP. No CV. (P. 846). Ouiginal ofeiUry at the end of the " Tbipabtite Life", 608
APP. No C VI. (P. 347) Original (and Translation) of passage alluding to Saint
Ultan in the ** Tbipabtite Life", . . * . . . 608
Original of passage from Tierchan's Annotations, in the Book of Abmagh, 608.
APP. No. C VII. (P. 350). Original of concluding words of First Part of the Tbi-
pabtite Life, ...... 609
APP. No. CVIII. (P. 350). Original (and Translation) of observations, by the
original writer, on the opening passage of the Third Part of the *• Tbipabtite
Life" of St, Patrick, ...... 609
/
CONTENTS, Xxiii
APP. No. CIX. (P. 360). Original of Two Lines of the spurious Saltair ka Rann ;
and of the First Line of same Poem (Rrit. Mus. ; MS. Eg. 185.), . 609
APP. No. ex. (P. 362> Original of the Two First Lines of the Martyrology of
Maei.muirb Ua GoRXAiN (MS. voL xm., Btirg, Lib., Brussels), , 609
APP. No. CXI. (P. 363> The Pedigree o/ Aencds Ceile De (from the Leabhar
Mor Dona Doighre, called the Leabhar Breac), . . 610
APP. No. CXII. (P. 364). Original of the " Canon** of Fothadh, . 610
APP. No. CXIIL (P. 365). Original of the Invocation from the Pelirb Aengusa, 610
APP. No. CXIV. (P. 367). Original of First Stanza (Jan. 1) of the Feubb
ASNOUSA, . . . .611
APP. Now CXV. (P. 868). Original of Stanza of the Felirb Aengusa at
March Mj ....... 611
APP. No. CXVL (P. 368> Original of Stanza of same at April 13 (Festival of
Bishop TtasRch), . . . . .611
APP. No. CXVII. (P. 373). Original (and Translation) of the " Canon of Saint
Po/ruir**, from the Book OF Armagh, . . . . 612
lYinsladon of this Canon bj ArchbUhop Ussher, 612.
APP. No. CXVni. (P. 374> Original of last sentence of the'' Rule of Saint
CdnmCaie*, ...... 613
APP. Na CXIX. (P. 376). Original of Extract from an Ancient Treatise by wag
of Exposition of the 3f ass ..... 613
APP. No. CXX (P. 378, 379). Original of commencements of Livocations in the
Prayer of Saint AiRmkV "^ the Wise'\ . . . . 614
APP. No. CXXI. (P. 379). Original of explanation of the word Oirchis, or Air-
chis, in an ancient Glossary (H.8, 18, T.G.D.), referring to the Prayer of Saint
AiREVJLV " the Wise*\ . . . . . .615
APP. No. CXXII. (P. 379, 380). Orvfinnl of commencements of the First and
Second PnrU of the Prayer of CoLOU Ua Duinecuda, . . 615
APP. No. CXXIII (P. 380). Original of commencement of an Ancient Litant
Of THE Blessed Virgin, . . • . . 615
APP. No. CXXrV. (P. 381). Original (and Transhuion) of commencement of the
Litant OF Aengus Ceile De, . . . . .615
Original (and Translation) of Poem ascribed to St. Brigid, 616.
APP. No. CXXV. (P. 383). Original of passage in the Agallahh an da
Shuagh, ....... C16
APP. No. CXXVI. (P. 386). Original of two passages in the Baile Chuinn, 617
APP. No. CXXVIL (P. 386, 387). Original of passage in the " Tripartite
Life" of Saint Patrizk, quoted from the Baile Chuin (as to the M'orrf Tailcenn), 617
Of the word Tailcenn, Tai/ginn, or Tailgenn, 617. — Original (and Gloss) of Expla-
nation of it from the Scnchus j\fdr (MS. H. 3, 17, T.C.D.), 617.— Original (and
Translation) of passage in the ancient Tale of the BruigheanDa Derga, 618.
APP. No. CXXVIII (P. 387). Original (and translation) of ancient account of the
Baile an Scail (" Ecstary of the Champion"') ; from MS. Harl. 5280, Brit. 3fus., 618
APP. No. CXXIX. (P. 389, 390). Original of stanza referring to the same, in Poem
by Flann ; and original ofjirst line of same Poem, . . . 622
APP. No. CXXX. (P. 391). Original of first line of " Prophetic' Poem ascribed to
AuT ''the Lonely", son of Cc^s, ..... 622
XXIV CONTENTS.
APP. No. CXXXI. (P. 892). Original (and Translation) of heading and commence^ *
ment ofa*^ Pbophecy" asctibed to Finn Mac CumhaiU, . . BUM '
Note on the " Flag-stone, or "Rock of Patrick'', 623-4.
APP. No. CXXXII. (P. 395). Original of stanzas in one of the " Ossianic Poems**,
containing a ** Prophecy** ascribed to Finn Mac CumhaiU, . . QM
APP. No. CXXXIII. (P. 397) Original of stanza, containing the " Prophecy" attri-
buted to the Druid of King Laeghainf (from the " Tripartite Life'^), . QSS
APP. No. CXXXI V. (P. 399). Original of first line o/" Prophetic Poem** attributed
toB^gMacD^, ...... eSi
APP. No. CXXXV. (P. 399). Original of first sentence of the "Prophecy" attri- 1-
buted to Beg Mac De, . . . e2t |
APP. No. CXXXVI (P. 400). Original of stanza of a *' Prophecy", aUributed to 3
Saint Colum Cille, quoted in the Wars of the Danes (Book of Leinster) ; and of Vi
first verse of same Poem (from MS. H. 1. 10., T.C.D.), . . 626 ^
APP. No. CXXXVIL (P. 401). Original of Stanza o/Maolin 6g Mac Brumdeadha ]>
(Mac Brodg)f referring to the same '* Prophecy"; (quoted in the Annals of the
Four Masters, at ▲.D. 1599), ..... 626
APP. No. CXXXVIII. (P. 406). Original of first stanza of a second ^'Prophetic**
PoEK, attributed to Saint Colum Cille, .... 626
APP. No. CXXXIX. (P. 407). Original of first line of a third (like), . 626
APP. No. CXL. (P. 409, 410). Original of first stanzas of three other ''Prophetic*
Poems, and of the first line of another, attributed to the same Saint, . 626-7
APP. No. CXLI. (P. 412, 413, 414, 416). Origiml of three stanzas of a Poetical
"Prophecy", ascribed to Saint Berchan ; of the first stanza of same Poem; of the
lOth stanza ; of the I2th stanza ; and of the 97th stanza of the same, . 627 8
APP. No. CXLII. (P. 417). Original of first line of a second ''Prophetic'* Poem
attributed to Saint Berchao, ..... 628
APP. No. CXLIII. (P. 417). Original of verse quoted by Ferfessa O'Clerigh from
from a so-called " Prophecy** of Saint Berch&n (from the Annals of the Four
Masters, about A.D, 1598), ..... 628
APP. No. CXLIV. (P. 417). Original of first stanza of a "Prophetic** Poem, attri-
buted to Saint Berchan (but believed to have been written by Tadhg 0*Neachtain,
about AD. 1716), ...... 628
APP. No CXLV. (P. 420). Original of commencement of the Baile Mholing (from
the Yellow Book ofLecain), ..... 629
APP. No. CXLVI. (P. 422). Original of first stanza of the so-called ' ' Prophecy" of
Sedna, ....... 629
APP. No. CXLVn. (P. 423). Original of first line o/Poem (by Donnell Mac Brody,
circa 1570), referring to the same " Prophecy**, . . . 629
APP. No. CXL VIII. (P. 423). Original of first words of the so-called " Prophecy",
attributed to Maeltamhlachta, ..... 629
APP. No. CXLIX. (P. 423). Original of passage from the Lite op Saint Adamnan
(from the MS. vol XI., 4190-4200, Burg, Lib. Brussels), . . 629
APP. No. CL. (P. 424). Original of the " Vision" of Saint Adamnan from the
Leabhar M6r Dona Doighre, called the Leabhar Breac), . 630
APP. No. CLI. (P. 425). Of the Pestilences called the Buidhe Chonnaill, and the
Crom Chonnaill, . . . •• . 630
Original (and Translation) of passage in ancient life of Saint Mac Creich€, 631-2.
CONTENTS. XXV
— Original (and TnuaslatioD) of two stanzas from a curious Poem in the same Life,
632.— Note on the word Crom, 632.
PP. No. CLII. (P. 426). Original of passage in the Leabhar M6r Ddna Drfghre
(called the Leabhar Breac), concerning the Scuap a Fanait, . . 632
PP. No. CLIIL (P. 429). Original of Note on the Scuap a Fanatt, in the
Fklihb Aengusa ( from the same book), .... 634
PP. No. CLIV. (P. 431, 432). Original of two passages from Giraldus Cam-
brensis (^* Hibernia Expugnata^) concerning ^^FROVHECOB^Jorged for the use of
John De Courcy and others of the invaders j . . . 635
lPP. No. CLV. (P. 434). Original of stanza of a pretended "Pbophecy" quoted
6y Sir George Carew in 1602 (from the Carew MSS., Lambeth Lib,, London), 637
kPP. No. CLVI. (P. 453). Of the accounts of the celebrated King of Ulster , Con-
CHOBHAB Mac Nbssa ...... 637
Original of entiy of the Death of Conchobhar Mac Nessa in the Annals of
TiOHKHNACH (a.d. 33), 638.— Original (and Translation) of the Account of the
Death of Conchobhar Mac Nessa fh)m the Historic Tale of the ** Aided Conco-
baxb" (" Tragic Fate of Conchobhar""), preserved in the Book o» Leinsteb, 638.
— Original (tnd Translation) of Keating's account of it, 642.— Original (and
Translation of distich, with Gloss, flrom Poem by Cinaeth O'lTartagdin (ob.
973), 643.
APP. No. CLVn. (Note to Preface, P. x.) Statement relative to the Irish MSS, of
the College of St. Isidore, at Rome,dravm up for the information of their Lordships
the Archbishops and Bishops oflrelanff, and laid before them by the Senate of the
Catholic University of Ireland, in 1859. .... 644
EXPLANATIONS OF FAC-SIMELES. .... 649—663
FAC-SIMILES OF THE Ancient MSS. . . [opp.p. 6C4
(A.) MSl In the *'Domhnaeh Airgi<r\ [R.LA.]. (temp. St Patrick ; clrc4 a.d. 480.)
(B.) MS. In the " Cathach". (6th Centary. MS. attributed to St Colum Cilli.)
(C ) " Book of Kells", [T.C.D.]. (Cth Century. MS. attributed to St Colum Cilli.)
(D.) " Book of Durrow", [T.C.D.]. (6th Century. MS. attributed to St Colum Cilll)
(E.) Memorandum in "Book of Durrow", [T.C.D.]. (6th Century.— att to St C. C.)
(F.) Memorandum in " Book of Durrow", [T.C.D.]. (6th Century.— att to St. C. C.)
(G.) " Book of Dimma'\ [T.C.D.]. (circa a.d. 620.)
(\L) " Book of Dimma'\ [T.C.D.]. (circa a.i>. 620.)
(L) " Book of Dimma'\ [T.C.D.]. (circa a-d. 620.)
(J.) Memorandum In " Book of Dimma'\ [T.C.D.]. (circa a.d. 620.)
(K.) "* Book of Dimma", [T.C.D.]. (circ«i ad. 620.)
(L) •* Book of Dimma", [T.C.D.]. (circa a.d. 620.)
(M.) Evangelistarinm of St i/o«n^, [T.C.D.]. (circa A.D. 690.)
(N.) ETangellstarium of St Moling, [T.C.D.]. (circa a.d. 690.)
(0.) "Book of Armagh", [T.C.D.]. (a.d. 724.)
a*.) " Book of Armagh", [T.C.D.]. (a.d. 724.)
(Q.) ••Liber Hymnorum", [E. 4. 2. ; T.C.D.]. (circa a.d. 900.)
(JL) Entry in " Book of Armagh", [T.C.D.]. (made temp. Brian Boroimhi, A.D. 1004.)
(S.) " Leabhar na h-Uidhr€\ [R.I. A.], (circa a.d. 1100.)
a.) '* Book of Leiniicr", [H. 2. 18. ; T.C.D.]. (circa a.d. 1130.)
(U.) " Book of Lclnstcr", [11. 2. 18. ; T.C.D.]. (circa a.d. Iim)
(V.) MS. in Trin. Coll. Dubl., [H. 2. 15.]. (a.d. 1300.)
fW.) Entry in '"Leabhar na h-Uiilhr€\ [R.LA.], Q^y SigraidJi O'Cuimin, A.D. 1346.)
(X.) •' Book of Ballymote", [R.LA.]. (a.d. 1391.)
(Y.) '• Book of BaJlymote". [R I.A.]. (a.d. 1391.)
a ) "■ Book of Ballymote", [R LA.], (a.d. 1391.)
XXVI CONTENTS.
(AA.) " YcUow Book of Lecain", [U. 2. 16. ; T.C.D.]. (circa A.D. 139a)
(BB.) ** TeUow Book of UcaM\ [H. 2. 16 ; T.CD ], (circa A.D. 1390.)
(CC.) '' Uahhar Jidr DiAna Doighr€\ (caUed '* Ltabhar Breae*^, CR.I.A.]. (circa ad
(DD.) " Uabhar M6r Diina Doighri'\ [K.LA.]. (circa a.d. 1400.)
(EE.) '^Uabhar M6r IHna Doighrff\ [R.LA.J. (circa a.d. 1400.)
(FF.) MS. In Roy. Ir. Acad. [H. A: & 3. 67.] (circa a.d. 1400.)
(00.) MS. in Roy. Ir. Acad. (ABtronom : Tract ; circa a.d. 1400.)
(HH.) MS. in Trin. Coll. DubL [U. 2. 7.] (circa a.d. 1400.)
(XL) "* Book of Leeain'\ [RLA.]. Ca.d. 1416.)
(JJ.) " Book of LecaM\ [R.LA.]. (a.d. 1416.)
(KK.) '' Book of Lecain'\ [R.LA.]. (a.d. 1416.)
(LU) *' Liber FlavuB Fergusiorom". (a.d. 1434.)
(MM.) '* Book of Acaiir, [E. 8. fi. ; T.C.D.]. (circa a.d. 1450.)
(NN.) •* Book of Fennoy". (a.d. 1463.)
(00.) MS. in Roy. Ir. Acad. [43. 6.] (a.d. 1467.)
(PP.) Entry In L«abharnak-Uidhr4, rR.LA.l (▲.». 1470)
(QQ.) MS. In Trin. ColL Dnbl. [H. 1. &]. (16th Century.)
(RB.) MS. in Trin. ColL DubL [H. L 8.]. (Iffth Century.)
(SS.) " Book of LInnore". (15th Century.)
(TT.) Memorandum in Leabhar M6r Jhina Doighri^ [R.I.A.]. (circa a d. 1500.)
(UU.) MS. in Trin. ColL DubL [H. 3. !&]. (a.d. 1609.)
(W.) MS. in Trin. ColL DubL [H. 1. 8. J. (16th Century.)
(WW.) MS. in Trin. ColL DubL [H. 8. 17.]. (15th A 16th Cent)
(XX.) Ma in Trin. ColL DubL [U. 1. 19. J. (a.d. 1580.)
(YT.) Handwriting of Michael 0*Clery, [VeUuin MSw ; R.IJLJ.
(ZZ.) Signature of Michael O'CIery, [VeUum MSw ; R.LA.J.
(AAA.) Handwriting of Cucogry 0*Clery, [Yellam MS. ; &I.A.J.
(BBB.) MS. in Trin. CoU. DubL [U. 1. 1%. ; T.C.D.]. (a.d. 1650.)
(CCC.) Handwriting of Duald Mac Flrbia, [H. 1. 18. ; T.C.D.]. (a.d. 1650.)
(DDD.) Handwriting of Michael and Cucogry O'Clery, [Paper MS. ; R.LA. J.
(EEE.) Handwriting of Conairi O'Clery, [Paper MS. ; R.LA.].
(FFF.) Handwriting of John O'Donoran, LL.D., M.R.I.A. a86l.)
(GKSO.) Handwriting (amaU) of Eugene O'Curry, M.R.I.A. (1848.)
(HHH ) Handwriting (large) of Eugene O'Curry, M.R.I.A. (1848.)
GENERAL INDEX
LIST OF
ERRATA AND CORRECTIONS.
Pige 3, line 82; for " Gaedhlic", read " Gaedhilic" 0" well wherever it may
oocur as here).
„ 3, note 5, line 3 ; for " Gaelic", read " Gaer.
,, 4, line 6 ; for " recent*', read " more recent".
„ 36, note, line 2 ; for " land immortality", read " land of immortality".
„ 38, line 19 ; for ** His is ReochatdTj read " He is Iteochaidh*\
„ 70, line 1 ; for " GUla-annChomdecK^ read " Gilia-an-Chomdedh'*,
„ 70, line 34 ; for " Etnhain Machd^y r«Bui " Emham MhackaP.
„ 76, Ime 23 ; for »• about 1002", read " in 1004".
„ 94, last line but two ; for " Daniel", read " David".
„ 101, line 18 ; for " CormchaiTy read " Conachair.
„ 111, line 34 ; for ^' Rosconmion", read " Galway".
„ 118, line 16 ; for '* submersis", read " submersus".
^ 120, last line; for " Tir-Fhiachradh'\ read " Tir-Fhiachrach^
„ 146, Une 27 ; for ** GaedhU", read " GaedhelT.
„ 147, line 4 ; for « TeadghTy read " Tadhg\
„ 1445, line 9 ; for '^ was a guardian**, read *' was guardian".
„ 158, Ime 18 ; for " they year 1200", read " the year 1200".
„ 169, line 4 ; for " Brien Roe**, read " Brian Ruadh".
„ 1 71, line 1 ; for " FwntainTy read " Fiontan'\
„ line 30; for Ua-ChonghaiT*, read Ua ChonghbhaiT.
^ 176, line 30 ; for ** Neide the profound in just laws'*, read " Nt\dh€ the
profound, and Ferchertm^,
., 189, line 27 ; for ** Luaidee\ read " Luain^"*.
., 2 14, Une 24 ; for ** TadgJC\ read " Tadhg'\
., 217, line 3 ; for " Benn-chair\ read " Bennchair\
.. 219, line 24 ; for ''^ O* Cananns'\ read " 0* Canannana**.
., 243, line 13 ; for " Amrath"', read " Anro(h'\
,. 250, lino 26 ; for " MeaghT, read " ManK\
„ 25 1 , last line ; for " MoriadK\ read " Moriath '*.
204, line 8 ; for " Fiacha F'mnolaidh^y read " Feradhach, the sou of
Fiacha Finnolaidh^.
„ line 9 ; for " Fiacha'\ read " FeradhacfT.
., 277, line 39 ; for " Gray hounds", read " Greyhound**.
., 301, line 30 ; for Finnbheoiir\ read " FinnBheoit\
302, line 36 ; for " ancient lost tract'*, read " ancient tract".
., 303, line 12 ; for " cheavT, read ** cheann".
„ hne 24 ; for " DreaiC\ read " Dear£\
.. 304, Une 5 ; for " Snaelt'\ read " Suaeir.
319, Une 1; for " Dull Dearmairt, read " Dull Dearmaif\
„ Une 8 ; for " Lear'', read " Lir\
„ 336, line 24 ; for "Torloch**, read " Conor** [see " Cambrensis Eversus",
published by the Celtic Society ; voL ii., p. 397].
., 340, line 2« ; for " Cinn\ read " Cenn*".
„ 363, last Une but four ; for " three quatrains'*, read " four quatrains".
., 369, last line but four; "3/o/*c«" and '*/Vi/o«w", though so written in
the original text, must be read " Moses*' and " Pharaoh". " John",
too, in this passage, should, of course, be *^ Paul".
XXVUl ERRATA
Page 404, line 33 ; for " MaranadC, read " Mearanack'\
„ 429, line 83 ; for " in 664", read " in the year 664''.
„ 431, line 16 ; for " wordly", read " worldly".
„ 442, line 12 ; for " Protestant^ read " local".
„ 480, note 21 ; for " Mdef, read " ifdtT.
„ 488, line 19 ; for " ^ei\, ha nAij\e6", read " ren ha iiAii\e6".
„ 496, Une 21 ; for " funn", read " fuiin".
„ „ line 32 ; for " f [ocjmjaicIi]", read " [f ]oc^tiAicli".
„ 498, line 4 ; for " mliAgoJ", read " tnliAcos".
„ 503, line 35 ; for " hand", read " band".
„ 508, last line but one ; for " Neidhe'\ read " Neidhr.
„ 609, note 85 ; for " when*", read " where".
„ 618, line 20 ; for " ocuf ", read " ocuf".
„ „ line 24; for " |%e5nAfe", read "nepiAfe".
„ 521 , line 29 ; for " two hundred", read " one hundred".
„ 622, line 4 ; for " 200", read " 100\
„ 623, line 1 ; for " cop5i\ibAin", read " coi\|x^ibAni".
„ 526, line 24 ; for " hAtinf aiVi", read " hAtinf a .
„ 535, line 29 ; for " fin", read " fi^x".
„ 542, line 1 7 ; for " •oolc ax)o", read " x)otcA -od".
„ 651, line 17 ; for " leA«eoi|VA", read " UAte6i\A".
„ 652, Une 10 ; for " i\Ai\r, read " t^|\".
„ „ line 28 ; for " TJotViAn", read " x)oiViAin".
„ 553, line 2; for " bom", read " bom".
„ 556, line 2 ; for " ^eAn6tif a", read " f eAn6nf a".
„ 558, line 14 ; for " dtiAtniAiix", read " 6uAU\niAi|\".
„ „ line 17 ; for " Uetb", read " Uetib".
„ „ line 84; for "i^i 61-6", read "iVi^tj".
„ 560, last line ; for " 6ifirten*\ read " 6ip«et\".
„ 562, line 84 ; for " from M.S.S." read " from a MS."
„ 563, last line but 7 ; for " Connacht", read " CruachairC\
„ 570, line 9 ; for " Ac1iniu'6iugAT)", read " Aclinui^iu Jad".
„ 574, line 18 ; for " pn6i^ci>e", read " pntiincne".
„ 576, last line but 6 ; for " ua", read " yia''.
„ 681, line 6 ; for " Britons", read " true Britonf".
„ 581, line 21 ; for " mbtiAA-bAti", read " mbbA^An".
„ „ line 37 ; for " teAtiAii^TiA", read " teAriAi^riA".
„ 582, line 25 ; for " cineA*", read " cinneA*".
„ 590, last Une of last note; for"H. 8. 17. TC.D.", read "H. 3. 18.
T.C.D ".
„ 597, line 21 ; for " kings", read " king".
„ 698, last Une but 2 ; for " tAti", read " CAti".
„ 599, Une 21 ; (no comma after the word uAbAinu).
„ 600, Une 29; for " Ulai(Ui'\ read " UlaM\
„ 601, Une 15 ; for " oeiif", read " ocuf".
„ 602, line 9 ; (quotation should end with inverted commas).
„ 605, line 29 ; for " cccirin", read " ccmn".
„ 616, line 17 ; for " caves", read " cans".
„ 629, line 14 ; for " attributed Se^tiA", read " attributed to SeT)nA''.
„ 630, line 8 ; after " Ultonians^, read " were".
fin consequence of a mistake In tbc List furnished by the Secretary of the UnlTersity to
the Printer, the Dates given at the head of Lectures V. to XII. (pp. 98, WO, 140, 168, 181, 203,
229, 261), are incorrect ; (see Note at p. 820.) Lectures V., VI., VIL, VIII., IX, and X., were
In fact delivered in the Spring (March) of 1856. Lectures XL, XII., XIIL, and XIV., and
XVII. to XXI., were all delivered in the months of June and July, 1856. Lectures XV. and
XVI. (In the order now printed), were in fact delivered In March, 1855, after Lect. IV., and
are now restored to their proper order. Lect, V. (p. 98), as delivered (in March, 1866) opened
with an explanation, now, of course, omitted, so as to take up the sutject from the close of
the previous Lect the year before.]
LECTURE I
[DdlTOTwl Uth March. I8M.J
iNTBODUcnoN. Of Learning before S. Patrick's time. Of the lost Books,
and what is known of them. 1, The Cuilmenn. II. The Saltair of Tara. III.
Hie Book of the Uachongbhail IV. The Cin Droma Snechta, V. The Sean-
cka$ Mot. VL The Book of Saint Mochta. VII. The Book of Cuanu.
VIIL The Book of Dubh-da-leilhe, IX. The Saltair of Cashel. Of the
ATJating collections of ancient Manuscripts.
I BSLIEYE that the tendency may be called a law of our nature,
which induces us to look back with interest and reverence to
the monuments and records of our progenitors ; and that the more
remote and ancient such monuments and records are, the greater
is the interest which we feel in them. At no period, perhaps,
was this feeling of interest and reverence for the remains of
antiquity more generally cherished than it is amongst the civi-
lized nations of^ Europe in our own days. A desire to learn
and to understand the manners, the habits and customs, the
arts, the science, the religion, nay, even the ordinary pursuits,
of the nations of ancient times has largely seized on the minds
of hving men ; and the possession of even the few relics of
ancient art which have come down to our own century is
deemed of great value. Of how much higher and more special
interest and importance, therefore, must it be to us to under-
stand the language, and through it to become acquainted with
the actions, the range of thought, the character of mind, the
liabits, the tastes, and the every-day life of those to whom in our
own country those relics belonged, and who have pcrliaps taken
a prominent part in the ancient history of tlie nations among
wliom such vestiges of fonner days have been discovered !
The various subjects connected with historical and antiquarian
researches in general occupy at the present moment so promi-
nent a place in the literature of modern Europe, and their value
and importance are so generally recognized, that it is imneces-
sary to make any apology for undertaking here a course of lec-
tures such as that upon which we are now about to enter : nor
is it necessary, I am sure, to point out the special usefulness in
our own country, in particular, of any new attempt to develop
what may be learned of her early history.
t
2 OF THE LOST BOOKS OF ANCIENT ERINN.
LECT. I. _ In all other countries these departments of knowledge are
Ne lect of ^^^ earnestly and industriously cidtivated ; and not only in all
antiquarian that relates to the early state of those classic nations which
^^^' have filled the most distinguished place in the history of the
world, but also as regards nations of lesser prominence, where,
as a matter both of natural affection and duty, the labours of
the antiquarian are directed with zeal and diligence to eluci-
date the early condition of his own native land.
In Ireland, however, it is deeply to be regretted that as yet
we have not at all adequately explored the numerous valuable
monuments, and the great abundance of national records, which
have been bequeathed to us by our Celtic ancestors. But if in
our days the language, history, and traditions of our country
and our race, are not prized by Irishmen as they ought to be,
we know that this has not been always the case. Even a
limited acquaintance with our manuscript records will suffice to
show us how the national poet, the historian, and the musician,
as well as the man of excellence in any other of the arts or
sciences, were cherished and honoured. We find them indeed
from a very early period placed in a position not merely of
independence, but even of elevated rank; and their persons
and property declared inviolate, and protected specially by
the law. Thus, an Ollamh,^^^ or Doctor in Filedecht}^ when
ordained by the king or chief, — for such is the expression used
on the occasion, — was entitled to rank next in precedence to
the monarch himself at table. He was not permitted to lodge,
or accept refection when on his travels, at the house of any one
Ci) Otl^iVi, pronounced " Olliv".
(«^ It is very difficult to find an adequate translation in the English hinguage
for the words pLe-ocdc (pronounced nearly '"lillidecht", — the ch guttural), and
pie (which is pronounced ncjirly "tillcy"). The word /\/tr (the reader will
ohserve the pronunciation), is commonly rendered by the English word "Poet":
but it was in fact the general name api)lied to a Scholar in or Professor of Lite-
rature and Philosophy; the art of couiposition in verse, or '* Poetry", being in-
cluded under the former. Perhaps the best general name to represent the File
would be that of " Philosopher", in the Greek sense of the word ; but the term
would be too vague as it is understtKKl in nuKlern English. Instead therefore of
translating Filidecht *' Philosophy", and File " Philosopher", the Irish words
are retained in the following i)ages ; the filidecht^— m the knowledge of which
the degree of Oilamh was the highest, in that system of e<lucation which in
ancient Erinn precetled the Univer>ity system of after times,— included the
study of law, of history, and of philosophy properly so called, as well as of
languages, of music, of druidism, and of po(?try in all its departments, and the
practice of recitation in prose and verse; the wonl Jih\ taken by itself,
abstractedly, means genendly a Poet,— but in connection with the system of
learning the term is applied to a Sai (pron. *' See"), in some one or more of
the branches of learning included in the filedecht; so that an Oilamh would
be called File^ and so also a Drumcli, etc. ; so also would a Ferleiyhinn, or
Professor of classical learning, etc [See also Appendix, N6. I.]
OF THE LOST BOOKS OF ANCIENT ERINN. 3
below the rank of a FlaithS^ He, that was the Ollamh, was al- lect. i.
lowed a standing income of " twenty-one cows and their grass" '
in the chieftain's territory, besides ample refections for himself ict?iie5 men
and for his attendants, to the number of twenty-four ; including £-£}I;**°'
his subordinate tutors, his advanced pupils, and his retinue of
eenrants. He was entitled to have two hounds and six horses.
He was, besides, entitled to a singular privilege within his terri-
tory: that of conferring a temporary sanctuary from injury or
anest, by carrying his wand, or having it carried around or
over the person or place to be protected. His wife also en-
joyed certain other valuable privileges ; and similar privileges
were accorded to all the degrees of the legal, historical, musical
and poetic art below him, according to their rank.
Similar rank and emolimients, again, were awarded to the
Seanchaidhe^^*^ or Historian ; so that in this very brief reference
you will already obtain some idea of the honour and respect
which were paid to the national literature and traditions, in the
persons of those who were in ancient times looked on as their
guardians fix)m age to age. And, surely, by the Irishman of
the present day, it ought to be felt an imperative duty, which
he owes to his country not less than to himself, to learn something
at least of her history, her literature, and her antiquities, and, as
£ar as existing means will allow, to ascertain for himself what
her position was in past times, when she had a name and a
civilization, a law and life of her own.
In the present course of lectures, then, it ^vill be my duty to
endeavour to lay before you an outline of the Materials which
still exist for the elucidation of our National History. For, it
may be truly said that the history of ancient Erinn, as of
modem Ireland, is yet unwritten ; though, as we shall see in
the progress of this course, most ample materials still remain
in the Gaedhlicf^^ or Irish language from which that history may
be constructed.
Amongst the large quantities of MS. records which have
(»>The ipX^yt (now pronounced nearly "Flah") was a Noble, or Landlord-
Chief; a class in the ancient Irish community in many respects analogous to the
Xoble class in Germany, or in France before the Revolution of 1 7S9, tliouj^h the
rights and privileges of the ancient Irish were by no means those of the Feudal
law of the continent, which never prevailed in any form in ancient Erinn.
^*f Se^n6di'6e (now pronounced nearly " Shanchic*') was the Historian or
Antiquarian ; and, in his character of Reciter, also the Story Teller.
i*''rhe ancient Irish called themselves 5<\ei*iL (now pronounced nearly
"* G«ir), and their language 5Aei-6el5, or Gaedhlic (pron : *' Gaelic"). In modem
English the word *• Gaelic'* is applied only to that branch of the race which forms
the Celtic population of modem Scotland. But the word refers to the true
name of the entire race; and in these Lectures, accordingly, it is always used
to dengnatc the Milesian population of ancient Erinn.
1 B
4 OF THE LOST BOOKS OF ANCIENT ERIXX.
LECT. I. come down to our times, will be found examples of the lite-
'~ rature of very diftcrent periods in our history. Some, as there
in ancient is abundant evidence to prove, possess a clegree of antiquity
.^int vl-"^^^ ^^U remarkable, indeed, when compared ynth the similar
irick. records of other countries of modem Europe. Others SLgain
have been compiled within still recent times. Those MSS.
which we now possess belonging to the earliest periods are
themselves, wc have just reason to believe, either in great part
or in the whole, but transcripts of still more ancient works.
At what period in Irish history written records began to be
kept it is, perhaps, impossible to determine at present with pre-
cision. However, the national traditions assign a very remote
antiquity and a high degree of cultivation to the civilization of
our pagan ancestors. [Sec Appendix No. II.]
without granting to such traditions a greater degree of
credibility than they are strictly entitled to, it must, 1 think,
be admitted that the immense quantity of historical, legendary,
and genealogical matter relating to the pagan age oi ancient
Erinn, and which we can trace to the very oldest written docu-
ments of which we yet retain any account, could only have been
transmitted to our times by some form of written record.
Passing over those earher periods, however, for the present,
and first directing our inquines to an era in our history of
which wc possess copious records (though one already far re-
moved from modern times), it may be foimd most convenient
that I should ask your attention at the opening of this course
of Lectures to the probable state of learning in Erinn about the
period of the introduction of Christianity by Saint Patrick.
There is abundant evidence in the MSS. relating to this
period (the authority and credibility of which will be fully
proved to you), to show that Saint Patrick found on his coming
to Erinn a regularly defined system of law and policy, and a
fixed classification of the people according to various grades
and ranks, under tlie sway of a single monarch, presiding over
certain subordinate provincial kings.
We find mention likewise of books in the possession of the
Druids before the arrival of Saint Patrick ; and it is repeatedly
stated (in the Tripartite Life of the saint) that he placed
primers or lessons in the Latin* language in the hands of those
whom he wished to take into his ministry.
We have also several remarkable examples of the literary
eminence which was rapidly attained by many of his disciples,
amongst whom may be particularly mentioned, Benin^ or
Benignus ; Mochoe ; and Fiacc, of SlebhtS^ or Sletty. This last
OF THE LOST BOOKS OF ANCIENT ERINN 5
is the author of a biographical poem on the Life of tlie Apostle lect. i.
in the Gaedhlic language, a most ancient copy of which still I
exists, and which bears mtemal evidence of a high degree of low. of the *
perfection in the language at the time at which it was com- SlJli?' ^*^'
posed. And it is unquestionably in all respects a genuine and
native production, quite untinctured with the Latin or any other
foreign contemporary style or idiom.
There are besides many other valuable poems and other com-
positions referable to this period which possess much of the
same excellence, though not all of equal ability : and among
these are even a few still extant, attributed, and w^ith much
probability, to Dubthach (now pronounced "Duvach", and in
the old Norse sagas spelt Dw/iJAair), Ua Ltigair, chief poet of the
monarch io^^Aatre (pron : nearly as ''Layry"), who was vincle,
on the mother's side, and preceptor of the t^iacc just mentioned/*^
It is to be remarked here that, in dealing with these early
periods of Irish history, the inquirer of the present day has to
contend with difficulties of a more than ordinary kind. Our
isolated position prevented the contemporary chroniclers of other
countries from giving to the affivirs of ancient Erinn anything
more than a passing notice ; while many causes have combined
to deprive us of much of the light which the works of our own
annahsts would have thrown on the passing events of their day
in the rest of Europe.
The first and chief of these causes was the destruction and
mutilation of so many ancient writings during the Danish occu-
pation of Erinn; for we have it on trustworthy record, that
tliose hardy and unscrupulous adventurers made it a special
part of their savage warfare to tear, bum, and drown (as it is
expressed) all books and records that came to their hands, in
the sacking of churches and monasteries, and the plundering of
the habitations of the chiefs and nobles. And that they des-
troyed them, and did not take them away, as some have thought
(contrary to the evidence of our records), is confirmed by the
fact that not a fragment of any such manuscripts has as yet
been found among the collections of ancient records in Copen-
hagen, Stf3ckholm, or any of the other great northern reposi-
tories of antiquities that we are acquainted with.
Another, and, we may beUeve, the chief cause, was the oc-
^«> It has been thought proper to insert in the Appendix (No. Ill,) tlie text
(with translation) of three of these curious poems, as siKJcimens of the style
and composition of so very early a writer. They arc all on the sulycct of the
battles and triumphs of King Crimtlian^ son of Enna Ceinnselach (King of
Leinster in the time of the poet, i.e., the fifth century), and on those of Enna
himself.
6 OF TIIK LOST BOOKS OF ANCIENT ERINN.
LECT. i^ currence of the Anglo-Norman invasion so soon after the expul-
Ne icct of ^^^^ ^^ ^^^ Danes, and the sinister results which it produced
the language upou the literary as well as upon all the other interests of the
dern to«i°' country. The protracted conflicts between the natives and
their invaders were fatal not only to the vigorous resumption of
the study of our language, but also to the very existence of a
great part of our ancient literature. The old practice of repro-
ducing our ancient books, and adding to them a record of such
events as had occurred from the period of their first compilar
tion, as well as the composition of new and independent works,
was almost altogether suspended. And thus our national litera-
ture received a fatal check at the most important period of its
development, and at a time when the mind of Europe was be-
ginning to expand under the influence of new impulses.
Again, the discovery of printing at a subsequent period made
works in other languages so much more easy of access than
those transcribed by hand in the Irish tongue, that this also
may have contributed to the farther neglect of native composi-
tions.
Aided by the new political rule under which the coimtry,
after a long and gallant resistance, was at length brought, these
and similar influences banished, at last, almost the possibility of
cultivating the Gaedhlic literature and learning. The long-
continuing insecurity of life and property drove out the native
chiefs and gentry, or gradually changed their mmds and feel-
ings— the class which had ever before supplied liberal patrons
of the national literature.
Not only were the old Irish nobility, gentry, and people in
general, lovers of their native language and htcraturc, and
patrons of literary men, but even the great Anglo-Norman
nobles themselves who effected a permanent settlement among
us, appear from the first to have adopted what doubtless must
have seemed to them the better manners, customs, language,
and literature of the natives ; and not only did they mimificently
patronize their professors, but became themselves proficients in
these studies ; so that the Geraldines, the Butlers, the Burkes,
the Keatings, and others, thought, spoke, and wrote in the
Gaedhlic, and stored their libraries with choice and expensive
volumes in tliat language ; and they were reproached by their
own compatriots with having become " ipsis Hibemis Hiber-
niores", — *' more Irish than the Irish themselves''. So great
indeed was the value in those days set on literary and historical
documents by chiefs and princes, that it has more than once
happened that a much-prized MS. was the stipulated ransom of
a captive noble, and became the object of a tedious warfare ;
OF THE LOST BOOKS OF ANCIENT ERINN. 7
and this state of things continued to exist for several centuries, lect. i.
even after the whole framework of Irish society was shaken to _,
pieces by the successive invasions of the Danes, the Norsemen, cncouragwi
and the Anglo-Normans, followed by the Elizabethan, Crom- chieftai?"*""
wellian, and Williamite wars and confiscations, and accompanied j{^YheiJ ^^
by the ever-increasing dissensions of the native princes among tion«> indo-
themselves, disunited as they were ever after tlie fall of the ^*^ *^"***
supreme monarchy at the close of the twelfth century.
W ith the dispersion of the native chieis, not a few of the great
books that had escaped the wreck of time were altogether lost
to us ; many followed the exiled fortunes of their owners ; and
not a few were placed in inaccessible security at home. Indeed,
it may be said that after the termination of the great wars of
the seventeenth century, so few and inaccessible were the exam-
ples of the old Gacdhlic literature, that it was almost impos-
sible to acquire a perfect knowledge of the language in its
purity.
With such various causes, active and long-continued, in ope-
ration to effect its destniction, there is reason for wonder that
we should still be in possession of any fragments of the ancient
literature of our coimtry, however extensive it may once have
been. And that it was extensive, and comprehended a wide
range of subjects — justifying the expressions of the old writers
who spoke of *' the liosts of tlic books of Erinn" — may be judged
from those which liave survived tlie dcstriictivo ravages of in-
vasion, the accidents of time, and the other causes just cnmne-
rated. When we come to inquire concerning the fragments
which exist in England and elsewhere, they will be found to be
still of very large extent; and if wc judge the value and pro-
portions of the original literature of our Gaedhlic ancestors, as
we may fairly do, by what remains of it, we may be justly ex-
cused the indulgence of no small feeling of national pride.
Amongst the collections of Irish MSS. now accessible, many
of the most remarkable can be shown to possess a high degree
of antiquity ; and not only do they in many instances exhibit
internal evidence of having ])een compiled from still more ancient
documents, but this is distinctly so stated in reference to several
of the most valuable tracts contained in them.
We also find numerous relerences to books, of wliich we now
unfortunately possess no copies ; and these invaluable records, it
is to be feared, are now irrecoverably lost. Of the works the
originals of which have not come down to us, but with whose
contents we are made more or less familiar by references, cita-
tions, or transcripts in still existing MSS., I shall now proceed
to give you a brief general outline ; reserving for another lecture
LECT. I.
8 OF TUE LOST BOOKS OF ANCIENT ERINST.
the more detailed discussion of the subjects which they treat of,
their historic vaUie, and the place which they are entitled to
occupy in the reconstruction of our ancient literature.
Of the I. The first ancient book that I shall mention is one to which
I have found but one or two references, and which I must in-
troduce by a rather circuitous train of evidence.
In the time of Senchan (pron. " Shcncan"), then Chief Poet
of Erinn, and of Saint Ciaran (pronounced in English as if
written " Kicran''), of Cluain mic Nois, or Clonmacnoise, — ^that
is about A.D. 580, — Senchan is stated to have called a meeting
of the poets and learned men of Erinn, to discover if any of
them remembered the entire of the ancient Tale of the Tdin bo
Chuaihjne^ or the Cattle Spoil or Cattle plunder of Cuailgne,^'^
a romantic tale foimded upon an occurrence which is referred
to the beginning of the Christian Era.
The assembled poets all answered that they remembered but
fragments of the Tale ; whereupon Senchan commissioned two
of his own pupils to travel into the country of Letha to learn
the Tale of the Tain, which the Saoi, or Professor, had taken to
the East after the Cuilmenn [or the great book written on
Skins].
The passage is as follows (see original in Appendix, No. FV.) :
** The FiUs of Erinn were now called together by Senchan
Torpeist^ to know if they remembered the Tdin b<i Chuailgni
in full ; and they said that they knew of it but fra^ents only,
Senchan then spoke to his pupils to know wluch of them
* would go into the countries of Letha to learn the Tdin^ which
the Sai had taken 'eastwards' after the Cuilmenn, Emin^,
the grandson of Ninine, and Muirgen, Senchan's own son, set
out to go to the East". [Book of Leinster (H. 2. 18. T.C.D.),
fol. 183, a.]
This, to be sure, is but a vague reference, but it is sufficient
to show that in Senchan's time there was at least a tradition
that some such book had existed, and had been carried into
Letha, the name by which Italy in general, and particularly
that part of it in which Rome is situated, was designated by
ancient Irish writers. Now the carrying away of this book is
a circumstance which may possibly have occurred during or
shortly subsequent to St. Patrick's time. And so, finding this
reference in a MS. of such authority as the Book of Lemster
(a well-known and most valuable compilation of the middle
of the twelfth century), I could not pass it over here.
^'^ CuAilgne (Cuailgne), a district now called Cooley, in the modern county of
Louth.
OF TUB LOST BOOKS OF ANCIENT ERINN. 9
I remember but one other reference to a Book known by the lect. i
name of Cuibnenn: it occurs in the " Brehon Laws", and m an
ancient Irish Law Glossair, compiled by the learned Dubhal- saltan o
tach Mae Firhisigh (Duald Mac Firbis), and preserved in the ^^^
Library of T.C.D. (classed H. 5. 30.), in which the Seven Orders
(or degrees) of " Wisdom" are distinguished and explained.
(Wisdom, I should tell you, here technically signifies liistory
and antiquity, sacred and profane, as well as the whole range of
what we should now call a collegiate education.) It is in these
words : —
" Dniimcli^'^ is a man who has a perfect knowledge of wis-
dom, from the greatest Book, which is called Cuilracnn, to the
smallest Book, which is called * Ten Words* [Deich m-Breithiry
that is ' the Ten Commandments' ; a name given to the Penta-
teuch], in which is well arranged the good testament which
God made unto Moses". — [See Appendix, No. V.]
The Cuilmenn here spoken of is placed in opposition to the
Books of Moses, as if it were a repertory of history or other
matter concerning events entirely apart from those contained
in the sacred volume.
n. The next ancient record which we shall consider is one
about the authenticity of which much doubt and imcertainty
have existed in modem times ; I allude to the Saltair of Tara,
the composition of which is referred to the third century.
The oldest reference to this book that I have met with is to
be found in a poem on the map or site of ancient Tara, written
by a very distinguished scholar, Cuan O'Lochain, a native of
\Vestmeath, who died in the year 1024. The oldest copy of
O'Lochain s verses that I have seen is preserved in the ancient
and very curious topographical tract so well known as the
Dinnsenchas (pron: nearly "Diiinshanacus"), of which several
ancient MS. eoitions have been made from time to time. The
une from which I am about to quote is to be ibund in the Book
of Ballymote, a magnificent volume compiled in the year 1391,
and now deposited among the rich treasures of the Royal
"•> t)|\tiiTncVi, i.e.y he who has (or knows) the top ridge (or highest range)
of learning; a won! compounded of '0|\uitn, the ridge of a hill, or the back
of a person, or the ridge of the roof of a house ; and cU, a form of cleid,
the column, or tree, which in ancient times supported the house ; and the man
who was a •o]\uinicU was suppose*! to have climbed up the pillar or tree of
learning to its very ridge or top, and was thus qualified to be a treixteiginn —
a Professor, or man qualified to tench or superintend the teaching of the whole
course of a college education. [The entire passage, in which the " St.'ven
Orders of WiBdom** are separately expLiined, will be found, with translation,
in the Appendix, No. V.J
10 OF THE LOST BOOKS OF ANCIENT ERINN.
LECT. I. Irish Academ]^. The following extract (the original of which
, will be found in the Appendix, No. VI.) from tne opening of
Poem on" ' OXochain's most valuable poem contains somewhat more than
^*^ an allusion to the Salt air of Tara: —
Temair,^®' choicest of hills,
For [possession of] which Erinn is now devastated,
The noble city of Cormac Son of Art,
Who was the son of great Conn of the hundred battles :
Comiac, the prudent and good,
Was a sage, &Jile (or poet), a prince:
Was a righteous judge of the Fene-men,^*°^
Was a good fncnd and companion.
Cormac gained fifty battles :
He compiled the Saltair of Temur.
In that Saltair is contained
The best summary of history ;
It is that Saltair which assigns
Seven cliief kings to Erinn of harbours ;
They consisted of the five kings of the provinces, —
The monarch of Erinn and his Deputy.
In it arc (written) on either side.
What each provincial king is entitled to.
What the king of Temur in the east is entitled to.
From the king of each great musical province.
The synchronisms and chronology of all,
The kings, with each other [one with another] all ;
The boundaries of each brave province,^"'
From a cantred up to a great chieftaincy.
This important poem, which consists altogether of thirty-two
quatrains, has been given (from tlie MS. H. 3. 3 in the Library
(9'CetnAii% {.e. CeAi^ui]>, is the nominative : CcAtVi^vAd, the genitive, which is
pronounced very nearly Tdra^ as the place is now called in En^i^lish. This
celebrated hill is situated in the present county of Meath, but a few miles to
the west of Dublin. The remains of the ancient palace of the Kings of Erinn
arc still visible upon it. (See the admirable Memoir upon these remains pub-
lished by Dr. Petrie in the eighteenth vol. of the Transactions of the Rioyal
Irish Academy, in which a detailed map of the ruins is given.) It is more than
probable that this poem was written in the year 1001, when Brian Boroimki
showed the first symptoms of a design to dethrone King Maelscachlainn or
Malacliy.
(10) " Fene-men'\ — ^These were the farmers; and what is meant therefore is
that Cormac was a righteous Judge of the " Agraria Lex** of the Gaels.
t">This line has been translated **The boundaries of each province from
the hill^ ; but after much consideration I have clearly come to the conclusion
that the word in the original is intended for ro-6puAi§, or |ro-di\uAii6, hrave^
valiant, hardy^ and not po ^uAid, from the hiiL
OF THE LOST BOOKS OF ANCIENT ERINN. 11
of Trinity College), with an English translation, by our dis- lbct. i.
tingmshed countrjrman. Doctor Petrie, in his valuable Memoir ^
of Tcmair, or Tara, published in the eighteenth volume of the of "s«lul^^
Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy, p. 143.
The Book of Ballymote, in the Library of the Royal Irish
Academy [at fol. 145, a. a.], and the Yellow Book of Lecan, in
that of Trinity CJoUcge, Dublin [classed H. 2. 16.] at col. 889,
both contain a curious article on the excellence of Cormac
Mac Art as a king, a judge, and a warrior, from which I may
extract here the foUowmg passage as also referring to the Saltair
of Tara [see Appendix, Ko. VII.] : —
" A noble work was performed by Cormac at that time,
namely, the compilation of Cormac s Saltair, which was com-
posed by him and the Seanchaidhe, [or Historians] of Erinn,
mcluding Fintan, Son of Bochra, and Fithil, the poet and
judge [lK)th distinguished for ancient lore]. And their syn-
chronisms and genealogies, the succession of their kings and
monarchs, their battles, their contests, and their antiquities,
from the world s beginning down to that time, were written ;
and this is the Saltair of Temair, which is the origin and
fountain of the Historians of Erinn from that period down to
this time. This is taken from the Book of the Uachong-
bhair.
Dr. Petrie, in his remarks on the Saltair or Psalter of Tara
(Transact. R. I. A., vol. xviii., p. 45), observes that " the very
title given to this work is sufficient to excite well-founded sus-
picion of its antiquity''. His meaning evidently is, that the
title of Saltair appears clearly to imply a knowledge of the
Holy Scriptures, and can scarcely have been selected as the
title of liis work by a heathen author.
We do not, however, anywhere read that the name of
Psalter or Saltair, was given to this work by its compiler. We
know that in later times the celebrated King-Bishop Cormac
Mac CuUinan gave the same name of Saltair to the great shni-
lar collection made by him about the close of the nmth or be-
ginning of the tenth century. Did he call his compilation, or
was it called by otlnTS, after the Saltair of Tara, compiled by
the older Cormac in the third century ? Or even if we suppose
the name of Saltair or Psalter to have originated with the
Cliristian Cormac, the same name may have been afterwards
given to the older work, from the similar natiu-e of its con-
tents, and from its ha\nng been compiled by another Cormac.
If the one was worthy of being named Psalter of Cashel, as
having been compiled at the command of a King of Cashel,
the otlier was equally entitled to the name of Psalter of Tara,
12 OF TUE LOST BOOKS OF ANCIENT ERINX.
LECT. I. having been compiled hy a Kinff of Tara. There was time
Dr Petiie ^^^^g^ from the bcgimiing of the tenth century to the time
owthe we first find it mentioned under the name of Saltair and Psalter
of Tara, to give full currency to tlie title ; and this supposition
may, in part, perhaps, furnish an answer to another of Dr.
Pe trie's difficulties, viz., that this book has not been quoted,
nor any extract from it given, in any of our antient Irish au-
thorities, although the Saltair of Cashel is frequently cited by
them. Perhaps they have quoted it, althou<jh under other
names, not yet ascertained by us to be identical with it, the
name of Saltair of Tara not having been in their time imiver-
sally adopted as appUcablc to it. But a better answer to the
difiiculty is probably to be found in the fact, that the Saltair of
Tara had perished befoi*e the twelfth or thirteenth century, and
consequently was inaccessible to the compilers of the Books of
Ballymote, Lecan, Hy Many, etc. For in the passage just
quoted from the Book of Ballymote, its contents are described
on the authority of the Book of the Uachongbhail; whilst Cuan
O'Lochain, writing three centuries before, speaks of it (and
under the name of Saltair of Tara) as being in his time extant.
It follows, then, beyond all reasonable doubt, that whether
or not the name of Saltair or Psalter was originally given to
this compilation, such a compilation existed, and that in the
beginning of the eleventh century it was in existence, under
the name of Saltair of Tara, and believed to have been collected
under the patronage of Cormac Mac Art, who died in the
year 266.
Before I leave the subject of the " Saltair**, I cannot but
observe, that the Rev. Dr. Keating also, a most learned Graedhlic
scholar, gives an explanation of the word quite in consonance
with the preceding remarks. In the Preface to his History of
Ireland he tells us that History in ancient times was all written
in verse, for its better security, and for the greater facility of
committing it to memory ; and he goes on to refer to the Saltair
of Tara in the following words [see original in Appendix, No.
VIII.]:—
"And it is because of its having been written in poetic
metre, that the chief book which was in the custody of the
Ollamh of the King of Erinn, was called the * Saltair of Temair';
and the Chronicle of holy Cormac Mac Cullinan, * Saltair of
Cashel'; and the Clironicle of Aengus CeilS Di [or the
** Culdee''], * Saltair-na-Rann! [that is, ** Saltair of the Poems,
or Verses"] ; because a Salm [Psalm] and a Poem are the
same, and therefore a Salterium and a Duanairi [book of
poems] are the same".
OF THE LOST BOOKS OF ANCIENT ERINN. 13
m. Of the next in order of the lost books, the Book of lbct. r.
THE Vachongbhail (pron: "ooa cong-wall"), ahnost nothing is 0^^,^^
known beyond the bare name. The passage just quoted from ^^ of
the Book of Bally mote and from the Yellow Book of Lecan, bhaxjl**"*
was copied into those MSS. from the lost book itself, accord-
iig to the entry ; but what was the age of the book at that
*^ it is now impossible to determine. The O'Clerys, how-
wver, .:^<?ntion that they had access to it when compiling their
Bo^ic o- rh'* Invasions of Erinn, that is in the year lOSO or
J Col. Ai»«i Keating, in the Second Book of his History,
njoutioF)^ riio Book of the Udchonghhail among the very ancient
book!" t.,- transcripts of very ancient books which were still
extant i*-. his own time, and of which he had made use. It was
probably of the age of the Book of Leinstcr, and kept at Kil-
daie in 1626.
IV. The next book of considerable antiquity that we find c[j,*^boma
reference to is that called the Cin Dkoma SyEcnTA, or Cin sxechta.
of Drom Snechta. The word Cin (pron: in Engl. "Kin")
is explained in our ancient Glossaries as signifying a stave
of five sheets of vellum: and the name of tnis book would
signify, therefore, the Vellum-stave Book of Drom Snechta.
The words Drom Snechta signify the snow-capped hill, or
mountain ridge, and it is believed to have been the name
of a mountain situated in the present county of Monaghan.
The Cin of Drom Snechta is quoted in the Book of Bally-
mote [fol. 12 a.] in support of the ancient legend of the ante-
diluvian occupation of Erinn by the Lady Baubha, who is
however in other Books called Cesair (pron: **Kcsar"). There
are also two references to it in the Book of Lecan. The first
of the*«e [fol. 271 b.] is in the same words preserved in the
liook of Ballymote : *' From the Cin of Drom Snechta is [taken]
this little [bit] as far as Cesair". — [See Appendix, No. IX.J
The second is [fol. 77 b., col. 2] where the writer says in sum-
ming up the genealogies of some of the families of Connacht,
that he compiled them ironi the Chronicles of the Gaedhil : —
" We have collected now this genealogy of the Ui-Diaj*mada
out of the Chronicles of the Gaedliil, and out of Cormac's Saltair
at Ca^hel, and out of the Book of DuudaleatJujIdas [Down-
Satrick], and out of the liooks of Flann Mainistrech [Hann of
lonasterboice] , and out of the Cin of Drom Snechta, and out
of the annals and historical books [of Erinn], until we have
brought it all together here". — [See Appendix, No. X.]
The same valuable book quotes the Cin Drama Snechta
again by direct transcript [at folio 123 a.], where it gives, first,
14 OF THE LOST BOOKS OF ANCIENT ERINN.
LECT. I. the genealogies of the chieftains of the ancient Rudrician race
Emi th ^^ Ulster, in the ordinary way in which they are found in
writer of the Other boolcs of the same and of a previous period; and it then
AH^dua!^ gives a different version, saying : — " The Cin of Drom Snechta
says that it is (as follows) it ought to be". — [See Appendix,
No. XI.] This has reference to the pedigrees of the Irian race
of Ulster, and immediately to that of the celebrated Knight of
the Craebh Ruadh, or Royal Branch, Conall Ceamacli.'"'
A short accoimt of the Destruction of Bruiahean Da Derpa
(The Court of Da Dcrga), and the death of the monarch C'o-
nair^ M6r, is quoted from the Cin of Drom Snechta in LeaUiar
na h'Uidfire, {ol. 67 a.; and again, the Account of the biith of
Cuchulainn, at fol. 80 b. from the same book.
Doctor Keating, in his History, when introducing the Mile-
sian colonists, gives their descent from Magog, the son of
Japhet, on the authority of the Cin of Drom Snechta, which,
he states, was compiled before Saint Patrick's mission to Erinn.
His words are : ** We will set down here the branching off of
the race of Magog, according to the Book of Invasions (of Ire-
land), wliich was called the Cin of Drom Snechta, and it was
before the coming of (St.) Patrick to Ireland the author of
that book existed". — [See Appendix, No. XII.] What autho-
rity Dr. Keating had ibr this statement we know'not, as imfor-
tunately he has not given it; and the only reference to the
author's name that I have myself ever foimd is in a partially
effaced memorandum in the Book of Leinster. This memo-
randum is written in the lower margin of a page [fol. 230 b.],
which contains genealogies of several of the chieftain lines of
Ireland and Scotland.
There is apparently but one word — the name of the writer —
illegible at the beginning of this memorandiun ; and with this
word provisionally restored, the note woulc^read thus: —
" [Eriiln, son of] Duach [that is], son of the King of Con-
nacht, an Ollamhy and a prophet, and a profe.«^or in history, and
a professor in \visdora, it was he that collected the Genea-
logies and Histories of the men of Erinn in one book, that is,
the Cin Droma Snechta^ — [See Appendix, No. XIII.]
The Duach here referred to (who was probably still alive at
the time of Saint Patrick's coming) was the son of Brian, son
of the Monarch Eochaidh MuighmJiedhoin^ who died a.d. 366.
(Tliis Eochaidh was also the father of Niall of the Nine Ho«4-
(is) The chiefs whose pedigrees are here collected are those whose names ap-
pear iu the ancient 8t«)ry of Deirthxj and the tra^cal death of the sons of Uis-
neach, of which the Gaelic Society of Dublin published an inaccurate \'cr8ion
in the year ib08
OF THE LOST BOOKS OF ANCIENT ERINN. 15
tages, who was the father of Laeghairi^ the Monarch of Ermn lect. i.
at the time when Saint Patrick came on his mission in the year ^^ ^^
43f). Duach had two sons — Eoghan Srem, who succeeded tea in the
him as King of Connacht and Emln. atcrl^"^^*"
A descendant in the fourth generation of this Duach was
King of Connacht, and a Christian, namely, Duach Tenffumha,
or Duach the sweet-tongucd, who died, according to the Ann-
uals of the Four Masters, a.d. 499, leaving an only son, Senach,
who was the ancestor of the OTlahertys of West Connacht.
Now, as there are but two of the name of Duach to be found
in the whole line of the Kings of Connacht (of whom the first
was a pagan and the second a Christian), the compiler of the
Gin of Drom Snechta must have been the son of one or other;
and as the tradition concerning the book is, that it was written
before Patrick's time, it is pretty clear, if we assume tliis tradi-
tion to be correct, that the son of Duach Galach was the com-
piler. Finally, as his elder son, Eoghan Srem, succeeded him as
king, it appears to me very probable that his younger son, Emfn,
was the author of the Cin of Drom Snechta. This would fairly
enough bear out the statement which Keating has put forward.^ "^
Dr. Keating makes another reference to the Cin^ where, in
speaking of the schools said to have been instituted by Fenius
Farsaidhj he says : —
** Fenius sets up schools to teach the several languages, on the
Plain of Seanar, in the city which the Cin Dro^na Sneachta calls
Eothona, as the poet says", etc. — [See Appendix, No. XV.]
It has been already observed tliut the ancient book called the
Lenbhar na h-Uidhre (wliich is in some part preserved in a
M.S. of circa a.d. 1100, bearing the same name, in the Library
of the Royal Irish Academy) contains a reference to the Cin
of Drom Snechta. And to this very old authority may be added
that of the Book of Leinster, in wliich (at fol. 149 b.) occurs
the follo^vlng curious passage : —
** From the Cin of Drom Snechta, this below. Historians
fay that tliere were exiles of Hebrew women in Erinn at the
"*' While thene sheets were passing throu^jh the press (Aiicrust, 1858), I took
BdvantH;;e of an nnusually bright day to make another careful examination of
the tiiucf-blackened leaf of the Book of Leinster, in which this curious entry
apiKsirs. 1 have this time had the satisfaction of Ix^ing ai)le to make out perfectly
all the words, except the very first — tlie name of the son of Duach ; and this
name itself, though not so clear as the remaindiT of the sentence, is, in my
opinion, e<|ually unmistakeable. To my eyes it is certainly e^nin. It will be
olwerved. «m reference to the original (ui the Ai»pendix;, that there is no word
between Emin and Duach, The word triAc, " ^on", which should have In^en
written here, seems to have been accidentally omitted by the scribe. The
word however occurs only once, that is, after *' Duach". The sentence reads
literally: "Ernin [of] Duach, [that is] son of the King of Connacht", — Dtiach
Hub.
16 OF THE LOST BOOKS OF ANCIENT ERINN.
_ coming of the sons of Milesius, who had been driven by a sea
^ ^^^ tempest into the ocean bjr the Tirren Sea. They were in Erinn
se»cha» before the sons of Milesius. They said, however, to the sons
of Milesius [who it would appear pressed marriage on them]
that they preferred their own country, and that they would not
abandon it without receiving dowry for alliance with them. It
is from this circumstance that it is the men that purchase wives
in Erinn for ever ; whilst it is the husbands that are purchased
by the wives tliroughout the world besides". — [See Appendix,
No. XVI.]
This short extract is found also in a much longer and very
curious article in the Book of Lecain [fol. 181 b.J, and there
can be little doubt that both MSS. followed the original in the
Cin of Drom Snechta.
V. The next ancient written work that we find ascribed to
this early period is the Senchas Mor (pron : " Shanchus m6r''),
or Great Law-Compilation ; which was made, according to the
Annals of Ulster, in the year 439, imder the direction of nine
eminent persons, consisting of three kings, three bishops, and
three Files^ [see ante^ note (2)]. The three chief personages
engaged in this great work were JLaeghaire, the Monarch of
Ennn ; Patrick, the Apostle of Erinn ; and Ros, the Chief Fil4
of Erinn.
A large portion, if not the whole, of this work has come down
to us by successive transcriptions, dating from the close of the
thirteenth, or beginning of the fourteenth, to the latter part of
the sixteenth century.
In the account of this work, generally prefixed to it, and
which is in itself of great antiquity, we are told that it was
Ros, the poet, that placed before Saint Patrick tlie arranged
body of the previously existing Laws of Erinn ; that the Saint
expunged from them all that was specially antichristian or
otherwise objectionable, and proposed such alterations as would
make them harmonize with the new system of religion and morals
which he had brouglit into the country ; that these alterations
were approved of, adopted, and embodied in the ancient
code ; and that code thus amended was established as the Na-
tional Law throughout the land.
The great antiquity of this compilation is admitted by Dr.
Petrie, in his Memoir on Tara, already alluded to ; but that the
professed authors of it could possibly have been brought toge-
having been the King of Connacht. In the Appendix (No. XIV.) will be
found the pedigree of Duach Galnch, who is by mistake confounded with his
descendant Duach Tengumha^ a succeeding King of Connacht, in the note (p)
at p. 161 of Dr. O'Donovan's Annals of the Four Masters, under the year 491>.
OF THE LOST BOOKS OF ANCIENT EBINN. 17
tfaer at the time of its reputed compilation, he denies, as did lect. i^
Dr. Lanigan before him. Every year's investiffation of our ^
ancient records, however, shows more and more their veritable ubmry of
character; and I trust that the forthcoming Report of the o'lSE^
Brehon Law Commission, of which Dr. Petrie is a member, ^"'^^•
will remove the excusable scepticism into which the caution
of the more conscientious school of critics who succeeded the
reckless theorists of Vallancey's time, has driven them. I believe
it will show that the recorded account of this great revision of
the Body of the Laws of Erinn is as fully entitled to confidence
as any other well-authenticated fact of ancient history.
But this subject (one obviously of great importance) will bo
thoroughly discussed in the forthcoming publication by the
Brehon Law CJommission, of this great momunent of our ancient
civilization ; so that you will understand why the subject cannot
with propriety be entered into further here. So far as the ques-
tion of the antiquity of the contents of the Senchas Mor is
concerned, I may only observe that Cormac Mac Cullinan often
quotes passages irom this work in his Glossary, which is known
to have been written not later than about the close of the
ninth century.
There is a curious accoimt of a private collection of books, " of
all the sciences", as it is expressed, given in a note to the Felin^,
or metrical Festology of Aengus CeI(S Di^ or the " Culdee" ; it
is to this effect : Saint Colimi Cille having paid a visit to Saint
Longarad of Ossory, requested permission to examine his
books, but Longarad having refused, Colum then prayed that
his friend should not profit much by his refusal, whereupon tluj
books became illegible immediately after his death ; and tliese
books were in existence in that state in tlie time of the origi-
nal author, whoever he was, of the note in the Feliri,
The passage (for the original of which see Appendix, No.
XVII.) IS as follows : it is a note to the stanza of the great poem,
for September 3 ; which is as follows : —
" COLMAN OF DrOM-FERTA,
Longarad, a shining sun;
Mac Nisse with his thousands,
From great Condere".
[Note.] — ** Longarad the whlte-leg^d, of Mogh Tuathat, in
the north of Ossory ( OsraighS) ; i.e , m Uihh Foirchellain ; ie •
in Magh Garad, in Disert Garad particularly, and in Cill
Gabhra in Sliabh Mairge, in Lis JLongarad. The * white-
1l
18 OF THE LOST BOOKS OF ANCIENT ERINN.
LECT I. legged*, i.e., from great white hair which was on his legs ; or his
Of the Book ^^8^ were transparently fair. He was a Suidh (Doctor or Pro-
of s.mocuta. fessor) in classics, and in history, and in judgment (law), and
in plulosophy \^filidechi\^ [see ante^ note (2)]. It was to him
Colum Cille went on a visit; and he concealed his books
from him; and Colum Cille Icfl a *word' [of imprecation]
on his books, i.e., 'May it not be of avail after thee', said
he, ' that for which thou hast shown inhospitality'. And this
is what has been fulfilled, for the books exist still, and no man
can read them. Now, when Longarad was dead, what the
learned tell us is, that all tlie book-satchels of Erinn dropped
[from their racks] on that night. Or they were the satchels
which contained tne books of sciences [or, professions] which
were in the chamber in which Colum Cnle was, that fell. And
Colum Cille and all that were in that house wondered, and
they were all astounded at the convulsions of the books,
upon which Colum Cille said : * Longarad \ said he, * in
Ossory, i.e., a 5at^"^ (Doctor) in every science [it is he] that has
died now\ * It will be long until that is verified', said Baithin.
* May your successor [for ever] be suspected, on account of
this', said Colum Cille ; et dixit Colum Cille : —
Lon is dead [Lon is dead] ;^^*^
To cm Garad it is a great misfortune ;
To Erinn vntli its countless tribes ;
It is a destruction of learning and of schools.
Lon has died, [Lon has died] ;
In cm Garad great the misfortune ;
It is a destruction of learning and of schools.
To the Island of Erinn beyond her boundaries".
However fabulous this legend may appear, it will suffice,
at all events, to show in what estimation books were held
in the time of the scholiast of the works of Aengus, and also
the prevalent belief in his time in the existence of an Irish
literature at a period so long antecedent to his own. The pro-
bability is that the books were so old at the time of this writer
as to be illegible, and hence the legend to account for their
condition.
<»*^ T]ie word occurs in the original 8o» — ^not spelled the same way in which it
appears just l»efore, probably owing to the carelessness of the scribe.
«»i>In ancient poetry, when the second half line was a repetition of the first,
it was ver>' seldom written, though it was always well understood that it ought
to be repeated. And in fact the metre would not be complete without this
repetition.
OF THE LOST BOOKS OF ANCIENT ERINN. 19
VI. There are some other ancient books quoted in the Annals lect. i.
of Ulster, of which one is called the Book of Saint Mochta, ofthcBook*
who was a disciple of Saint Patrick. This book is quoted at a.d. of ciaha,
527, but it is uncertain whether it was a book of general An- SaJiith**"
nals, or a Sacred Biographjr.
We also fibad mention of the Book of Cuana and the Book
of Duhh da leithe.
VII. The Book of Cuana, or Guana's Book of Annals, is
quoted for the Giht time in the Annals of Ulster, at the year
468, and repeatedly afterwards down to 610. The death of
a person named Cuana, a scribe of Tre6it (now Trevit, in
Meath), is recorded in the same Annals (of Ulster), at the year
738, after which year no quotation from Cuana's Book occurs in
these Annals ; whence it may be inferred that this Cuana was the
compiler of the work known as the Book of Cuana, or Cuanach.
VIII. The same Annals of Ulster quote, as we have already
said, the Book of Dubedaleitue^ at the years 962 and 1021,
but not after. There were two persons of this name : one of
them an Abbot, and the other a Bishop (of Armagh) ; the
former from the year i)u5 to the year 998, and the latter from
1049 to 1064 ; so that the latter must be presumed to have been
the compiler of the Book of Dubhdaleithe,
IX. Next after these, because of the certainty of its authors T^ili^of^*''
time, I would class the Saltair of Cashel, compiled by the ca8hei„
learned and venerable Cormac MacCuUinan, King of Munstcr
and Archbishop of Cashel, who was killed in the year 903.
At what time this book was lost we have no precise know-
ledge; but that it existed, though in a dilapidatca state, in the
year 1454, is evident from the fact, tliat there is in the Bodleian
Library in Oxford (Laud, 610), a copy of such portions of it as
could be deciphered at that time, made by Sedan, or Shane,
O'Clery for Mac Richard Butler. From the contents ol'this copy,
and from the frequent references to the original, for history and
genealogies foimd in the Books of Bally mote, Lccan, and otliers,
it must have been a historical and genealogical compilation of
large size and great diversity.
If, as there is every reason to believe, the ancient compila-
tion, so well known as Cormac's Glossary, was compik;d from the
interlined gloss to the Saltair, we may well feel tliat its loss is
the greatest we have suffered, so niuneroiis are tlie releronces
and citations of history, law, romance, druidism, mythology,
and other subjects in which this Glossary abounds. It is bc-
2 B
20 OF THE LOST BOOKS OF ANCIENT ERINN.
■.I. Bides invaluable in the study of Gaedhlic comparative philo-
u«t of th ^^Sy» ^ ^^^ author traces a great many of the words either by
iMtiNwka. derivation from, or comparison with, me Hebrew, the Greek,
the Latin, the British, and, as he terms it, the Northmantic
language ; and it contains at least one Pictish word [Cartoii], —
almost the only word of the Pictish language that we possess.
There is a small fragment of this Glossary remaining in the an*
cient Book of Leinster (which is as old as the year 1150), and a
perfect copy made about the year 1400 is preserved in the Royal
Irish Academy, besides two fragments of it in O'Clery's copy
of the Saltair already mentioned, the volume in the fiodleian
Library, at Oxford (Laud, 610).
Besides the several books enumerated above, and the pro-
bable dates of which we have attempted to fix, we find in
several existing MSS. reference to many other lost books,
whose exact ages and the relative order of time in which they
were composed are quite uncertain. But the references to
them are so numerous, and occur in MSS. of such different
dates, that we may readily believe them to have embraced a
tolerably extensive period in our history ; and it is highly pro-
bable that they connected the most ancient periods with those
which we find so well illustrated in the oldest manuscript re-
cords which have come down to us.
I do not profess to give here a complete enumeration of all
the books mentioned in our records, and of which we have now
no further knowledge, but the following list will be found to
contain the names of those which are most frequently referred to.
In the first place must be enumerated again the Cuilmenn;
the Saltair of Tara; The Cin Droma Snechta; the Book of
St. Mochta ; the Book of Ctuina; the Book of Dubhdaleithe;
and the Saltair of Cashel. Besides these we find mention of
the Leabhar buidhe Sldine^ or Yellow Book of Slane ; the ori-
ginal Leabhar na h-Uidhre; the Books oi Eochaidh OFlanna-
gain; a certain book known as tlie Book eaten by the poor
people in the desert; the Book of Inia an Duin; the Short
Book of Saint Buithe's Monastery (or Monasterboice) ; the
Books of Flann, of the same Monastery ; the Book of Flann
of Dungeimhin (Dungiven, Co. Derry) ; the Book of Dun da
Leth Ghlas (or Downpatrick) ; the Book of DoirS (or Derry) ;
the Book of Sabhall Phatraic (or Saull, Co. Down) ; the Book
of the Uachongbhail (Navan, probably); the Leabhar dubh
Malaga^ or Black Book of Saint Molaga ; the Leabhar buidhe
Moling^ or Yellow Book of Saint Moling ; the Leabhar buidhe
Mhie Murchadha^ or Yellow Book of Mac Murrach; the
OF THE LOST BOOKS OF ANCIENT ERINN. 21
LeabhoT Arda Macha^ or Book of Armagh (quoted by Keat- lbct. i.
ing); the Ijeabhar ruadh Mhic Aediuigain^ or Red liook of ^
Mac Aedhagan or Mac Aegan ; the Leabhar breac Mhic Aedh- referred to
Matn, or Speckled Book of Mac Aeffan ; the Leabhar fada ^^ ^*^°«-
Ldthghlinney or Long Book of Leith^liim, or Leithlin; the
Books of O'Scoba <m Cluain Mic Nois (or Clonmacnois) ;
the Duil Droma Ceata^ or Book of Drom Ceat; and the
Leabhar Chluana Sost^ or Book of Clonsost (in Leix, in the
Queen's County).
Such, then, is a brief glance at what constituted probably
but a few of the books and records of Erinn which we are sure
must have existed, with perhaps three or four exceptions, an-
terior to the year 1100, and of which there are now no frag-
ments known to me to remain, though some of them are
referred to in works of comparatively modem date.
The Kev. Greoffiy Keating (Parish Priest of Tubrid, near
Qonmel) compiled, about the year 1630, from several ancient
MSS. then accessible, a History of Erinn, from its earliest
ascribed colonization, down to the Anglo-Norman Invasion in
theyear 1170. This book is written in the modified Gaedhlic
of Keating's own time ; and although he has used but little dis-
crimination in his selections from old records, and has almost en-
tirely neglected any critical examination of his authorities, still
his book is a valuable one, and not at all, in my opinion, the
despicable production that it is often ignorantly said to be.
Some of the lost works that I have mentioned are spoken of,
and even quoted by this writer. He refers to the following
books as being extant in liis own time ; namely, the Book of
Armagh (but evidently not the book now known under this
name) ; the Saltair of Cashel ; the Book of the Uachongbhail; the
Book of Cluain Eidhneach (in Leix) ; the Saltair na Rann (writ-
ten by Aengus Ceile De); the Book of GUnn da Locha; the
Leabhar na h-Uidhre, which was written originally at Cluain
Mic Nois^ or Clonmacnoise, in Saint Ciaran's time ; the Yellow
Book of Saint Moling ; the Black Book of Saint Molaga ; the Red
Book of Mac Aegan ; and the Speckled Book of Mac Aegan.
Of this list of Books, all of winch were certainly extant in
1630, we now know only the Saltair na Rann, which still exists
in the Bodleian Library at Oxford.
Prefixed to the Leabhar Gabhdla, or Book of Invasions, com- . .
piled by the O'Clerys in 1630 or 1631, there is a list of the
ancient books from which that compilation was made. They
were the following: — The Book of BaiU ui MhaoilchonairS
or Bally Mulconroy, which had been copied by Maurice
22 OF THE LOST BOOKS OF ANCIENT EBINN.
LiicT. 1. O'Maelchonaire, or O'Mulconroy (who died in 1543), out of
g^j^^ the Leahhar na h-Uidhre, which had been written at Cluain
referred to Mic Nois (Clonmacnois), in the time of Saint Ciaran ; the Book
ii«Lfr»."*' oi Baile ui Chleirigh, or Bally Clery, which was written in the
time of Maeheehlainn M(fr, or Malachy the Great, son of Domh-
nall, monarch of Erinn (who began his reign a.d. 979) ; the
Book of Muintir Duibhghenainn^ or of the O'Duigenans of
Seanchuach in Tir Oililla, or Tirerrill, in the county of Sligo,
and which was called the Leahhar Ghlinn da Locha^ or Book
of Glenndaloch ; and Leahhar na A- Uachongbhala, or the Book
of the Uachongbhail ; with many other histories, or historical
books besides.
Of this list of Books not one is known to me to be now extant.
The ever to be remembered Michael O'Clery, and his fel-
low-labourers (who together with him are familiarly known as
the Four Masters), insert in their Annals a list of the ancient
books from which that noble work was compiled. They were
the following : — The Book of Cluain Mic Nois, or Clonmac-
noise ; the Book of the Island of the Saints in Loch Ribh (or
Loch Roe), in the Shannon ; the Book of Seanadh Mhic Magh-
ntua, in Loch Eiim^^ or Loch Erne; the Book of Muintir
Mhaoilchonairey or the O'Mulconroys ; the Book of Muintir
Duibh^henann^ or of the O'Duigenans, of Cill Ronain ; and the
Histoncal Book of Leacain Mic Fhirbhisigh, or Lecan Mac
Firbis. The Books of Cluain Mic Nois and of the Island of the
Saints come down but to the year 1225. The Book of the
O'Mulconroys came down to the year 1505. The Book of the
O'Duigcnans contained entries extending only from the year
900 to the year 1563. The Annals of Seanadh Mic Magh-
nusa (now called the Annals of Ulster) came down to the
year 1G32. The Four Masters had also a fragment of Cucai-
griche (a name sometimes Englished Peregrine), O'Clery's Book,
containing Annals from the year 1281 to the year 1537. The
Book of Maoilin 6g Mac Bruaideadha, or Maoilin the younger
Mac Brody, ef Thomond, containing Annals from the year
1588 to the year 1602, was also in their possession, as well as
Lugliaidh O'Clenr's Book, containing Annals from the year
1586 to 1603. This last book was probably that known at
the present day as the Life of Aedh Euadh, or Hugh Roe
O'Donnell ; which was written by this same Lughaidh O'Clery,
and from which the Four Masters have evidently taken all the
details given in their Annals relating to that brave and unfor-
tunate Jrrince.^'*^
fi6> A MS. copy of this work, in the handwriting of Cucogrj O'Clery, the
son of the original compiler, has been lately [1858] purchased by the Rev. Dr.
OF THE EXISTING COLLECTIONS OF MSS. 23
Of this list of Books (with the exception of the last men- lbct. i
tioned) not one is known to me to be now in existence except- ~ ~
ingthe Annals of Ulster, the copy o£ Lugaidh O'Clerys Book, ubrairof
TXJoAe by his son Cucogry , and tlie book which is now known S^Siii?^"
as the Book of Lecain, in the Royal Irish Academy, but which
at present contains notliing that could be properly called Annals,
though there are in it some pages of occurrences with no dates
attacned.
The language in which such a number of books was written
must have been highly cultivated, and found fully adapted to
the purposes of the historian, the poet, the la^^er, the physi-
cian, and the ecclesiastic, and extensively so used ; else it may be
fairly assumed that Aengus Ceile De, Cormac Mac Cullinan,
Eochaidh OTlannagan, Cuan OXochain, Flann of Saint Buithe'a
Monastery, and all the other great Irish writers from the seventh
to the twelfth century, who were so well acquainted with Latin,
then the universal mediimi, would not have employed the Gaedh-
hc for their compositions.
Notwithstanding, however, the irreparable loss of the before-
named books, there still exists an immense quantity of Gaedhlic
writing of great purity, and of the highest value as regards
the history of this country. And these MSS. comprise general
and national history ; civil and ecclesiastical records ; and abun-
dant materials of genealogy; besides poetry, romance, law, and
medicine; and some fragments of tracts on mathematics and
astronomy.
Tlie collection in Trinity College consists of over 140
volumes, several of them on vclhim, dating from the early part
of the twelfth down to the middle of the last century. There
are also in this fine collection beautiful copies of the Gospels,
known as the Books of Kells, and Durrow, and Dimnia's Book,
attributable to the sixth and seventh centuries ; the Saltair of St.
Ricemarch, bishop of St. David s, in the eleventh century, con-
taining also an exquisite copy of tlic Roman Martyrology ; and
a very ancient ante-Hieronymian version of tlic Gosiiels, the
history of which is unkno^^^l, but which is evidently an Irish MS.
of not later than the ninth century ; also the Evangelistarium of
St Moling, bishop of Ferns in the seventh century, with its an-
cient box ; and the fragment of another copy of the Gospels, of
the same period, evidently Irish. In tlic same library will
be foimd, too, the chief body of our more ancient laws and
Todd, S.F.T.C.Dm at the sale of the hooks of Mr. W. Monck Mason, in London,
*nd ii destined soon (if funds to secure it can be raised) to enrich still farther
the if^ndid collection of the Royal Irish Academy.
24 OF THE ESIdTING COLLECTIONS OF M90.
user, I, annals : all, with the exception of two tracts, written on vel-
In tiM ^^"^ ' *"^^» ^ addition to these invaluable volumes, many his-
Library of torlod and family poems of great antiquity, illustrative of the
thjiRoyai jjattles, the personal achievements, and the social habits of the
A«*d«ny' warriors, chiefs, and other distinguished personages of our early
history. There is also a large number of ancient historical and
romantic tales, in which all the incidents of war, of love, and of
social life in general, arc portrayed, often with considerable power
of description and great brilliancy of language : and there are
besides several sacred tracts and poems, amongst the most
remarkable of which is the Liber Hymnorum, believed to be
more than a thousand years old/''^ The Trinity College col-
lection is also rich in Lives of Irish Saints, and in ancient forms
of prayer ; and it contains, in addition to all these, many curious
treatises on medicine, beautifully written on vellum. Lastly,
amongst these ancient MSS. are preserved numerous Ossianic
poems relating to the Fenian heroes, some of them of very
great antiquity.
The next great collection is that of the Royal Irish Aca-
demy, which, though formed at a later period than that of Tri-
nity College, is far more extensive, and taken in connection
with the unrivalled collection of antiquities secured to this
country by the liberality of this body, forms a national monu-
ment of which we may well be proud. It includes some noble
old volumes written on vellum, aboimding in history as well as
poetry ; ancient laws, and genealogy ; science (for it embraces
several curious medical treatises, as well as an ancient astrono-
mical tract) ; grammar ; and romance. There is there also a
great body of most important theological and ecclesiastical com-
Ctions, of the highest antiquity, and in the purest style per-
^ 3 that the ancient GacdhUc l^guage ever attained.
The most valuable of these are original Graedhlic composi-
tions, but there is also a large amount of translations from the
Latin, Greek, and other languages. A great part of these
translations is, indeed, of a rcngious character, but there are
others from various Latin authors, of the greatest possible im-
portance to the Gaedlilic student of the present day, as they
enable him by reference to the originals to determine the value
of many now obsolete or obscure Gaedhlic words and phrases.
Among these latter translations into Irish, we find an exten-
sive range of subjects in ancient Mythology, Poetry, and His-
07) This invaluable MS. is in coarse of publication (a portion baring been
issued since the above lecture was delivered), bj the Irish Arclueoiogi-
cal and Celtic Society, under the able superintendence of the Bev. Dr. Todd.
OF THB EXISTING COLLECTIONS OF MS9. 25
tory, and the Classical Literature of the Greeks and Romans, lect. i
as well as many copious illustrations of the most remarkable j^gj, ^^
events of the Auddle Ages. So that any one well read in the various l
oomparativelj few existmg fragments of our Graedhlic Litera- ESguSdl"
tare, and whose education had been confined solely to this
source, woidd find that there are but very few, indeed, of the
great events in the history of the world, the knowledge of
which is usually attained through the Classic Languages, or
those of the middle ages, with which he was not acquainted.
I may mention by way of illustration, the Irish versions
of the Argonautic Expedition ; the Destruction of Troy ; the
Life of Alexander the Great ; the Destruction of Jerusalem ;
the Wars of Charlemagne, including the History of Roland
the Brave ; the History of the Lombards ; the almost contem-
porary translation into Gkedhlic of the Travels of Marco Polo,
etc., etc
It is quite evident that a Language which has embraced so
wide a neld of historic and other important subjects, must have
undergone a considerable amoimt of development, and must
have been at once copious and flexible ; and it may be ob-
served, in passing, that the very fact of so much of translation
into Irish having taken place, snows that there must have been
a considerable number of readers ; since men of learning would
not have translated for themselves what they could so easily un-
derstand in the original.
Passing over some collections of MSS. in private hands
at home, I may next notice that of the British Museum in
London, which is very considerable, and contains much valuable
matter; that of the Bodleian Library at Oxford, wliich, though
consisting of but about sixteen volumes, is enriched by some
most precious books, among which is the copy already alluded to
of the remains of the Saltair of Cashel, made in the year 1454 ;
and some two or three works of an older date. Isext comes
the Stowe collection, now in the possession of Lord Ash-
bumham, and wliich is tolerably well described in the Stowe
Catalogue by the late Rev. Charles O'Conor. There are also
in England some other collections in the hands of private indi-
viduals, as that of Mr. Joseph Monck Mason^'®^ in the neigh-
(!•) Thi« collection has been lately sold (1858)— since the preparation of tliit
lecture; and through the exertions of the Rev. Dr. Todd, F.T.C.D., two of the
most valuable MSS. contained in it have been secured for Ireland, and, if
funds can be procured, will probably be added to tlie collection of the Koyal
Irish Academy; the teAbA|\ t:eA]VMnAige, or Book of Fermoy, on vcllura,
and the copy before mentioned of Lughaidh O'CU'ry's Life of Ked Uugh
0*Donnell in the handwriting of Cucogry O'Clery.
20 OF THE EXISTING COLLECTIONS OF MSS.
LECT. I. bourhood of London, and that of Sir Thomas Phillipps in Wor-
Mss. on the ^^^tershire. The Advocates' Libraiy in Edinburgh contains a
Continent fcw important vohimes, some of which are shortly described in
the Highland Society's Report on MacPherson's Poems of
Oisin, published in 1794.
And passing over to the Continent, in the National or Im-
perial Library of Paris (which, however, has not yet been
thoroughly examined), there will be found a few Gaedhlic
volimies; and in Belgium (between which and Ireland such in-
timate relations existed in past times), — and particularly in the
Burgundian Library at Brussels, — there is a very important
collection, consisting of a part of the treasures formerly in the
possession of the Franciscan College of Louvain, for wnich our
justly celebrated Friar, Michael O'Clery, collected, by transcript
and otherwise, all that he could bring together at home of
matters relating to the ancient ecclesiastical history of his
coimtry.
MSS. In the Tlic Louvaiu collection, formed chiefly, if not wholly, by
si^sLU's, Fathers Hugh Ward, John Colgan, and Michael O'Clerjr, be-
in Borne. twccu the years 1G20 and 1640, appears to have been widely
scattered at the French Revolution. For there are in the Col-
lege of St. Isidore, in Rome, about twenty volumes of Gaedhlic
MSS., which we know at one time to have formed part of
the Louvain collection. Among these manuscripts now at
Rome are some of the most valuable materials for the study of
our language and history — the chief of which is an ancient copy
of the Felire Aengusa, the Martyrology, or Festology of Aengus
CMe Di^ (pron : " K.e\\ D<^'"), incorrectly called Aengus the
Culdee, who composed the original of this extraordinary work,
partly at Tamhlacht, now Tallaght, in the county of Dublin,
and partly at Cluain Eidhnech in the present Queen's County,
in the year 798. The collection contains, besides, the Festology
of Cathal M'Guire,^^*^ a work only known by name to the Irish
scholars of the present day ; and it includes the autograph of the
first volume of the Annals of the Four Masters. There is also
a copy, or fragment, of the Liber Hymnorum already spoken of,
and which is a work of great importance to the Ecclesiastical
History of Ireland; and besides these the collection contains
several important pieces relating to Irish History, of which no
copies are known to exist elsewhere. It may be hoped, there-
fore, that our Holy Father the Pope — ^who feels such a deep
interest in the success of this National Institution — will at no
distant day be pleased to take steps to make these invaluable
(19) This 18 probably a copy of Aengus^s Festology, witli additional Notes by
MacQuire, who died A.D. 1490.
OF THE EXISTING COLLECTIONS OF MSS 27
works accessible to the Irish student, by placing them within the lect. i.
walls of the Catholic University of Ireland, where only they can
be made available to the illustratioa of the early History of the
Catholic Faith in this country.
Lastly should be noticed the Latin MSS. from which Zeuss mss. descri
drew the materials for the Irish portion of his celebrated ^*^y^"^
Grammatica Celtica (Lipsiae, 1853). The language of the
Irish glosses in these codices is probably older, in point of
transcription, than any specimens of Irish now left in Ire-
land, excepting the few passages and glosses contained in
the Books of Armagh and Dimma, with the orthography and
grammatical forms of which the Zeussian glosses correspond
admirably. The following is a list of the Zeussian Codices
Hibemici, which, as Zeuss himself observes, are all of the
eighth or the ninth century, and were cither brought from
Iivland, or written by Irish monks in continental monasteries.
I. A codex of Priscian, preserved in the library [at St. Gall
in Switzerland, and crowded with Irish glosses, interlinear
or marginal, from the beginning down to page 222. A mar-
ginal gloss at p. 194, shows mat the scribe was connected
with Inis Madoc, an islet in the lake of Tcmpleport, coimty
Leitrim.
IL A codex of St. Paul's Epistles, preserved in the library
of the university of Wurzburg, and containing a still greater
nmnl)er of glosses than the St. Gall Priscian.
III. A Latin commentary on tlie Psalms, formerly attributed
to St. Jerome, but which Muratori, Peyron, and Zeuss concur
in ascribing to St. Columbanus. This codex, which is now
preserved m the Ambrosian library at Milan, was brought
thither from Bobbio. It contains a vast amount of Insh
glosses, and Avill probably, when properly investigated,^*^
throw more light on the ancient Insh language than any
other MS.
IV. A codex containing some of the venerable Bcde's works,
preserved at Carlsruhe, and formerly belonging to the Irish
monastery of Reichenau. This MS. contains, besides many
Irish glosses, two entiies which may tend to fix its date:
one is a notice of the death of Acd, king of Ireland, in the
year 817; the other a notice of the death of Muirchad mac
Mailedxdn at Clonmacnois, in St. Ciaran*s imda or bed.
V. A second codex of Priscian, also preserved at Carlsrulie,
***' Zctuts (Praef., xxxi.) mentions that he was unable to devote the neces-
lary tirae either to this MS. or to the fragment of an Irish codex preserved at
Turin, which, I believe, is a copiously glossed portion of St. Mark's Gospel.
28 OF THE EXISTING COLLECTIONS OF MS3.
LECT. 1. and brought thither from Rcichenau. It contains fewer Irish
Mss de«cri- g^^^^ ^^^^^ *^^ St. Gall Priscian.
bedbyZeuM. VI. A miscellaneous codex, preserved at St. Grail (No.
1395), and containing some curious charms against strangury,
headache, etc., which have been printed by Zeuss. Goibnenn
the smith, and Diancecht the leech, of the Ttuitlia Di Danann^
are mentioned in these incantations.
VII. A codex preserved at Cambray, and containing, besides
the canons of an Irish council held a.d. 684, a fragment of
an Irish sermon intermixed with Latin sentences. Tliis MS.
was written between the years 763 and 790. A fac-similej
but inaccurate, of this Irish fragment may be found in Appen-
dix A (unpublished) to the Report of the English Record Com-
mission.^"^
It is, I may observe in conclusion, a circumstance of great
importance, that so much of our ancient tongue should nave
been preserved in the form of glosses on the words of a lan-
guage so thoroughly knoAvn as Latin. Let us avail ourselves
of our advantages in this respect by collecting and arranging
the whole of these glosses, before time or accident shall have
rendered it difficult or impossible to do so.
I have thus endeavoured to place before you some evidences
of an early cultivation of the language and literature of Ire-
land. The subject would require much more extensive illus-
tration and much more minute discussion than can be given to
it in a public Lecture; and time did not allow more than a
rapid enumeration of the more ancient works, and a brief
glance at their contents, such as you have heard. Sufficient,
however, has been said in opening to you the consideration of
the subject, to show what an immense field lies before us, and
what abundant materials still exist for the illustration of the
History and Antiquities of our country, and, above all, of that
most glorious period in our Annals, the early ages of Catholi-
cism in Ireland.
The materials are, I say, still abundant: we want but men
able to use them as they deserve.
(*i> This Sormon is printed entire, together with corrections and a translation
fornished by me some years ago (through the Bey. J. Miley, then President
of the Irish College in Paris), in the Bibliotkique de PEcole dea Chartes, 8™«
serie, tome 8™** Jauy.-Feyr., 1S52, 3™* Uvraison, p. 193. [Paris: Dumoulin,
1862.]
LECTURE II.
[DellTarad 15th llv<^ 1SS&.]
Of the CvUmeMM. Of the 7am bo ChuaUgne. Of Cormac Mac Airt, Of
the Book of Acaill.
In speaking of the earliest written documents of ancient Erinn, of the
of which any account has come down to us, I mentioned that coiuiEinf.
we had incidental notices of the existence, at a very remote
period, of a Book called the Cuilnienn, It is brought under
consideration by references made to a very ancient tale, of
which copies still e^fist. The first notices of the Cuilmenn have
been alr^idy partly alluded to in the first lecture, but we shall
now consider them at greater length ; and in doing so, we shall
avjdl ourselves of the opportunity thus afforded, to illustrate, in
passing, a period of our history, remote indeed, and but little
known, yet filled with stirring incidents, and distinguished by
the presence of very remarkable characters.
According to the accounts given in the Book of Leinster, to
which I shall presently refer, Dalian ForgailU the chief poet
and Fili of Erinn, [see ante^ note (2)] (author of the celebrated
Amhra or post mortem Panegyric on St. Colum Cille), having
died about the year 598, Senchan Torpeut, then a FiL^^ of dis-
tinction, was called upon to pronounce the fimeral elegy or
oration on the deceasecl bard. The yoimg FiU acquitted him-
self of this so much to the satisfaction of his assembled brethren,
that they immediately elected him Ard Ollamh in Filedechty
that is chief File of Erinn.
Some time after this, Senchan called a meeting of the Files of or the reco^
Erinn, to ascertain whether any of them remembered the wliole jaS o( till
of the celebrated tale of the Tain B6 Chuailgni, or " Cattle Jfj^^^^.
spoil of Cuailgn<5" (a place now called Cooley, in the modem
county of Louth). All the Files said that they remembered
only fragments of it. On receiving this answer, Senchan ad-
dressed himself to his pupils, and asked if any of them would
take his blessing and go mto the country of Letlia to Icam the
Tdin^ which a certain Saoi or professor had taken to the east
after the Cuilmenn (that is, the Book called Cuilmenn), had been
carried away. {Letha was the ancient name. In the Gaedhilg,
for Italy, particularly that region of it in which the city of
Rome IS situated). — [See Appendix, No. XVIII.]
30 OF THE EARLIEST EXISTING MSS.
LBCT. n. Emine, the grandson of Ninene, and Murgen, Scnclians
Th T6i Bo ^^^^^ ®^^» volunteered to go to the east for that purpose.
cuaiignin- Having set out on their journey, It happened that the first
toTjJoc**' place to which they came was the grave of the renowned chief
**"^*- Fergus Mac R6igh, in Connacht ; and Murgen sat at the grave
while Emine went in search of a house of hospitality.
While Murgen was thus seated he composed and spoke a
laidh^ or lay, for the gravestone of Fergus, as if it had been
Fergus himself he was addressing.
Suddenly, as the story runs, there came a great mist which
enveloped him so that he could not be discovered for three
days; and during that time Fergus himself appeared to him
in a beautiful form, — ^for he is described as adorned with brown
hair, clad in a green cloak, and wearing a collared gold-ribbed
shirt, a gold-hiltcd sword, and sandals of bronze : and it is said
that this apparition related to Murgen the whole tale of the
Tarn, from beginning to end, — the tale which he was sent to
seek in a foreign land.
This Fergus Mac R6igh was a great Ulster prince, who had
tone into voluntary exile, into Connacht, tlirough feelings of
islike and hostility to Conor Mac Nessa, the king of Ulster,
for his treacherously putting to death tlie sons of Uisnech, for
whose safety Fergus liad pledged his faith according to the
knightly customs of the time. And afterwards when the Tain
B6 ChuailijnS occurred, Fergus was the great guide and director
of the expedition on the side of the Connacht men against tliat
of Conor Mac Nessa, and, as it would appear, he was himself
abo the historian of the war.
This version of the stoiy is from the Book of Leinster.
However, according to another accoimt, it was at a meeting of
the FiUs^ and some of the saints of Erinn, which was held near
the Cam, or grave tliat Fergus appeared to them and related the
tale ; and St. Ciaran thereupon wrote down the tale at his dic-
tation, in a book which he liad made from the hide of his pet
cow. This cow from its colour was called the Odliar, or dark
gray ; and from this circumstance the book was ever after known
as Leahhar na h-Uidhre (pron: nearly '' Levvar, or Lowr na
heer-a"), or "The Book of the dark gray [Cow]", — ^the form
Uidhre being the genitive case of the word Odhar,
According to this account (which is that given in the ancient
tale called Imthecht na trom ddimhi^ or the Adventures of the
Great Company, i.e., the company or following of Senchan),
after the election of Senchan to the position of Chief FiU, he
paid a visit to Guairi the Hospitable, King of Connacht, at
Ids palace of Durlus, accompanied by a large retinue of atten-
OF THE EARLIEST EXISTING MSS. 31
dants, or subordinate files, and pupils, as well as women, and uect.ii
senrants, and do^; so that their sojourn there was so oppres- ~
sive, that at theur going away, Marbhan, King Guair6 s wise to the lost
brother, imposed it as an obligation on Senchan to recover the ^*'''^"'
Tale of the Tdin B6 Chuailgni, Senchan accordingly went
into Scotland to search for it, but having found no trace of
it there, he returned home again ; and then Marbhan advised
him to invite the saints of Ireland to meet him at the ^ve of
Fergus, where they were to fast three days and three mghts to
God, praying that he would send them Fergus to relate to
them the history of the Tdin. The story goes on to say that
St CailUn of Fiodhnacha (in the present county of Leitrim),
who was Senchan's brother by his mother, undertook to invite
the saints ; and that the following distinguished saints came to
the meeting, namely, St. Colum Cille, St. Caillin himself, St.
Ciaran of Clonmacnois, St. Brendan of Birra, and St. Brendan
the son of Finnlogha; and that after their fast and prayer,
Fergus did appear to them, and related tlie story, and tnat St.
Ciaran of Clonmacnois, and St. Caillin of Fiodhnacha, wrote it
down.
This ancient tale is referred to in the Book of Leinster,
a MS. of the earlier half of the twelftli century, though it re-
midns to us only in the form p^cse^^'ed in copies of a much
more modem date, one of whicn is in rny possession.
The next notice of a Cuilmonn, as I have already shortly
stated, is to be found in an ancient glossary, where the " seven
Orders of Wisdom", — that is, the seven degrees in a literary
college, including the student on his first entrance, — are distin-
guished by name and qualifications. The liighest degree was
the Druimcli, who, as it is stated, had knowledge '' of all wis-
dom, from the greatest book which is culled Cuilmenn to the
smallest book which is called Deich m-Bveithir, in wliich is
well arranged the good Testament which God made unto
Moses". — [See Appendix, No. V.]
What tlie Cuilnienn mentioned here was, we have no positive
means of knowing ; but as an acquaintance with both profane
and sacred writings is set down amongst the qualification of
each degree of the order of Wisdom, it may be assumed that
the Cuilmenn embraced profane, as the Veich m-Breithir did
sacred learning ; since it appears that the Drumcli was versed
in all profane and sacred knowledge.
Another instance of the occurrence of the word Cuilmenn is
fou|id in the lower margin of a page of the book now called the
Leabhar Breac, the proper name of which was Leabhar M6r
Duna Doighri, that is, the Great Book of Dun Doighrd (a
32 OF THE EARLIEST EXISTING MSS.
UBCT. iL place on the Connacht side of the Shannon, some miles below
Aoconntof ^^^ town of Athlone). In this book, which is preserved ij the
SJirftoS ^ Library of the Royal Irish Academy, the following words appear
in a hand three hundred years old: — " A trying of his pen by
Fergal, son of William, on the great Cuilmend". — [See Appen-
dix, No. XIX.] This " great Cuilmend" was of course the
book on which he wrote these words, viz., the Leabhar Duna
Doighre just mentioned ; and this passage establishes the use of
the word to designate a book, generally. It may be also ob-
served that the word (Cuilmenn) in its original meaning lite-
rally signifies the skin of a cow.^^
To return to the Tain B6 Chuailgni,
This tale belongs to a period of considerable antiquity, and
in it we find introduced in the course of the narration the
names of several personages who acted a very important part
in our history, and whose deeds are recorded by most of our
annalists. As the tale is itself curious and interesting, and be-
sides sujDplies a pretty good view of the customs and maimers
of the times, it will be interesting to give you here a brief
sketch of it.
When the Argonautic Expedition, the Siege of Troy, or any
others of the notable occurrences of the very old periods of the
world's history, are brought under consideration, not the least
interesting and valuable features which they present are the
illustrations they furnish us of the habits and life of the various
people to whom they relate, and it is of little moment to
attempt to fix the precise year of the world's age in which they
actually happened.
Some persons complain that our Irish Annals are too precise
in the time and place assigned to remote events, to be altoge-
ther true ; but this is a subject not to be disposed of in a cur-
sory review like the present. At present my intention is only
to draw briefly, for the purpose of illustration, from one of the
oldest and most remarkable of our national historic tales. I do
(M)That the word Cuitmenn signified, in the first instance, a Cow-skin,
appears from the following passage in an ancient Glossary in the Library of
the Royal Irish Academy (MS. No. 74 of the collection, purchased from
Messrs. Hodges and Smith): CoUvmnA -peAnb, .1. CuitweririA feA|\b; "the
skins of cows", — ^from cuitmenn a skin, and f eA|\b a cow. That the word
Cuittnenn was applied 'to a Book, is proved not only by the jiassage above
quoted, in which the IcAbAn mdn "OiinA t^oigne is so called, but still more di-
rectly by an explaoiation or it wnich is to be found in another ancient Glos-
sary, preserved in a MS. in the Library of Trin. Coll., Dublin (classed H. 8.
18.). Li this Glossary the word occurs in reference to the lost book above
mentioned, and to the quotation from it alluded to in the text : — " Cuilmenn,
t «., a Book ; ut est: * Which the Professor carried to the East after the Cuil-
M^ii***._[See original in Appendix, No. XX.]
OF THE EARLIEST EXISTING MSS. 33
not propose here to enter into any critical discussion as to the lect. ii.
historic accuracy of its details; but I may observe that, though
often exhibiting high poetic colouring in the description of par- the^rdinuo
ticular circumstances, it unquestionably embraces and is all ^*"<»''^^-
through founded upon authentic historic facts. The Tain B6
ChuailgfU is to Irish, what the Argonautic Expedition, or the
Seven against Thebes, is to Grecian history.
Many copies of the tale still exist. As has been seen, we
have traced it back to one of perhaps the oldest written records,
one of which we now retain little more than the name. We know
unfortunately nothing of the other contents of the Cuilmenn;
but if we may judge from the character of the events detailed in
the Tdiny we may fairly suppose this Great Book to have been a
depository of the most remarkable occurrences which had taken
place in Ancient Erinn up to the time of its composition.
We are told in our Annals and other ancient writings, that
Eochaidh Feidhch closed a reign of twelve years as Monarch
of Erinn in Anno Mundi 5069, or a little above a hundred
years before the Incarnation, according to die chronology of the
Annals of the Four Masters. This prince was directly descended
from Ercmon (one of the surviving leaders of the Milesian colo-
nists), and succeeded to the monarchy by right of descent.
EochiUdh had three sons and several daughters, and among
his daughters one named Meadhhh (pron: "Meav"), who, from
her early youth, exhibited remarkable traits of strength of mind
and >igour of character Meav, in the full bloom of life and
beauty, was married to Conor, the celebrated provincial King
of ulster ; but the marriage was not a happy one, and she soon
left her husband and retiuned to her father's court. The reign
of the monarch, her father, had at this time been embittered by
the rebellion of his tliree sons, which was carried so far that he
was at last compelled to give them battle ; and a final engage-
ment took place between the two parties at A th Cumair (the
ancient name of a ford near Mullmgar), in which the king's
arms triumphed, and his three sons were slain.
The victory over his sons brought but little peace to Eoch-
aidh; for the men of Connacht, taking advantage of his weak-
ened condition after it, revolted against him ; and to overcome
their opposition he set up his daughter Meav as Queen of Con-
nacht, and gave her in marriage to Ailill, a powerful chief of
that province, and son of Conrach, a former king — the same
Conrach who built the royal residence of Rath CruachanS^^
Ailill died soon after, and Meav finding herself a young widow,
<^> The remains of the Rath of Cruachan are still to be seen, near Carrick-
on-^iannoD, in the modern county of I^suoinmun.
3
34 OF THE EARLIEST EXISTING MSS.
LECT. n. and an independent queen, proceeded to exercise her own right
Account of ^^^ *^^ ^ *^^ selection of a new husband ; and with this view
the Tdin Bo shc made a royal progress into Leinster, where Ross Ruadh was
Chuaugni. ^^j^ ting, residing at the residence of the Leinster kings, at
Naas. Meav there selected, from the princes of the court, the
king's younger son, who bore the same name as her previous
husband, Ailill, and whom she married and made king-consort of
her province.
Their union was happy, and M^av became the mother of
many sons, and of one daughter.
One day, however (as the story runs), a dispute arose between
Queen Meav and her husband about their respective wealth
and treasures, — for all women at this time had their private
fortunes and dowries secured to tliem in marriage. This dis-
pute led them to an actual comparison of their various kinds
of property, to determine which of them had the most and
the best. Tliere were compared before them then (says the
tale) all their wooden and their metal vessels of value; and
they were found to be equal. There were brought to them
their finger rings, their clasps, their bracelets, their tliumb
rings, their diadems, and their gorgets of gold ; and they were,
foimd to be equal. There were brought to them their gar-
ments of crimson, and blue, and black, and green, and yellow,
and mottled, and white, and streaked ; and they were found
to be equal. There were brought before them their great flocks
of sheep, from greens and lawns and plains; and they were
found to be equal. There were brought before them their
steeds, and their studs, from pastures and from fields ; and they
were found to be equal. There were brought before them their
great herds of swine, from forests, from deep glens, and from
solitudes ; their herds and their droves of cows were brought
before them from the forests and most remote solitudes of the
province ; and on counting and comparing them they were found
to be equal in number and in excellence. But there was found
among AililFs herds a young bull, which had been calved by
one of Mdav*s cows, and which, *'not deeming it honourable to
be under a woman's control", went over and attached himself to
Aihll's herds. The name of this fine animal was Finnbheannach
or tlie White-homed; and it was found that the queen had
not among her herds one to match him. This was a matter of
deep disappointment to her. She immediately ordered Mac
Rotn, her chief courier, to her presence, and asked him if he
knew where a yoimg bull to match the Finnbheannach^ or
White-homed, could be found among the five provinces of
Erinn. Mac Roth answered that he knew where there was a
OF THE EARLIEST EXISTING MSS*. 39
better and a finer bull, namely in the possession of Dar^, son of lect. ii.
Fachtna, in the Cantred of Cuailgne and province of Ulster, "^ "
and that his name was the Donn Chuailgni^ or Brown [Bull] of thTrrfJ* bo
Cuailgne. Go thou, then, said Meav, with a request to Dare ^'*«"^^-
from me, for the loan of the Donn Chuailani for my herds for
one year, and tell him that he shall be well repaid for his loan ;
that he shall receive fifty heifers and the Donn Chvxiilgni back
at the expiration of that time. And you may make another
proposition to him, said the queen, namely, that should the
people of the district object to his lending us the Donn ChuailgnS,
he may come himself with his bull, and that he shall have the
fall extent of his own territory given him of the best lands in
Magh Ai [Plains of Roscommon J, a chariot worth thrice seven
cumals (or sixty-three cows), and my future friendship.
The courier set out with a company of nine subordinates, and
in due time arrived in Cuailgne and delivered his message to
Dari Ma^i Fachtna,
Dar^ received him in a true spirit of hospitality, and on learn-
ing his errand, consented at once to accept the terms. He then
Bent the courier and his company into a separate part of his
establishment, furnishing them abundantly with the best of food
and drink that his stores could supply.
In the course of the night, and when deep in their cups, one
of the Connacht couriers said to another : It is a tnith that tlic
man of this house is a good man, and it is very good of liim to
grant to us, nine messengers, what it would be a great work for
the other four great provinces of Erinn to take by force out of
Ulster, namely the Donn Chnailgne. Then a third courier in-
terposed and said that little thanks were due to Dare, because*
if ne had not consented freely to give the Donn Chiiailgne, he
should be compelled to do so.
At this moment Dare's chief steward, accompanied by a man
laden with food and another with drink, entered ; and overhear-
ing the vaunt of the tliird courier, flew into a passion and cast
down their meat and drmk before them witliout in\dting tliem
to partake of it ; after wliich he repaired to his master and re-
ported to him what he had heard- Dare swore by his gods
that they should not have the Donn Chuailgn^^ either by con-
sent or by force.
The couriers appeared before Dare early on the following
morning and requested the fulfihuent of his promise ; but he
made answer that if it had been a practice of his to punish cou-
riers for their impertinence, not one of them should depart alive
from him. The couriers returned to their mistress to Rath
Cruachan, the royal palace of the kings of Connacht. On his
3b
36 OF THE EARLIEST EXISTING MSS.
LECT.u. arrival Mac Roth related to M^av the issue of his embassy and
Account of *^® cause of its failure ; upon which Meav took up the words
th« Tdin Bo of her boastful messenger, and said that as Dare had not granted
chuaiigni, ^^ pcqucst freely, he should be compelled to do so by force.
Meav accordingly immediately summoned her sons to her
presence, as well as the seven sons of Magach, her relatives, with
all their forces and followers. She also invited the men of Mims-
ter and Leinster to join her cause, and take vengeance on the
Ulstermen for the many wrongs which they had of old inflicted
on them. There was besides at this time a large body of exiled
Ulstennen in Meav s service, namely, those who had abandoned
Conor after his treachery to the sons of UisneacJi, This body
of brave men, amounting to fifteen hundred, was imder the lea-
dership of Fergus Mac Roigh and Conor's own son, Cormac
Conloingeas, or the Exile.
All these forces met at Cruachain; and after consulting her
Druid, and a Bean sidhe (pron: nearly " banshee"), ^**^ who ap-
peared to her, M^av set out at the head of her troops, crossed the
Shannon at Athlone, and marched through ancient Meath, till she
had arrived at the place now called Kells (within a few miles of
the borders of the modem coimty of Louth, in Ulster), where she
encamped her army. M^av's consort, Ailill, and their daughter,
Finnaohair (the Fairbrowed), accompanied the expemtion.
When they had encamped for the night, the queen invited all
the leaders of the army to feast with her, and in the course of
the evening contrived to enter into a private conversation with
each of the most brave and powerful amongst them, exhortig
them to valour and fidelity in her cause, and secretly promising
to each the hand of her beautiful daughter in marriage. So far
the plot of the tale as regards Queen Meav's movements.
C<> The word beAn p-de (literally, " woman of the fairy mansions*'), meant a
Woman from the fiiiry mansions of the Hills, or the land Immortality. In other
words, it meant, according to the ancient legendary belief, a Woman of that
T^ath De Danann race which preceded the Milesians, and which, on their con-
qnest by the latter, were believed to have retired firom this life to enjoy an in-
visible immortality in the hills, fomitains, lakes, and islands of Erinn, where
it was reported they are to remain till the last Judgment. From this state of
existence they were of old believed to be able to reappear at pleasure in the
ordinary forms of men and women ; and this ancient ^belief respecting the
Tuath De Danann (whose sudden disappearance from' our ancient history
seems to have been only accounted for in this manner^ still lingers among the
people of modem Ireland, in the form of the superstitious reverence for what
they now call the *' Fairies" or " Good People". Some account of what they
were anciently believed to be will be found in the Tripartite Life of St.
Patrick. A curious example of their appearance, as introcluced in our ancient
literature, occurs also in the tale of " Hie Sick-bed of Cuchullainn", printed
in the second number of the ATLA^'TI8, for July,' 1858.— [See also Apfendix,
No. XXI.]
OF THE EARLIEST EXISTING MSS 37
Although the Ulstermen had sufficient notice of the approach lbct. ii.
of such a fonnidable invasion, they exhibited no signs of de- "
fenaive preparation. This singular inaction on their part is ac- the 2?S» a>
counted for in another tale so often spoken of as the (Jeasnaidh- ^*'*^*'^"^
eon Ul/idhj or Child-birth-debility of the Ultonians.
It happened that Meav's expedition into Louth occurred at
the very time that Conor and all the waniors of Emania were
sufiering under the effects of the curse described in that talc, so
that the border lay quite unguarded except by one youth. This
youth was the renowned Cuchulainn^ whose patrimony was the
first part of Ulster that the hostile forces entered upon, and
within it the owner of the Donn Chiuiilgni resided.
This part of the tale relates many wonderful and various
stories of Cuchulainn's youthful achievements, which compli-
cate it to no small extent, but on the other hand, make no small
addition to its interest.
Cuchulainn confronts the invaders of his province, demands
single combat, and conjures his opponents by the laws of Irish
chivalry (the jF\V comldainn) not to advance farther until they
conquered him. This demand, in accordance with the Irish
laws of warfare, is granted ; and then the whole contest is re-
solved into a succession of single combats, in each of which
Cuchulainn was victorious.
Soon, however, Meav, impatient of this slow mode of pro-
ceeding, broke through the compact with Cuchulainn, marcned
forward herself at the head of a section of her array, and
burned and ravaged the province up to the very prccmcts of
Conors palace at Emania. She had by this time secured the
Don7i Chuail<fnS; and she now marched her forces back into
Meath and encamped at Clartha (pron : " Clarha", — now Clare
Castle in tlie mocfem county of Westmeath).
In the meantime the Ulstermen having recovered from the
temporary state of debility to which the curse above alluded to
had subjected them, Conor summoned all the chiefs of his pro-
vince to muster their forces and join his standard in the pursuit
of the army of Connacht. This done, they marched in separate
bodies, under their respective chiefs, and took up a position in
the immediate neighbourhood of Meav's camp. The march
and array of these troops, including Ciichulainn's, — the distin-
guishing descriptions ol their horses, chariots, arms, ornaments,
and vesture, — even their size, and complexion, and the colour
of their hair, — are described with great vividness and power.
In the story the description of all these details is delivered by
Meav's courier, Mac Roth, to her and her husband ; and the
recognition of the various chiefs of Ulster as they arrived at
OF THB EARLIEST EXISTING MSS«
LECT. n. Conors camp is ascribed to Fergus Mac Roigh, the exiled
Tenant} Ulster prince abeady spoken of. I may quote the following
deacription short passagcs, merely as specimens of the kind of description
Chiefs In t^ thus givcu by Mac Roth to Meav and Ailill :
TdSi^Bo^^ "Ihere came another company there, said Mac Roth; no
chuaiiffnd. cliampiou could be found more comely than he t^ho leads them.
His hair is of a deep i*ed yellow, and bushy ; his forehead broad
and his face tapering ; he has sparkling blue laughing eyes ; —
a man regularly fonned, tall ancf tapering ; thin red lips ; pearly,
shiny teeth ; a white, smooth body. A red and white cloak
flutters about him ; a golden brooch in that cloak, at his breast ;
a shirt of white, kingly linen, with gold embroidery at his
skin ; a white shield, \vith gold fastenings at his shoulder ; a
gold-hiked long sword at liis left side ; a long, sharp, dark green
spear, together witli a short, sharp spear, with a rich band and
car\^ed silver rivets in his hand. \Vlio is he, O Ferras, said
Ailill? The man who has come there is in himself half a
battle, the valour of combat, the fury of the slaughter-hound.
His is Reochaid Mac Fathemati (pron: "Faheman"), from
Rigdonn [or Rachlainn], in the noitli [said Fergus".] — [See
original in Appendix, No. XXH.] And again : —
** Another company have come to the same hill, at Slemain
of Meath, said Mac Roth, with a long-faced, dark complexioncd
champion at their head ; [a chainpion] with black hair and long
limbs, i.e. J long legs; wearing a red shaggy cloak wrapped
round him, and a white silver brooch in the cloak over hi»
heart ; a linen shirt to his skin ; a blood-red sliield with devices
at his shoulder ; a silver-hilted sword at liis left side ; an elbowed
gold-socketed spear to liis shoulder. Wlio is he, O Fergus ?
said Ailill to Fergus. We know him well indeed, said Fergus ;
he is Fergna, the son of Finncona, chief of Burach, in Ulster".^'*^
— [See ori^nal in Appendix, No. XXHI.]'
And again : " Another company have come to the same hill m
Sleamain of Meath, said Mac Roth. It is wild, and unlike the
other companies. Some are with red cloaks; others with
light blue cloaks ; others with deep blue cloaks ; others with
green, or blay, or wliite, or yellow cloaks, bright and flut-
tering about them. There is a young red-freckled lad, with
c«4) And here, lest it may be tliought thut these gorgeous descriptions of arms
and ornaments are but idle creations of the poet or the Seanchaidhc^ drawn from
his imagination alone, I may recommend such of my hearers as arc doubtful or
sceptical on these points to visit and insi)ect for themselves the rich and beau-
tiftil collection of the Royal Irish Academy ; when they will find that no pen
could do justice to the exquisite workmanship, the graa.'ful design, and delicti te
finish of those unrivalled relics of Ancient Irish Art, of which the best modern
imitations fall so immeasurably short.
OF THE EARLIEST EXISTING MSS. 39
a crimson cloak, in their midst; a golden brooch in that lect. u,
cloak at his breast ; a shirt of kingly linen, with fastenings jj^^j^^,
of red gold at his skin ; a white shield with hooks of red gold icgcmuV
at his shoulder, faced with gold, and with a golden rim ; Ihr-raic of ^
a small gold-hilted sword at his side ; a light, sharp, shining J^Siwi^'S.^
spear to his shoulder. Who is he, my dear Fergus ? said Aihll.
idon't remember, indeed, said Fergus, having left any such per-
sonages as tliese in Ulster, when leaving it, — and I can only
guess that they are the yoimg princes and nobles of Tara, led by
Ere, the son of Conors daughter Feidilitn Nunchruthachy [or
'of the ever-new form'], and of Carbry Niafear [the king of
Tara^. — [See original m Appendix, No. XXIV.]
With descriptions like these, more or less picturesque, the
whole tale abounds. The most remarkable of these, but it is
too long for insertion here, is that of Cuchulainn, his chariot,
his horses, and his charioteer, at the battle of Ath Firdiadh,
where he killed Ferdiadh in single combat ; a circumstance from
which the place has derived its name o£Ath Firdiadh, or Fer-
diad 8 Ford (pronoimced Ardee), in the modem county of Louth.
The armies of Queen Meav and Conor, her former husband, at
length met in battle at the hill of Gkdrcch, some distance south-
east of Athlone, where the Ulstcrmen routed their enemies, and
drove them in disorder over the Shannon into Connacht. Meav,
however, had taken care to secure her prize, the Donn Chu-
ail fffie, by despatching liim to her palace, at Cruachain, before
the final battle ; and thus, notwithstanding the loss of niunbers
of her best champions and warriors, she congratulated herself
on ha^^ng gained the two greatest objects ol her expedition,
namely, the possession of the Donn Chuailgne^ and the chas-
tisement of Conor, her former husband, and his proud Ulster-
men, at the very gates of his palace at Emania.
This wild tale does not, however, end here ; for it gravely
informs us that when the Donn Chumlgne found liimself in a
strange country, and among strange herds, he raised such a loud
bellowing as had never before been heai'd in the province of
Connacht ; that on hearing those unusual sounds, Aililrs bull, the
Finnbheannach or White-homed, knew that some strange and
formidable foe had entered his territory ; and tliat he immediately
advanced at full speed to the point from which they issued, where
he soon arrived in the presence of his noble enemy. Tlie sight
of each other was the signal of battle. In the poetic language
of the tale, the province rang with the echoes of their roaring,
the sky was darkened by tlie sods of earth they threw up witli
their feet and the foam that flew from their mouths; faint-
hearted men, women, and children hid themselves in caves,
40 OF THE EARLIEST EXISTING MSS.
LECT. u, caverns, and clefts of the rocks ; whilst even the most veteran
Historical" ^^^^^ ^^^ dared to view the combat from the neighbouring
value of the hills and eminences. The Finnbheannach^ or White-homed,
of uS wJn at length gave way, and retreated towards a certain pass which
55^**' opened into the plain in which the battle raged, and where six-
teen warriors bolder than the rest had planted themselves ; but so
rapid was the retreat, and the pursuit, mat not only were all these
trampled to the ground, but they were buried several feet in it
The Donn ChuniUjnS^ at last, coming up with his opponent,
raised him on his horns, ran off with nun, passed the gates of
Meav's palace, tossing and shaking him as he went, until at last
he shattered him to pieces, dropping his disjointed members as
he went along. And wherever a part fell, that place retained
the name of that joint ever after. And thus it was (we are told)
that Ath Luain^ now Atlilone, which was before called Ath
if or, or the Great Ford, received its present name from the
FinnhheannacKs Lucn, or loin, having been dropped there.
The Donn Chuailgne, after having shaken his enemy in this
manner from his horns, returned into his own country, but in
such a frenzied state of excitement and fuiy, that all fled every-
where at his approach. He faced directly to his old home ;
but the people of the baile or hamlet fled, and hid themselves
behind a huge mass of rock, which his madness transformed
into the shape of another bidl; so that coming with all his
force against it he dashed out his brains, and was killed.
I have dwelt, perhaps rather tediously, on the histoiy of this
strange tale ; but one of the objects of this course of Lectures
is to give to the student of the Gaedhlic language an idea of
the nature of some of the countless ancient compositions con-
tained in it ; and notwithstanding the extreme wildness of the
legend of the Bull, I am not acquainted with any tale in die
wliole range of our literature, in which he will find more of
valuable details concerning general and local history ; more of
description of the manners and customs of the people; of the
druidical and faiiy influence supposed to be exercised in the
aflfairs of men ; of the laws of Insh chivalry and honour ; of
the standards of beauty, morality, valour, truth, and fidelity,
recognized by the people of old ; of the regal power and dig-
nity of the monarcn and the provincial kings, as well as much
concerning the division of tlje country into its local dependencies ;
lists of its chieftains and chieftaincies ; many valuable topogra-
phical names ; the names and kinds of articles of dress and or-
nament; of military weapons; of horses, chariots, and trap-
pings ; of leechcraft, and of medicinal plants and springs ; as well
OF THE EARLIEST EXISTING MSS. 41
as instances of, perhaps, eveij occurrence that could be supposed lect. n.
to happen in ancient Irish life : all of these details of the utmost
value to the student of history, even though mixed up with any quity oMha
amount of the marvellous or incredible in poetical traditions. ^»»''"«»"-
The chief actors in this warfare are all well-known and un-
doubted historical characters, and are to be met with not only
in our ancient tales, but in our authentic annals also.
Tighemach (the most credited in our days of all oiur an-
nalists) mentions the 7am Bii Chuailgti^, and gives the age of
Cuchulainn as seventeen at the time he followed the Tditi, which
is calculated by OTlaherty to have taken place about a.d. 39. —
[See Appendix, No. XXV.J
As I have already stated, this tale may be traced back to the
first record to which we find the name of Cuihnenn attached, but
of which we have now no means of fixing the precise date,
any more than the nature and character of its other contents.
I have ventured to assign the compilation of the Cuilmdnn, or
Great Book of Skins, to an earlier date than that of the Saltair of
Tara, which was compiled about the middle of the third, and
the Cin JDroma Snechta, wliich lias been traced to the close of
the fourth or beginning of the fifth century ; and for two rea-
sons, among many others. The first is, that the manner in
which the Cmlm^nn is spoken of, in the time of Senchann and
Saint Colum Cille, implies a belief on their part that the tale
of the Tain had been written, in an autlientic form, either in
a separate volume, or into this book, at or immediately after the
occurrence of the events so graphically narrated in it ; and the
fact, as related, of Saint Ciaran writing the recovered vei*sion
of it, no matt<^r from what source it was obtained at the time,
on the skin of his pet cow, shows that this was done with the
clear intention of handing it down to posterity as nearly as
possible in the same fonn as that in which tradition had taught
them to believe it had existed in the Cuihnenn.
The second reason is, that, from the part which is ascribed to
Fergus in the conduct of the expedition, the frequent mention
in the tale of liis reading the Ogham writings, and using their
characters himself, and the pretended revelation of it at his grave,
to Seanchan's pupil, in the one version, as well as the recovery
of it, according to another account, at a great meeting of poets
and ecclesiastics, said to have taken place at his grave, it appears,
to me at least, that there is sufficient ground to warrant the con-
jecture, that in the times of Seanchan and Saint Coluin Cille, it
was generally believed that Fergus was the original writer of
the tale, that it had been written by him, or by some person of
his time, into a great book, and that this book was at some sub-
42 OF THE EARLIEST EXISTING MSS.
uicT. u. sequent period carried out of the country ; and this, as we have
^^ said before, probably may have taken place in the early Cliris-
saltaib of tian times. It is also not Impossible that it was followed by the
^**^ owner or keeper of it, who, from his being called a Saoi, that is,
a Doctor or Professor in learning, was probably, it may be sup-
posed, converted to Christianity, and went into Italy, as many
certainly did in those times, carrying with him the only copy
or copies then in existence. It would be curious to find this
ancient book still existing in some neglected comer of the
Vatican, or of one of the other great Libraries of Italy.
In tlie first lecture (to pass to the next of our oldest lost books),
we partly considered the history of that very ancient record, now
lost, kno\vn as the Salt air of Tara. It was stated that its
composition is referred to the period of the reign of Cormac
Mac Art (^Corinac Mac Atrt, or son o£ Art), and that by some
this king was actually supposed to have been its author.
To give full value to all the evidence we possess as to the
nature of tliis record, the time at which it was said to have been
composed, and its reputed author, it will be necessary for us to
enter into a brief liistorical account of the period, and to give
some particulars about this celebrated prince ; from wliich I con-
ceive it will be fully evident, that to attribute the composition
of the Saltair to the time of Cormac, or even to state that he was
its author, would be to make no extravagant assumption.
Of King The character and career of Cormac Mac Art, as a governor,
Cormac .Vac ^ warrior, a philosopher, and a judge deeply versed in the laws
which he was called on to administer, have, if not from his own
time, at least from a very remote perioid, formed a fruitful subject
for panegyric to the poet, the historian, and the legislator.
Our oldest and most accredited annals record his victories and
military glories ; our historians dwell with rapture on his honour,
his justice, and the native dignity of his character; our writers
of historical romance make him the hero of many a tale of
curious adventure ; and our poets find in his personal accom-
plishments, and in the regal splendoiu- of his reign, inexhaus-
tible themes for their choicest numbers.
The poet Maelmura, of Otlma, who died a.d. 844, styles him
Cormac Ceolach, or the Musical, in allusion to liis refined and
happy mind and disposition. Cinaeth (or Kenneth) O'Harti-
gan (who died a.d. 973) gives a glowmg description of the
magnificence of Cormac and of his palace at Tara. And Cuan
O'Lochain, quoted in tlie former lecture, and who died a.d.
1024, is no less eloquent on the subject of Cormac's mental
and personal qualities and the glories of his reign. He also,
in the poem which has been already quoted, describes the con-
OF THE EARLIEST EXISTIXQ 3IS0. 43
dition and disposition of the ruins of the principal edifices at lect. n.
Tare, as they existed in his time ; for, even at this early period „
(1024), the royal Tara was but a ruin. Flann, of Saint Buithes KiSS^Srmac
Monastery, who died a.d. 1056 (the greatest, perhaps, of tlie ^^"^ ^''■'•
scholars, historians, and poets of his time), is equally fluent in
praise of Cormac as a king, a warrior, a scholar, and a nidge.
Cormac's father. Art, cliief monarch of Erinn, was killed in
the Battle of Magh Mucruimhe that is, the Plain of MucruimlU
(pron: " Mucrivy'') about a.d. 195, by Mac Con, who was the
gon of his sister. This Mac Con was a Munstcr prince, who
had been banished out of Erinn by Oilill Oluim, King of Mun-
ster ; after which, passing into Britain and Scotland, he returned
in a few years at the head of a large army of foreign adven-
turers, commanded chiefly by Benne BHt^ son of the King of
Britain. They sailed round by the south coast of Ireland, and
landed in the Bay of Gal way ; and, being joined there by some
of Mac Con s Insh adherents, they overran and ravaged the
country of West Connacht. Art, the monarch, immediately
mustered all the forces that he could command, and marched
into Connacht, where he was joined by Mac Cons seven (or
six) step-brothers, the sons of Oilill Olum, with the forces of
Munster. A battle ensued, as stated above, on the Plain of
Mucruimhe (between Athcnree and Galway), in which Art
was killed, leaving bcliind liim an only son, Cormac, usually dis-
tinguished as Cormac Mac Airt, that is, Cormac the sou of Art.
On the death of his uncle Art, Mac Con assumed the
monarchy of Erinn, to the prejudice of the young prince Cor-
mac, who was still in his boyhood, and who was forced to lie con-
cealed for the time among his motlier's friends in Connacht.
Mac Con's usiurpation, and his severe rule, disposed his subjects
after some time to wish for his removal ; and to that end young
Cormac, at the solicitation of some powerful friends of liis lather,
appeared suddenly at Tara, where his person had by this time
ceased to be known. One day, we are told, he entered the
judgment hall of the palace at the moment that a case of royal
fri\'ilege was brought before the king, Mac Con, for adjudication,
or the king in ancient Erinn was, in eastern fashion, believed
to be gifted with peculiar wisdom as a judge among his people ;
and it was a part of his duty, as well as one of the cluef privileges
of his prerogative, to give judgment in any cases of (lllliculty
brought before him, even tliougli the litigants might be among
the meanest of his subjects, and the subject of litigation of the
smallest value. The case is tlius related : Certain sheep, the pro-
perty of a certain widow residing near Tara, had strayed into the
(jueen s private lawn, and eaten of its grass ; they were captured
LECT. II.
44 OF THE EARLIEST EXISTING MSS.
by some of the household officers, and the case was brought be-
■ fore the king for judgment. The king, on hearing the case, con-
deJcripMon dcmned the sheep to be forfeited. Young Cormac, however,
MfwAirt^ hearing this sentence, exclaimed that it was unjiist ; and declared
that as the sheep had eaten but the fleece of the land, the most
that they ought to forfeit should be their own fleeces. This
view of the law appeared so wise and reasonable to the people
around, that a murmiu: of approbation ran through the hall.
Mac Con started from his seat and exclaimed : " That is the
judgment of a king" ; and, immediately recognizing the youthful
prince, ordered hun to be seized; but Cormac succeeded in
effecting his escape. The people, then, having recognized their
rightful chief, soon revolted against the monarch ; upon which
Mac Con was driven into Munster, and Cormac assumed the
government at Tara. And thus commenced one of the most
brilUant and important reigns in Irish history.
The following description of Cormac, from the Book of Bal-
lymotc ( 1 42, b.b.), gives a very vivid picture of the person, man-
ners, and acts of this monarch, which it gives however on the
authority of the older Book of Uachongbkail; and, even though
the language is often high-coloured, it is but a picturesque
clothing for actual facts, as we know from other sources, — [See
original in Appendix, No. XXVI.]
" A noble and illustrious king assumed the sovereignty and
rule of Erinn, namelv, Cormac, the grandson of Conn of the
Hundred Battles, "rhe world was full of all goodness in his
time ; there were fruit and fatness of the land, and abundant pro-
duce of the sea, with peace, and ease, and happiness, in his time,
There were no killings nor plunderings in his time, but every
one occupied his lands in happiness.
" The nobles of Erinn assembled to drink the banquet of
Tara, with Cormac, at a certain time. These were the kings who
were assembled at that feast, namely, Fergtia Dubhdeaduch (of
the black teeth), and Eochaidh Gunnat, the two kings of Ulster;
Dimlang, son of Enna Nia, king of Leinster ; Cormac Cas, son
of Ailill Oluim, — and Fiacha Mtiilleathan, son of Eoghan M6r^
the two kings of Munster ; Nia Afor, the son of Lugaidh Firtri,
Cormac's brother by his mother, and Focliaidh, son of Conall,
the two kings of Connacht; Oengus of the poisoned spear, king
of Bregia (Last Meath) ; and Ferad/iach the son of A^, son of
Conor the champion, king of Meath.
" The manner in which fairs and great assemblies were at-
tended by the men of Erinn, at this time, was : each king wore
his kingly robe upon him, and his golden helmet on his head ;
for, they never put their kingly diadems on, but in the field of
battle only.
OF THE EARLIEST EXISTING MSS. 45
"Magnificently did Cormac come to this great assembly ; for lect. n.
no man, his equal in beauty, had preceded him, excepting Co-
noire Mor^ son of Edersgel, or Conor, son of Cathbadh (pron : AU^t^xi.
nearly " Caa-fah"), or Aengus, son of the Daghda. Splendid,
indeed, was Cormac s appearance in that assembly. His hair
was slightly curled, and of golden colour : a scarlet shield with
engraved devices, and golden hooks, and clasps of silver: a
wide-folding purple cloii on him, with a gem-set gold brooch
over his breast ; a gold torque around his neck ; a white-collared
shirt, embroidered with gold, upon him ; a girdle with golden
buckles, and studded with precious stones, around him; two
golden net-work sandals with golden buckles upon him ; two
spears with golden sockets, and many red bronze rivets, in his
hand; while he stood in the full glow of beauty, without
defect or blemish. You would think it was a shower of pearls
that were set in his mouth ; his lips were rubies ; his symme-
trical body was as white as snow; his cheek was like the
mountain-ash beny ; his eyes were like the sloe ; his brows and
eye lashes were hke the sheen of a blue-black lance.
*' This, then, was the shape and form in which Cormac went
to this great assembly of the men of Erinn. And authors say
that this was the noblest convocation ever held in Erinn before
the Christian Faith ; for, the laws and enactments instituted in
that meeting were those which shall prevail in Erinn for ever.
" The nobles of Erinn proposed to make a new classification of
the people, according to their various mental and material qualifi-
cations ; both kings and ollamlis (or chiefs of professions), and
druids, and farmers, and soldiei*s, and all diiierent classes like-
wise ; because they were certain, that, whatever regulations sliould
be ordered for Erinn in that assembly, by the men of Eiinn,
would be those which would live in it for ever. For, from the
time that Amergen Gluingeal (or of the White Knee), the File
(or Poet) and one of the chiefs of the Milesian colonists, deli-
vered the first judgment in Erinn, it was to the Files alone that
belonged the right of pronouncing judgments, until the dispu-
tation of the Two Sages, Ferceirtne the File^ and NeidhS, son
of Adhna, at Emania, about the beautiful mantle of the chief
File, Adhna, who had lately died. More and more obscure to
the people, were the words in which these two Files discussed
and decided their dispute ; nor could the kings or the other Filh
understand them. Concobar (or Conor), and the other princes, at
that time present at Emania, said that the disputation and deci-
sion could be understood only by the two parties themselves, for
that they did not understand them. It is manifest, said Concobar:
all men shall have share in it from this day out for ever, but they
4G OF THE EARLIEST EXISTING MSS.
user. n. [the Files] shall have their hereditary judgment out of it; of
"~ " what all others require, every man may take his share of it.
connaciToc Judgment was then taken from the Files, except their inheritance
^''■'' of it, and several of the men of Erinn took their part of the judg-
ment; such as the judgments of -EocAafdA, the son o£ Luchta;
and the judgments of Fachtna, the son of Senchadh; and the
(apparently) false judgments of Caradniadh TeiscthS; and the
judgments of Morann, the son of Maen ; and the judgments
o{ Eoghan, the son o£ Durrthacht [king ofFameyJ; and the
judgments of Doet of Neimthenn, and the judgments of Brigh
Ambui [daughter of Senchadli] ; and the judgments of Dian-
eecht [the Tuath De Dandnn Doctor] in matters relating to
medical doctors. Although these were thus first ordered at
this time, the nobles of the men of Erinn (subsequently) insis-
ted on judgment and eloquence (advocacy) being allowed to
persons according to rank in the Bretlia NemJieadh (laws of
ranks); and so each man usiu-ped the profession of another
again, until this great meeting assembled around Cormac.
They then again separated the professors of every art from
each other in that great meeting, and each of them was or-
dained to his legitimate profession".
And thus when Cormac came to the sovereignty of Erinn,
he found that Conor s regulations had been disregarded ; and
this was what induced the nobles to propose to him a new
organization, in accordance with the advancement and progress
of the people, from the former period. And tliis Cormac did ;
for he ordered a new code of laws and regulations to be drawn
up, extending to all classes and professions. He also put the
state or court regulations of the Teach Midhchuarta^ or Great
Banqueting House of Tara, on a new and permanent footing ;
and revived obsolete tests and ordeals, and instituted some
important new ones ; thus making the law of Testimony and
Evidence as perfect and safe as it coidd be in such times.
If we take this, and various other descriptions of Cormac*s
character as a man, a king, a scholar, a judge, and a warrior,
into accoimt, we shall see that he was no ordinary prince ; and
that if he had not impressed the nation with a full sense of his
great superiority over his predecessors and those who came
after him, there is no reason why he should have been specially
selected from all the rest of the line of monarchs, to be made
above all the possessor of such excellences.
Such a man could scarcely have carried out his various be-
hests, and the numerous provisions of his comprehensive enact-
ments, without some written medium. And it is no unwar-
rantable presumption to suppose that, either by his own hand.
OF THE EARLIEST EXISTING MSS. 47
or, at least, in his own time, by his command, his laws were lect. n.
committed to writing; and when we possess very ancient tes- xheuwi
timony to this effect, I can see no reason for rejecting it, or *nd legai
even ior casting a doubt upon the statement. kSS cSroac
It is not probable that any laws or enactments forged at a ^'^ ^''■'*
later period, could be imposed on a people who possessed in
such abundance the means of testing the genuineness of their
origin, by recourse to other sources of information; and tlie
same arguments which apply in the case of the Saltair of Tara,
may be used in regard to another work assigned to Cormac, of
which mention will be presently made. Nor is this all, but
there is no reason whatever to deny that a book, such as the
Saltair of Tara is represented to have been, was in existence at
Tara a long time before Cormac's reign ; and that Cormac only
ahered and enlarged it to meet the circumstances of his own times.
These bards and druids, of which our ancient records make
such frequent mention, must have had some mode of perpetuating
their arts, else it would have been impossible for those arts to
have been transmitted so faithfully and fully as we know they
were. It is true that the student in the learning of the File is
said to have spent some twelve years in study, before he was pro-
nounced an adept ; and this may be siipposed to imply that the
instruction was verbal ; but we have it from various writers, even
as late as the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, that it was
customary with the medical, law, and civil students of dicse
times, to read the classics and study their professions for twenty
years.
All this is indeed but presumptive evidence of the possession
of writing by the Irish in the time of Cormac ; but, from otlier
sources we nave reason to believe tliat the art cxistt^d here long
antecedent to his reign : this subject is, however, of too great
extent and importance to admit of its full discussion at present.
There still exists, I should state to you, a Law Tract, attri-
buted to Cormac. It is called the Book of Acaill ; and is always
found annexed to a Law Treatise by Cennfaelad the learned,
who died in a.d. 677. The following preface always j^refixed
to this first work gives its history. — [See original in Appendix,
No. XXVII.]
"The locus^^^ oi the Book was Aicill (or Acaill, pron:
f*«J It was always the habit of the old Irish writers to state four circum-
ttances conc-emiug the composition of their works : the place at which they
were written (or the locu8 of the work, according to the form here used),— tlie
date, — the name of the author, — and the occasion or circumstances whicli sug-
gested the undertaking. These forms were adhered to by writers using the
natire language down even to the time of the Four Masters, as will be seen
in a subsequent Lecture (VIII.), on the various works of the O'CIerys.
48
OF THE BABLIEST EXISTING MSS.
Of the Book
ot AcailL
Of Cent^fae-
lad.
Akill'), near Teamair [Tara]; and the time of it was the
time of Cairh'i LifecLchair (Cairbre of the Liffey), son of
Cormac, and the person [author] of it was Cormac; and
the cause of making it was, the blinding of Cormac's eye
by AenmjLs Gabuaidech (Aengus of the poisoned spear), after
the abduction of the daughter of Sorar, son of Art Corb,
by Cellach, the son of Cormac. This Aengus Gabimidech
was an AirS JEchta (an avenging chief) at this time, avenging
the wrongs of his tribe in the territories of LuighnS (Leyney) ;
and he went into the house of a woman there, and forcibly
drank milk there. " It would be fitter for you", said the wo-
man, " to avenge your brother's daughter on Cellach, the son of
Cormac, than to consume my food forcibly". And books do not
record that he committed any evil upon the woman's person ; but
he went forward to Teamair; and it was after sunset he reached
Teamair; and it was prohibited at Teamair to take a champion*8
arms into it after sunset ; but only the arms that happened to
be in it ; and Aengus took Cormac's Crimall (bloody spear) down
off its rack (as he was passing in) and gave a tlmist of it into
Ceallach, son of Cormac, which killed him ; and its angle struck
Cormac s eye, so that he remained half bhnd ; and its heel struck
in the back of the steward of Teamair^ when drawing it out
of Cellach, and killed him ; and it was prohibited to a kmg
with a blemish to be in Teamair; and Cormac was sent out to
be cured to Aicillj near Teamair; and Teamar could be seen
from Aicill, and Aicill could not be seen from Teamar; and
the sovereignty of Erinn was (then) riven to Cairbre Lifea-
chair, the son of Cormac ; and it was tlien this book was com-
piled ; and that which is Cormac's share in it is every place where
"^/ai" (immunity) occurs, and ^^Atneic arafeiaer^' (my son would
you know) ; and Cenndfaelad'a share is, everything from that
out".
Such is the accoimt of this curious tract, as found prefixed to
all the copies of it that we now know ; and, though the compo-
sition of this preface must be of a much later date than Cor-
mac's time, still it bears internal evidence of great antiquity.
Cormac's book is, as I have observed, always found prefixed
to the laws compiled by Cennfaelad just mentioned. This
Cennfaelad had been an Ulster warrior, but, happening to re-
ceive a fractui-e of the skull, at the battle of Magh Rath, fought
A.D. 634, he was carried to be cured, to the house of Bricin^*'^ of
(17) The reader will please to observe, once for all, that the letter c is in the
Gaedhlic always pronounced hard, or like the English A; it never has the soft
sound of an s, even before an e or an i.
OF THE EARLIEST EXISTING MSS. 49
Tuaim Drecainj where there were three schools, namely : a Lite- lect. n.
raiy ^or Classical) school; a Fenechas, or Law school; and a. '
. school of Poetry. And, whilst there, and listening to the instnic- of Arlm. *
tions given to the pupils, and the subtle discussions of the schools,
his memory, which, before, was not very good, became clear
and retentive, so that whatever he heard in the day (it is re-
corded) he remembered at night ; and thus, he finally came to
be a master in the arts of the three schools, reducing what he
had heard in each to order, and committing it to verse, which
he first wrote upon slates and tablets, and afterwards in a
White Book, in verse. The Fenechas, or law part only, of
this book, is that now found annexed to Cormac's treatise.
These laws, however, are not in verse now. And, whether the
laws at present known, in connection with Cennfaelad/is name,
aie of nis own composition, or those he learned in the schools
here mentioned, is not certain. The explanation of the word
AiciU^ as well as the circumstances just mentioned respecting
Cennfaeladh^ occurs In the following passage, in continuation of
that last quoted. — [See original in Appendix, No. XXVIII.]
^^Aicill [is derived] from Uch Oil [the Great Lamenta-
tion], which Aicell, the daughter of Cairbre [^Cairbre Niafear^
monarch of Erinn], made there, lamenting Ere, the son of
Cairbre, her brother ; and here is a proof of it : —
" The dauriiter of Cairbre, that diedj^**^
And of Feidelm, the ever-blooming,
Of grief for Ere, beautiful her part,
Who was slain in revenge of Cucliulainn".
** Or, it was Aicell, the wife of Ere, son of Cairbre, that died of
grief for her husband there, when he wtxs killed by Conall Cear-
nach (in revenge of Cuchulalnn) ; and this is a proof of it : —
" Conall Ceamach, that brought Erc's head
To the side of Temalr, at the third hour ;
Sad the deed that of it came,
The breaking of Acaill's noble heart".
*' If there was estabhshed law at the time the eric (reparation)
which was paid for this crime (against Cormac, etc.) — provided
it was on free wages^**^ Magh Bregh (Bregla) was held — was the
^»*> Tbo0e two verses are taken from the ancient Dinnsenchus, but there is
no authoritj for the second version to be found in the copy of that tract, pre-
served in the Book of Ballymote. The poem from which they are taken, and
which gives the origin of the place called Acaill, was written by Cinaeth or
Kenneth 0*Hartigan, who died a.d. 973, and, consequently, this account, in its
present state, of the Book of Acaill, was written after the writing of the poem.
<**^ Free wage*, — ^That is, if they had only held their lands and original stock,
4
50 OF THE EARLIEST EXISTING MSS.
LECT.n. same as if free wages had been given to half of them, and base
Of th Book ^^^ ^ *^^ other half, so that one half of them would be in
of Aeaui, free service, and the other half in base service.
" If free wages were not on them at all, the eric which should
be paid there was the same as if free wages had been given to
the half of them and base wages to the other half, so that half
of them would be in free service, and the other half in base
service.
" If there was not established law there, every one s right
would be according to his strength.^**^
** And they (Aengus's tribe) left the territory, and they went
to the south. They are the J)eise (Dccies or Deasys) of Port
Laeghaire or Port Lairge (Waterford) from that time down.
** Its (the book's) locus and time, as regards Connac, so far.
"In regard to Cennfaelad, however, the locus of Hiis part of]
it was Doire Lurain^ and the time of it was the tune of [the
Monarch] Aedh Mac Ainnierech, and its person [i.e. author]
was Cennfaelad, and the cause of compiling it, liis brain of for-
ffctfulness having been extracted from Cennjfaelad's head after
having been cloven in the battle of Magli Rath^'*^ [a.d. 634].
" The three victories of that battle w^e : ^hc defeat of Congal
Claen, in his falsehood, by Doinnall, in liis truthfulness; and
Suihhnli^ the maniac, to become a maniac ; and it is not Suihh-
nSs becoming a maniac that is ^considered) a victory, but all
the stories and all the poems which he left after him in Erinn ;
and it was not a victory that his brain of forgetfulness was ex-
tracted from Cennfaelad's head, but what he left of noble book
works after him in Erinn. He had been carried to be cured to
the house of [St.] Bricin, of Tuaim Drecain, and there were
three schools in the to\Mi, a school of classics, and a school of
which was the wages, or rath^ on the coDdition of certain personal serrices, and
the payment of a certain rent every third year, — which was called saer-rath, or
free wages,— they should be now reduced, one half the tribe, to base wages,
which amounted to a species of slavery, under which they were forced to pay
every year what the parties on free wages paid but every third year. And even
though according to the«econd clause the lands were not held by them on wages
at all, but as independent inheritors (that is, owners owing only an acknow-
ledgment to the king, with such contributions only as they pleased), wliich
they were, being the descendants of Fiacha Suidhe^ the brother of Conn of
the Hundred Battles, and consequently cousins to Corniac himself. — even then
they were reduced to the state of one half of them becoming free vassiils, and
the other half base vassals, their hereditary title to their lands having become
for ever forfeited.
fso) There is a most curious and important accoimt of the trial and decision in
this ancient case, preserved in the ancient Irish Manuscript lately purchased
in London for the Koyal Irish Academy, through the liberality and fine na-
tional spirit of the Rev. Dr. Todd, of T.C.D.
(31) See The Battle of Mayh Rath, edited by John 0*Donovan, LL.D., for
the Irish Archaeological Society ; 1S42.
OF THE EARLIEST EXISTING MSS. 51
Penedios (laws), and a school of Filidhecht (philosophy, poetry, lect.u.
etc.); and everything that he used to hear of what the three or the Book
schools spoke every day he used to have of clear memory [i.e., otAcaut.
perfectly by rote] every night ; and he put a clear thread of
poetry to them [t.«., put them into verse] ; and he wrote them
on stones and on tables, and he put them into a vellum-book"/**^
The whole of this volume, comprising the parts ascribed to
the King Cormac, and those smd to be Cennfaclads, form a
very important section of our ancient national institutes, known
as tne Brehon Laws ; but it does not, for the reason I before
alluded to, fall within my province to deal with those laws
farther on the present occasion.
(3» The latter portion of this passage is somewhat more minntely given in
another MS. Tersion (T.C.D. Library, H. 3. 18. p. 399), as follows :—
^ And where he was cured was at Tuaim Drecain^ at the meeting of the
three stre^ between the houses of the three professors {Sai\ namelj^, a pro-
~?ighen
of Feneehas^ a professor of Filidhecht, and a professor of Leigkenn
(dassics). And all that the three schools taught (or spoke) each day, he had,
thnmgfa the sharpness of his intellect, each night ; and so much (^ it as he
wished to show, he put into poetical arrangement, and it was written by him
into white bodLs**. tSee origmal in Appendix, No. XXVIII.]
%
4 15
ent Annals.
LECTURE III.
[DeUrcrvd M«rch W. 1866.]
Of the synchronisms of Flann of Monasterhoice. Of the Chronological Poem
of Gilla Caemhain, Of Tighernach the Annalist. Of the foundation of
Clonmacnois. The Annals. — I. The Annals of Tighernach, Of the
Foundation of Emania, and of the Ultonian dynasty.
In shortly sketcliing for you some account of our lost books of
history, and in endeavouring to suggest to you what must have
been the general state of learning at and before the introduction
of Christianity by our national Apostle, I have, in fact, opened
the whole subject of these lectures: the MS. materials existing
in our ancient language for a real history of Erinn. Let us
now proceed at once to the consideration of the more important
branches of those materials ; and, first, of the extent and charac-
ter of our national annals, and their importance in the study
of our history.
Of the and- The principal Annals now remaining in the Gaedhlic lan-
guage, and of which we have any acrcurate knowledge, are
known as: — the Annals of Tighernach (pron: nearly ** Teer-
nagh") ; — the Annals of Senait Mac Manus (a compilation now
better known as the Annals of Ulster) ^— the Annals of Inis Mac
Nerinn in Loch Ce (erroneously called the Annals of Kilro-
nan) ; — the Annals of Innisfallen ; — the Annals now known as
the Annals of Boyle ; — the Annals now known as the Annals
of Connacht ; — the Annals o£l)un nan-Gall (Doncgall), or those
of the Four Masters ; — and lastly, the Chronicum Scotorum.
Besides these we have also the Annals of Clonmacnois, a
compilation of the same class, wliich was translated into English
in 1627, but of which the original is unfortunately not now
accessible or known to exist.
With regard to annals in other languages relating to Ireland,
I need only allude to the Latin Annals of Multilcman, of
Grace, of Pembridge, Clyn, etc., published by the Irish Archaso-
logical Society.
At the head of our list I have placed the Annals of Tigher-
nach, a comjx)sition, as we shall presently see, of a very re-
markable character, whether we take into account the early
period at which these annals were written, namely, the close of
the eleventh century, or the amount of historical research, the
OF THE EARLY HISTORICAL WRITERS. 53
judicious care, and the scholarlike discrimination, which distin- lect. m.
guish the compiler. These annals have accordingly been con- oftheeariie
gidered by many to constitute, if not our earliest, at least one of chronoio-
the most important of our historical records now extant. Hi«u)iSui«.
How far the arrangement of events and the chronology ob-
ser>-cd in most of our annals are to be ascribed to Tighemach,
is a matter that cannot now be cleaily determined. It is certain,
however, that there were careful and industrious chroniclers
and chronologists before his time, with whose works he was
doubtless well acquainted.
From a very early period, we find notices of chroniclers and
historical compilers. I have already mentioned the royal his-
torian, CJomiac Mac Art, and also the author of the Cin Dromd
Sneachta. From the sixth to the eighth century we meet,
amongst many others, the names of Amergin Mac Amalgaidh^
author of the Dinn Seanchas ; Cennfaeladh; and Acngus CeiU
Di. From the year 800 to the year 1000, we find Maolmura
of Othan ; Cormac Mac Cuileannain; Flann Mac Lonan ;
Eochaidh OTUnn ; and Cinaeth or Kennett O'Hartigan. In the
eleventh century the historical compilers are still more frequent :
the chief names in this period are, those of Cuan OLochain;
Colman CSeasnan; Flann Mainistrech, or of the Monastery,
and Gilla Caemhain. The two latter lived in the same cen-
tury with Tighemach ; Flann, the professor of St. Buithes
Monastery (or Monasterboice), who died a.d. 1056 ; and Gilla
Caemhain^ a writer who died a.d. 1072, the translater into
Gaedhlic of Nennius history of the Britons. Of these, as they
were contemporaries of Tighemiich, it ^\^ll be necessary to give
some account, Ijefore we proceed to consider more particularly
the Annals of that author.
Flann compiled very extensive historical sjTichronisms, which or the Syn-
have been much respected by some of the most able modem FianH'o^Mo^
writers on early Irish history, such as Ussher, Ware, Father Jolm "«'jt<^'^«'co
Lvnch (Ix^tter known as GratianusLucms, the well known author t'ury).
of Cambrensis Evei-sus), OTlaherty, and Cliarles O'Conor.
The synchronisms of Flann go back to the most remote
periods, and form an excellent abridgment of universal history.
After synchronizing the cliiefs of various lines of the children
of Adam in the east, the author points out what monarchs of
the Assyrians, Medes, Pei*sians, and Greeks, and what em-
perors of the Romans, were c(mtemporary with the kings of
Erinn and the leaders of its various early colonists, begiiming
with Ninus, the son of Belus, and coming down to the first of
the Roman emperors, Julius Caesar, who was contemporary with
54 OF THE EARLY HISTORICAL WRITERS.
LECT. m. Eochaidh Feidhlech, a monarch of Erinn who died more than
Of the svn ^^^ * centuiy before the Incarnation of our Lord. The parallel
chronisma of lincs are then continued from Julius Caesar and his Irish con-
m!«tS-boiM*' temporary Eochaidh Feidhlech, down to the Emperors Theo-
tui^)^°" dosius the Tliird, and Leo the Third, and their contemporary
Ferghal, son of Maelduin, monarch of Erinn, who was killed
A.D. 718.
Flann makes use of the length and periods of the reigns of
the emperors to illustrate and show the consistency of the
chronology of the Irish reiffns, throughout this long list.
After tnis he throws the whole series, from Julius Caesar
down, into periods of 100 years each, grouping the emperors
of Rome and the kings of Erinn in each century in the fol-
lowing manner. Thus, he takes one hundred years, from the
first year of Julius Caesar to the twelfth year of Claudius.
Five emperors will be found to have reignea within this time,
namely, Julius, Octavius, Tiberius, Caligula, and Claudius.
The Irish parallel period to this will be foimd in the one him-
dred years from the eighth year of Eoclmidh Feidhlech to the
fifth year of the reign of JLughaidh Riahh Derg, Six mo-
narchs ruled in Erinn during that term, namely, Eochaidh
Feidhlech^ Eochaidh A iremh, his brother ; Edersgel Mac lar^
Nuadha Necht, Conairi Mdr, and Lughaidh Riabh Derg.
A second period of one hundred years, in Flann's computa-
tions, extends from the second last year of Claudius to the
eighteenth year of Antoninus Pius. Thirteen emperors reigned
within that time. There were also one hundred years from the
fifth year of Lughaidh Riabh Derg, monarch of Erinn, to the
end of the reign of Elim Mac Conrach, and seven monarchs
governed in that space of time, namely, Conchohhar or Conor,
Crimthann, Cairhri, Fearadhach, Fiatach, Fiacha^ and Elim
Mac Conrach himself.
And so Flann continues down to the time of the Emperor
Leo, and Ferahal Mac Maelduin, King of Erinn, who was killed
A.D. 718. That portion of the work which carries down the
synchronisms to Julius Caesar is next summed up in a poem of
which there are two copies, one of 1096, and the other of 1220
lines, intended no doubt to assist the student in committing to
memory the substance of the synchronisms {Lecain; fol. 20. 36).
There is another chronological piece of curious interest and
of very considerable value, which was also probably composed
by Flann, or at least that portion of it wnich precedes a.d.
1056, the year of Flann's death. It comprises a list of the reigns
of the monarchs of Ireland, with those of the contempoi-ary pro-
vincial kings, and also of the kings of Scotland. This syncnro-
OF THE EARLY HISTORICAL WRITERS. 55
nological list commences with Laeghairi, who succeeded to the LEcr.m.
sovereignty in the year of our Lord 429, and it is carried down ^^^
to the dcatn of Muirclieartach O'Brien, in 1119, sixty-five years chronis^'of
after Flann's deatli. Who the continuator of Flann may have nlSterSJiST
been we do not now know. (xl cen-
It may be interesting to give the following abstract as a spe-
cimen of Flann 8 synchronisms of the kings of Scotland, as it
shows their connection with the royal lines of Erinn.
It was, he says, in the year 498 that Fergus M6r and his
brothers went into Scotland. They were the sons of Ere, the
son of Eochaidh Muinreamhar^ whose father was the renowned
Colla Uais, who, with his brothers, overthrew the Ulster dynasty
and destroyed the palace of Emania. Muirchertach Mac Eirc^
one of the brothers, was the ancestor of the MacDonnells, Lords
of the Isles, and of other gixjat families in Scotland. Our tract
says that from the Battle of Ocha, a.d. 478, to the death of the
monarch, Diarmaid, son of Fergus Cerrbeoil, there was a space
of eighty years. There were lour monarchs of Erinn witliin
that time, namely, Lughaidh, son of Laeghaire; Muirchertach y
son of Ere ; Tuathal Mael Garhh; and Diannaid. There were
five kings of Scotland to correspond with these four of Erinn,
namely, the above Fergus M6r; his brother, Aengus M6r;
Domangort, the son of Fergus ; Comgall, the son of Domangort ;
and Gabran, the son of Domangort.
The parallel provincial kings of Erinn follow, but it is not
necessary to enumerate them here.
The first part of the synchronisms ascribed to Flann is lost
from the Book of Lecan, but it is preserved in the Book of Bally-
mote (fol. 6, a.) ; and as far as can be judged from their tenor m
the latter book, they must have been those used by Tiffhemach,
or they may possibly have been taken from an earlier work
whieh was common both to Tighernach and to the compiler of
tliis tract. It is, in fact, the synchronism of Flann, now imper-
fect, whieh we find at the commencement of Tighernach, but
inserted there after ha\'ing been first subjected to the critical
examination and careful balancing of authorities which gene-
rally distinguish that learned annalist.
I'here is yet another important chronological composition in or the chro-
existence, to which I must here allude: I mean the Poem of J.^^IJjfoJ^
Gilla Camihain, who died a.d. 1072. aH^ain
This writer begins by stating that he will give the annals of
all time, from the beginning of the world to his own period.
He computes the several j)eriods from the Creation to the De-
luge, from the Deluge to Abraham, from Abraliam to David,
and from David to tne Babylonian Captivity, etc. From the
5t) OF THK EARLY HISTORICAL WRITERS.
LECT. HI. Creation to the Incarnation he counts 3952 years. (This is
Of the writ- ^tviously the common Hebrew computation.) He then goes
ings of Fiann on to Synchronize the Eastern sovereigns with each other, and
^^Mfnhain aftCTwards with the Firbolgs and Tuatha Di Danahn of Erinn,
tv^)^**" and subsequently with the Milesians.
He carries down the computation through several Eastern
and Irish dynasties, giving the deaths of all the monarchs, and
of several of the provincial kings of Erinn, as well as of many
remarkable persons : such as the death of Finn Mac Cumhaiilj
of Saint Patrick, and of Saint Brigid, He also notices the great
mortality of the seventh century, the drowning of the Danish
tyrant Turgesius, by King Maelsechlainn (or Malachv), etc. ;
continuing still to give the intervening years, down to the death
of Brian Boroimhi^ in 1014, and so on to the "Saxon" battle in
which the king of the Danes was killed, five years before the
date of the composition of his poem.
The names of many other early writers on Irish history, and
even, in some instances, fragments of their works, have come
down to us ; but the two of whose compositions I have given
the foregoing brief sketch, are in many respects the most re-
markable.
The short notices we have given of the writings of Flann and
Gilla Caemliain are quite sufficient to show that they were
famihar with a large and extensive range of general history ;
and their chronological computations, parallels, and synchro-
nisms, prove that they must have industriously examined every
possible available source of the chief great nations of anti-
quity. Such learning will probably seem to you remarkable
at so early a period (a.d. 1050) in Ireland; and even were it
confined to churchmen, it must be admitted to be evidence of
very considerable cultivation. But in the instance of Flann of
the Monastery we have proof that this learning and cultivation
were not confaned to the Irish ecclesiastics ; for though we always
find the name of Fiann associated with the Monastery of Saint
BuiM, it is well known that he was not in orders. He is never
mentioned as an ecclesiastic ; and we know that he was married
and left issue, as I have shown in the genealogical table pub-
lished in the Celtic Society's edition of the Battle of Magh
Lena. In fact, his employment was that simply of a lay teacher
in a great school ; and he filled the office of Fer Leghinn, or
chief professor in the great College of Saint Buithe (a college as
well lay as ecclesiastical), the ruins of wliich may still perhaps be
seen at Monastcrboice, in the modem coimty of Louth.
Flann s death is noticed by Tighemach, under the year 1056,
thus: — ** Flann, of the monastery, a Gadelian [i.e.^ Gaedhhc,
OF THB EARLT HISTORICAL WRITERS. 57
or Irisli] author in history, in genealogy, in poetry, and in elo- lectt. m.
qucnce, on the 7th of the kalends of December, the 16th day ~
of the moon, happily finished his life in Christ". — [See original naeh. (xi.
in Appendix, No. XXIX.] The O'Clerys, in the Book of In- ^°'^>-
vasions (page 52), speak of him in the following terms: —
" Flann, a 3aoi of the wisdom, chronicles, and poetry of the
Gaels, made tliis poem on the Christian kings ol Erinn, from
Laeghaire to Maelseachlainn Mor^ beginning, ' The Kings of
il&ithful Temar afterwards*", etc. — [See original in Appendix,
No. XXIX.]
It is to be observed that Flann was the predecessor of Tigher-
nach ; and without in the least de^e derogating from the well-
earned reputation of that distinguished annahst, enough of the
works of Flann remain to show that he was a scholar of fully
equal learning, and a historic investigator of the greatest merit.
Let us now return to Tighemach, whose name stands among
the first of Irish annalists ; and, as we shall see in investigating the
portions of his works which remain to us, this position has been
not unjustly assigned him. If we take into account the early
period at which he wrote, the variety and extent of his know-
ledge, the accuracy of tis details, and the scholarly criticism
and excellent ju^ment he displays, we must agree with the
opinion expressed by the Rev. Charles O'Conor, that not one of
the countries of northern Europe can exhibit a historian of equal
antiquity, learning, and judgment with Tighemach. " No
ihroniclcr ', says this author, " more ancient than Tighemach
can be produced by the northern nations. Nestor, the father of
Russian history, died in 1113; Snorro, the fatlier of Icelandic
history, did not appear imtll a century after Nestor; Kadlubeck,
the first historian of Poland, died in 1223; and Stierman could
not discover a scrap of writing in all Sweden older than 1159". —
[Stowc Catalogue, vol. i., p. 35.]
In this statement, I may however observe, tlie learned author
makes no mention of Bode, Gildas, or Nennius. With tlie great
ecclesiastical historian of the Saxons, the Irish annalist does not
came into comparison, as he did not treat exclusively of Churi'.h
historj' ; but with the historians of the Britons, Tighemach may
be most favourably compared.
As to Tijrhemach s personal history, but little, unfortunately,
i.«» known. Little more can l>c said of him than that he was of
the Siol Muireadhaujh^ or Mun*ay-race of Coimacht, of which
the O'Conors were the chief sept ; his o\vn name was Tigher-
nnch OBraoin. He ap[x?ai*s to have risen to high consideration
and ecclesiastical rank, for we find that he was Abbot of the
58 OF THE EARLY HISTORICAL WRITERS.
LECT.m. Monasteries of Clonmacnois and Roscommon, being styled the
ofTVgjker- Comharba or "Successor" of Saint Ciaran and Saint Coman.
naeh (XL The obituary notice in the Chronicum Scotorum runs thus : —
Century). ,, ^^ ^^gg^ Tigheruach Ua Braoin, of the Siol Muireadhaigh
[the race of the O'Conors of Connacht,] Comarba of Ciaran of
Cluain-mic-nois and of Coman, died". — [See ori^nal in Ap-
pendix, No. XXX.] The Annals of Inmsfallen describe him
as a /Soot, or Doctor in " Wisdom", Learning, and Oratory; and
they record his death at the year 1088, stating that he was
buried at Clonmacnois. These statements are confirmed by
the Annals of Ulster.
ome M<>. In speaking of Tighemach, I cannot pass without some notice
cionmac- the monastery over which he presided : an institution of great
°"^ antiquity. It was one of those remarkable establishments, eccle-
siastical and educational, which seem to have existed in great
numbers, and to have attained a high degree of excellence in
learning in ancient Erinn. Clonmacnois would appear to have
been amply endowed, and to have enjoyed a large snare of royal
patronage, several of the Kings and nobles of Meath and Con-
nacht having chosen it as their place of sepulture. And we find
it mentioned, that in many of the great establishments such as
tliis, a very extensive staff of professors was maintained, repre-
sentinff all branches of learning. We have already seen, in the
case of Flann of the Monastery, that it was by no means neces-
sary that those professors should be always ecclesiastics.
Saint Ciaran was the founder of Clonmacnois. He was of
Ulster extraction ; but his father (who was a carpenter) emi-
grated into Connacht, and settled in Magh Ai (a plain, of which
the present county of Roscommon forms the chief part) ; and
here it was that young Ciaran was born, in the year 516. He
studied at the great College of Clonard, in Westmeath, under
the celebrated Saint Finnen ; and after finishing his education
there, he went into the Island of Arann, on the coast of Clare,
to perfect himself in rehgious discipline under the austere rule
of Saint Enna. He returned again to Westmeath, where he
received from a friendly chief a piece of ground upon which to
erect a church. The situation of this church was low, and hence
the church and locality obtained the name oi heal Chiarain^ or
Ciaran's low place.
Saint Ciaran, after some time, left one of his disciples to rule
in this church, and, apparently for the purpose of greater soli-
tude, retired into the island called Inis Ainghiny in tne Shannon,
now included in the barony of Kilkenny West, in the modem
county of Westmeath. Here he founded another church, the
OF THE EARLY HISTORICAL WRITERS. 59
ruins (or site) of whicli beax liis name to this day. But the fame lsct. m.
of his wisdom, learning, and sanctity, soon brought round him ^
guch a number of disciples and followers, that the limits of the n««tery <? '
island were insufficient for them, and he therefore resolved once SSIu™^
more to return to the main land of Westmeath. This was in the
year 538, the last year of the reign of Tuathal Maelgarbh^ mo-
narch of Erinn.
This Tuathal (pron:. "Toohal") was the third in descent
from the celebrated monarch Niall, known in history as Niall
of the Nine Hostages ; and at the time that he came to the
throne there was another young prince of the same race and of
equal claims to the succession of Tara, namely, Diarmaid, the
son of Fergus CerrbheoiL
The new king, Tuathal^ feeling uneasy at the presence of a
rival prince, banished Diarmaid from Tara, and ordered him to
depart out of the territory of Meath. Diarmaid^ attended by a
few followers, betook himself in boats to the broad expansion of
the Upper Shannon, li\'ing on the bounty of his fiiends at both
rides of the river; and in this manner did he spend the nine
years that his opponent reigned. It was about this time that
Saint Ciaran returned with his large establishment from Inis
Ainghin to the main land, and Diarmaid^ happening to be on the
river in the neighbourhood of the place where they landed, went
on shore and followed them to Druim Tibrait (Hill of the
Well), now called Cluain-micnois, or Clonmacnois, where
they stopped. As he approached them, he found Saint Ciaran
planting tlie first pole of a church. "What work is about being
done here T said Diarmaid. " The erecting of a small church' ,
paid Saint Ciaran. " Well may that indeed be its name", said
Diarmaid, ^''Ealais Beg, or The Little Church". " Plant the pole
with me*", said Saint Ciaran, "and let my hand be above your
hand on it, and your hand and your sovereign sway shall be
over the men of Erinn before long". " How can this be", said
Diarmaid, "since Tuathal is monarch of Erinn, and I am exiled
by him?" "God is powerful for that", said Ciaran. They then
set up the pole, and Diarmaid made an offering of the place to
God and Saint Ciaran.
Diarmaid had a foster-brother in his train. This man's name
was Maelmora. When he heard the prophetic words of the
saint, he formed a resolution to verify them. With this purpose
he set out, on horseback, to a place called Grellach Eillti (in
the north part of the modem coimty of Westmeath), where he
had learned that the monarch Tuathal then was ; and having
by stratagem gained access to his presence, he struck him in the
breast with his spear, and killed him. It is scarcely necessary
CO OF THE EARLY HISTORICAL WRITERS.
LECT. ni. to say that Maclmora liimself was killed on the spot. However,
^^^ ^ no sooner was Tuathal dead than DiarmaidCs friends sought him
nastery of out and brought him to Tara ; and the very next day he was
noS"*^" proclaimed monarch of Erinn. [See Appendix, No. XXXI.]
Diannaid continued to be a bountiful benefactor to Clonmac-
nois; and under liis munificent patronage the Eglaia beg^ or
Little Church, soon became the centre around which were
grouped no less than seven churches, two Cloictechs, or Roimd
Towers, and a large and important town, the lone ruins of which
now form so pictiu-esque an object on the east bank of the
Shannon, about seven miles below Athlone.
Clonmacnois continued to be the seat of learning and sanctity,
the retreat of devotion and solitude, and the favourite place of
interment for the kings, chiefs, and nobles of both sides of the
Shannon, for a thousand years after the founder's time, till the
rude hand of the despoiler plimdered its shrines, profaned its
sanctuaries, murdered or exiled its peaceful occupants, and
seized on its sacred property.
Fanciful as this account of the origin of the far-famed Clon-
macnois may at first sight appear, there still exists on the spot
evidence of its veracity, which the greatest sceptic would find it
difficult to explain away. There stands within the ruined pre-
cincts of this ancient monastery, a stone cross, on which, amongst
many other subjects, are sculptured the figures of two men,
holding an erect stuff or pole between them ; and although the
erection of this cross may belong (as I believe it docs) to the
beginning of the tenth century, and although it was then set up,
no doubt, to commemorate the building of the Great Churcli by
the monarch Flann and tlie Abbot Colman, there can be but
little doubt, if any, that tlie two figures of men holding the pole
were intended to perpetuate the memory of the manner of foimd-
ing of the primitive Eglais beg^ or Little Church, the history of
which was then at least implicitly believed.
Many abbots and scholars of distinction will be found amongst
the inmates of this retreat of piety and learning at various
periods. I shall mention liere the names of but a few :
A.D. 791. Saint Colchu Ua Duinechdaj sumamed The
Wise, died on the 20th Februaiy this year. He was supreme
moderator or prelector, and master of the celebrated school of
this abbey ; he was also a reader of divinity, and wrote a work,
to which he gave the name of Scuap Crabhaigh^ or the Besom
of Devotion; he obtained the appellation of chief scribe, and
was master of all the Scots of Ireland. Albin, or Alcuin, bishop
of Tritzlar, in Germany, and one of Charlemagne's tutors, in a
letter to Saint Colchu, informs him that he had sent fifty shekels
OF THE EARLY HISTORICAL WRITERS. 61
(a piece of money of the value of Is. 4d.) to the friars of his lbct. hi.
house, out of the abns of Charlemagne, and fifty shekels from ^
himself »ac*.
A.D. 887 died Suibhne^ the son of Maelumha, a learned scribe
and anchorite. Florence of Worcester calls him Suifneh, the
most esteemed writer of the Scots, and says that he died in 892.
A.D. 924. On the 7th February, the Sage, Doctor, and
Abbot, Colman Mac Ailill, died full of years and honour ; he
erected the Great Church where the patron saint lies interred,
A.D. 981. On the 16th of January died Donnchadli OBraoin^
having obtained a great reputation for learning and piety; to
avoid the appearance of vain glory, he resigned the govern-
ment of his abbey in the year 974, and returned to Armagh,
where he shut himself up in a small enclosure, and lived a lonely
anchorite till his death.
A.D. 1024. Fachtna, a learned professor and priest of Clon-
macnois. Abbot of lona, and chief Abbot of Ireland, died this
year in Rome, whither he had gone on a pilgrimage, etc.
These arc but a few of the distinguished children of Clon-
macnois previous to the time of Tighemach.
Tighemach himself was imdoubtedly one of the most remark-
able of all the scholars of Clonmacnois. His learning appears
to have been very varied and extensive. He quotes Euscbius,
Orosius, Aii-icanus, Bede, Josephus, Saint Jerome, and many
other historic writci*s, and sometimes compares their statements
on }>oints in which they exhibit discrepancies, and afterwards
endeavours to reconcile their conflicting testimony, and to cor-
rect the chronological errors of one writer by comparison with
the dates given by others. He also collates the Hebrew text
with the Septuagint version of the Scriptures.
lliese statements, which you will find amply verified when
you come to examine the Annals of Tighemacli in detail, will
be sufficient to show the extent of liis general scholai-ship. It is
to be presumed that he was perfectly acquainted with the seve-
ral historical compositions which had been written previous to
his time.
The common era, or that computed from the Incarnation of
our Lord, is used by Tighemach, though we have no reason to
believe that it was so by the great Irish liistorical compilers
who immediately preceded him.
Tighemach also appears to have been familiar with some of
the modes of correcting the calendar. He mentions the Lunar
Cycle, and uses the Dominical letter with the kalends of several
years ; but he makes no direct mention of the Solar Cycle or
Golden Number.
62 OF THB ANCIENT ANNALS.
LECT. in. I shall now proceed to consider the several copies of the
Qf^^j^, Annals of Tiffhemach which have come down to us, all of
NAu or which are unfortunately in a very imperfect state.
KAci^* Seven copies of these annals are now known to exist, besides
the vellum fragment which I shall mention presently. Two
of them in the Bodleian Library at Oxford, are described by
Dr. O'Conor in his Stowe Catalogue ; and one of these he has
published, without the continuation, in the second volume of
his " Rcrum Hibemicarum Scriptores", a work which cannot
be mentioned without a tribute of respect to the industry,
learning, and patriotism of the author, and the spirited Uberality
of the English nobleman (the late Marquis of Buckingham),
at whose personal expense this work, m four volumes 4to,
was printea.
Two copies of Tiffhemach, one of them in English charac-
ters, are to be found m the collection of the Royal Irish Aca-
demy ; and one in the library of Trinity College. The last,
although on paper, is the most perfect, the oldest, and the most
original, of those now in Ireland. In the Trinity College
Library there is however also preserved a fragment, consisting
of three leaves of an ancient vellum MS., apparently of Tig-
hemach, though it is now bound up with the vellum copy of
the Annals of Ulster.^*»>
Two other but very inferior copies are to be found in the
British Museum. The first of these (Egcrton, 104, — Hardi-
man MS.) is in small foho on paper, and has c\ddently been
made either from one of the Stowe copies or from that in Trin.
Coll. Dublin. It is a bad copy in every way. The handwrit-
ing, both of the GraedhUc text and of the inaccurate transla-
tion which accompanies it, are (as well as my memory serves
me) identical with that of the bad translation mixed with
Gaedhlic words in the first volume of the MS. Annals of the
Four Masters in the Library of the R.I.A., — the first of the two
volumes in small folio. Tnis copy of Tighemach commences
at the same date as the T.C.D. copy, and comes down to 1163.
The second in the British Museum (Egerton, 94, — Hardiman
MS.) is but a bad copy of the last mentioned, made by a very
inferior scribe.
It is believed that an eighth copy of these annals exists in
the collection of Lord Ashbumham ; but as that nobleman
does not allow any access to his valuable Library of MSS., I
am unable to say whether this is so or not.
(83) See Appendix, No. XXXII., in which will be found some valuable re-
marks upon this remarkable fragment kindly communicated to me by the Rev.
Dr. Todd, S.F.T.C.D., while these sheets were passing through the press.
OF THE ANCIENT ANNALS. 63
These annals are of such importance to the illustration of ucr.m.
Irish History, that I shall offer no apology for introducing here q^^^ j^^^
some particular account of the copies which still remain. »alb or
Dr. O'Conor has carefully examined those in the Bodleian kach"*"
Libranr, and from his account of them, the following extracts
are taken (Stowe Catalogue, Vol. I. p. 191, etc.).
" It has not been hitherto observed , says this writer, " that Dr.oconors
there are two Oxford copies, both imperfect: the first escaped •^^^^"^
Sir J. Ware, though he had the use of it, and entered it in his
catalogue as another work. It is marked * Rawlinson', No.
502. In a label prefixed to it, in Ware's hand, it is described
thus : — * Annales ab Urbe condita usque ad initium Imperii An-
tonini Pii' (Annals from the building of the city to the reign of
Antoninus rius).
" This MS. begins, in Its present mutilated condition, with
that part of Tighemach's chronicle, where he mentions the
founcmtion of Rome, and consists only of a few leaves ending
with the reign of Antoninus ; but it is valuable as a fragment
of the twelfth century. Very brief are the notices of Ireland,
which are mixed up with the early parts of Tighemach. He
(questions the veracity of all the most ancient aocuments rcla-
tmg to Ireland; and makes the historical epoch begin from
Cvnbaothy and the founding of Emania, about the eighteenth
year of Ptolemy Lagus, before Christ 289. * Omnia Monu-
menta Scotorum', says he, * usque Cimboeth incerta erant\
(All the monuments of the Scots to the time of Cimboeth
were uncertain.)
" But yet he gives the ancient lists of the kings as he found
them in the ' Vetera Monumenta\
"In the fragment, Rawlinson, 502, fol. 1 b., col. 1, line 33,
the end of the reign of Cobthach, the son of UgamS^ he syn-
chronizes with the Prophet Ezechias, thus given : — Cobtach the
Slender, of Bregia, the son of Ugan the Great, was burned with
thirty royal Princes about him m Dun Riga, of the plain of
Ailb, in the royal palace of the hill of Tin-bath ( Tin is fire,
hath is to slay), as the ancients relate, by Labrad, of ships, the
beloved son of Ailill, the illustrious son of Laogare the Fierce,
son of Ugan the Great, in revenge for the murder of his father
and grandfather, killed by Cobtach the Slender. A war arose
from this between Leinster and the Northern half of Ireland.
" The second copy of Tighemach in the Bodleian, * llaw-
linson', 488, has not this passage, neither has it any p ut of
this MS. preceding the time of Alexander. But from thence
both agree, to where tlie first ceases, in the rei^ of Anto-
ninus; the loss of the remainder of that MS. is the more
64 OF THE ANCIENT ANNALS.
LECT. III. lamentable, as the MS., No. 488, is imperfect and very ill
T7~~, transcribed. * The quotations from Latin and Greek authors
Of the Aar- . — . - ^
TioHEm-
VACH.
KAL8 OF " in Tighemach are very numerous ; and his balancing their autho-
Tiam^. rities against each other, manifests a degree of criticism uncom-
mon m the iron age in which he lived. He quotes Maclmura s
poem, thus:
" Finit ^uarta aetas, incipit quinta, quae continet annos 589,
ut Poeta ait:— The fourth age of the world finishes, the fiftli
commences, which contains 589 years as the poet says". — [Sec
original in Appendix, No. XXaIII.]
[From the bondage of the people to the birth of the Lord,
Five himdred ana eighty nine years of a truth ;
From Adam to the birth of Mary's glorious Son,
Was tliree thousand nine himdred and fifty-two years.]
"This is a quotation from the Lrish poem of Maelmura
already mentioned ; from which it appears that both followed
the chronology of the Hebrew text, rojcctuig that of tlie
Seventy.
" Several leaves of this MS. are missing at the beginning.
In its present state, the first words are, ' rcgnare inchoans', and
then follows the reign of Ptolemy Lamis, ting of Egj'pt, the
successor of Alexander, from whose eighteenth year he dates
the founding of Eomania. The leaf paged 4 by Ware, is
really the third leaf of the book ; so that m Ware's time it ap-
pears to have had one leaf more than at present. The leaf
marked 5, is the 4 th — that marked 6, is the 5th — that marked
7, is the 6th. The next leaf is numbered 8 ; but this is an ad-
ditional error, for one folio is missing between it and the pre-
ceding ; so that it is neither the 8th in its present state (but
the 7tli), nor was it the 8th in Ware's time, or at any time. Its
preceding leaf ends with an account of St. Patrick's captivity,
and the reign of Julian ; whereas the first line of the leaf paged
8, relates the death of St. Cianan, of DiJeek, to whom St.
Patrick committed his copy of the Gospels ; so that there is a
whole century missing, from St. Patrick's captivity, a.d. 388, to
Ciaran's death in 490.
"In the MS., Rawlinson, 488, the years are frequently
marked on the margins in Arabic numerals, opposite to leading
facts — thus, at fol. 7, col. 3, of the MS., countmg the leaves as
they now are, opposite to the words * Patricius nunc natus est',
the margin bears the date 372 ; and opposite the words, ' Pa-
tricius capti^iis in Hibemiam ductus est' (col. 4), the margin
bears the date 388 ; and opposite to the words kal. iii. Anas-
tasius Regnat, annis xxviii. ' Patricius Arcliiepiscopus ct Apos-
OF THE ANCIENT ANNALS. ()5
tohis Hibemiensiuin anno aetatis suae, cxx. die. xvi. kal. April, lect. m.
quicvit, folio, paged 8, col. 1, the margin bears the date 41)1.
" The two former of these dates arc accurate ; but the latter is AKuiuiof
repugnant to the mind of Tighemach, who quotes a very ancient mIch""
Irish Poem on St. Patricks death, to prove that he died in
493, thus [see original in Appendix, No. XXXIV.] :
** From the birth of Christ — ^happy event.
Four hundred and fair ninety.
Three noble years along with tliat,
Till the death of Patrick, Chief Apostle.
" The next year is erroneously marked on the margin 492 ;
it ought to be 494.
** The marginal annotator has marked the years in Arabics,
opposite to all the subseq\ient initials of years, in conformity
with liis calculation of 491 for the death of St Patrick, and he
errs also by omitting some of Tighcmach's dates in that very
Mge. Tighemach s work ends at page 20, col. 1, of this Mo.
The remainder, to folio paged 29 inclusive, is the Continuation
of Tighemach s Annals, from his death in 1088, to 1178 inclu-
sive. The whole is in one hand.
" It is also to be observed that one leaf is missing after that
marked 14 ; the next is marked 16 ; and the hiatus is to be la-
mented, extending from 765 inclusive, to 973 — a period of 228
years.
" From this account'', says Dr. O'Conor, " it is cleai' that no
good edition of Tighemach can be founded on any copy in
the British Islands ; for that of Dublin, and all those hitherto
discovered, are founded on the Oxford MS., which is imperfect
and corrupted by the ignorance of its transcriber. Inncs,
speaking of this MS., says — ' The Clironicle of Tighemach,
which Sir J. Ware possessed, and is now in the Duke of
Chandos' Library, is a very ancient MS., but seems not so
entire as one that is often quoted 'by O'Flaherty' — Critical
Essaf/, vol. ii. p. 504.
" O'Flaherty s copy is quoted in the Journal dee Scavans,
torn. iv. p. 64, and torn. vi. p. 51, year 1764, in these words; —
* Many learned strangers, in acknowledging the history of Ire-
land, give her annals as of an antiquity very considerable and
an universally approved authenticity. This is the judgment
fiven by Stillingfleet in the preface to liis Antiquities, where
e appears, on the contrary, to make of very little consequence
all the monuments of the Scotch. Mr. Innes, who never flat-
ters the Irish, acknowledges the antiquity as well as the au-
thenticity of their Annals, particularly those of Tighemacb,
5
66 OF THE ANCIENT ANNALS.
LBCT. m. Inisfallen, and of several others. He remarks that the copy
^^^^ of the Annals of Tighernach, which belonged to Mr. OTla-
ijiKAL8 0F herty, author of the Ogygia, appears more perfect than that
MiSaf*" found in the library of the Duke of Chandos. I beUeve it
my duty to declare here, continues this writer, that I pos-
sess actually this same copy of tlie Annals of Tighernach, which
was possessed by Mr. OTlaherty, witli an ancient Apograph
of the Chronicle of Clonmacnols, which is well known under
the title of Chronicon Scotorum Cluanense, and which l)elonged
also to the same Mr. O'Flaherty, who cites it very often in his
Ogj'gia. I possess also a perfect and authentic copy of the
Annals of Inisfallen \
The copy of Tighemach's Annals here last alluded to, tliere is
every reason to believe, is that now in the library of Trinity Col-
lege, Dublin [H. 1. 18]. The anonymous writer in the Jouimal
des Sgavans was, I have scarcely any doubt, the Abbe Connery ;
though he may possibly have been the Rev., afterwards the
Eight Rev., Dr. J. O'Brien, Bishop of Cluain Lfamha (Cloyne).
How the MS. passed from the hands of R. OTlaherty
into those of the Abbe, we know not, nor is it certain what
their destination was after his decease. I believe it likelv that
they were for some time the property of the Chevalier O'Gor-
man, though at what period they came into Ireland is not clear ;
but they appear to have been at one time in the possession of the
above-mentioned Dr. O'Brien (the author of an Irish-English
Dictionary, printed at Paris in 1768), who probably brought
them to Ireland about that time.
The copy in the library of Trinity College, Dublin, under-
went a pretty careful and accurate examination at the hands of
the Rev. Dr. O'Conor, and he has left an autograph account
of his investigation of it, which is now prefixed to the volume.
This critical examination is the more important as having been
made by one so famihar >vith the other copies of this codex in
the Bodleian Library, and as it well show« the actual state and
comparative value of the Trinity College MS., it is well worthy
the attention of the student.^ '*^
The Trinity College MS. appears to have almost exactly
the same defects as those in tlie Rawlinson MS., No. 488 in
the Bodleian Library. Both, Dr. O'Conor says, begin with the
same words ; but tliis we do not find to be accurately and Hterally
the case, comparing the Trinity College MS. with the version
of the Rawhnson mS., 488, printed m the second volume of
the Rerum Hibemicarum Scriptores. Doctor O'Conor enters
(«) The greater part of this MS. account by Pr. O'Conor of the MS. in
T.CJ). wiU be found in the Appendix, No. XXXIV.
OF THE ANCIENT ANNALS. 07
with much detul into an argument to show that the T.C.D. lect. hi.
MS. was copied, and, as he tliinks, by a very illiterate scribe, "'
from the Bodleian MS. (Rawliiison, 488). He points outANSAwoF
Tarious faults in the Irish and Latin orthography and grammar kIcuT*"
peculiar to both, and indeed identical in the two copies.
We have already mentioned that there are two copies of the
Annals in the library of the Royal Irish Academy, but both,
it is much to be regretted, arc exceedingly imperleet. One,
that in the Irish character, is probably from the hand of the
Abbe Connery already alluded to.
From all that has been said, it will appear that not any one,
nor even a collation and combination of all the coj)ies of these an-
nals now known to be extant, afford us any possibility of forming
even a tolerably complete text. In their present state, all the
copies want some of the most important parts relating to our
early history, and many chasms exist at several of our most me-
morable epochs.
The authority of Tighemach is commonly appealed to by
modem writers on Irish affairs, m fixing the date at which our
national records should be deemed to fall within the domain
of credil^le and authentic history. His well-known statement
that the monuments of tlie Scoti before the time of Cimhaoth
and the foimding of Emania (about 300 years bc^forc the birtli
of our Lord) were unceiluin, has been almost universally ac-
cepted and sendlely copied without examination. And yet, on
examining the remains of his Annals Avliicli wc now possess,
we shall find it extremely difficult to decide hoAV he was led to
this conclusion, as to the value of our records previous to this
perio<l, records which we know to luivo existed in abundance
m liis time. [See Appendix, No. XXX H.] We have now no
means of knowing why he was induced to adopt this opinion, or
H'hat may have been the grounds of it; or why, again, he fixed
on this particular event — one remarkable not in the general
national annak, but in those of a single province — as that from
which alone to date all the true history of the whole country.
It is, at all events, exceedingly remarkable that he should have
assumed a provincial env instead of a general national one, and
that he should have chosen the building of the palace of Emania,
in the province of Ulster, near Ardmagh, instead of some event
connected with the great national palace of Tara, the existence
and preeminence of Avhich he himself admits in the fii*st passage
of the fragments which remain to us.
In the Rawlinson MS., 488, as printed by Dr. O'Conor, we
find the passage runs thus :
"In anno xviii. Ptolemaji, initiatus est regnare in Kamaix
5b
68 OF THE ANCIENT ANNALS.
user, m. (t.«., In Emania Ultoniae Rcgia), Cimbaeth, filius Fintain, qui
777 regnavit annis xvlii. Tunc in Temair, Eachach-buadhach
amiialjiof athair Ugaine (i.e., Tunc in Temoria totius Hibemiae Regia
mjSjil* regnabat Eocliadius Victor, pater Ugaini)''. That is (for the
explanatory words in the parentheses are O'Conor's) : " In the
18th year of Ptolemy, Cimbaotli, son of Fintan, began to reim
in Emania, who reigned eighteen years. Then Eochaidh, the
Victorious, the father of Ugaine, reigned in Tara". [But see
Appendix, No. XXXV.] But he immediately after says, "all
the monuments of the Scoti to tlie time of Cimbaotli were un-
certain" : (^' Omnia monumenta Scotorum usque Cimbaoth in-
certa erant ).
Of this singular preference of the provincial to the national
monarch as the one from whose reign to date the commence-
ment of credible Irish history, we can offer no solution. It is,
moreover, to be remarked that, at least in the copies of his An-
nals now extant, Tighemach continues to give the succession of
the Emanian monarchs in regular order through ten successive
generations, without noticing the contemporary rulers at Tara, of
whom no mention is again made imtil Ave come to the reign of
Duach Dalta Deadhgha, whom he makes king of Erinn about
48 years before the birth of our Lord, when Corrnac Mac Lagh-
teahiy or Loitigh, reigned in Emania. This period he synchro-
mzes with the battle between Julius Caisar and Pompey.
The next kings of Erinn he mentions are the two £!ocfiaidIi8,
whom he makes contemporary with Eochaidh Mac Dair^,
twelfth king of Emania. But throughout it is to be remarked,
and not without great cause for surprise, that the Emanian dy-
nasty is given the place of precedence, which, as far as we know,
is not to be found assigned to it in the works of any other
historian of an earlier or later period. It is also to be observed,
that this preference for the Emanian dynasty is quite inconsistent
with his own statement as given under the reign of Findchadh
mac Baicheda, eighth king of Emania, about 89 years before
the Christian era, when he says : " Thirty kings there were of the
Leinster men over Erinn from Labhraidh Loinqsecli to Cathair
Mdr"". — [See ori^nal in Appendix, No. XXXVl.] Now accord-
ing to the best Irish chronologists, Labhraidh Loingseach reigned
A.M. 4677 (B.C. 522), and Cathair Mor died a.d. 166. By this it
is evident, that Tigliemach here recognizes the existence of a su-
preme dynasty at Tara, ruling over Erinn at least 200 years before
the founding of Emania, or the period at which he in a former
statement says that the credible history of Erinn commences.
It is also to be noticed, that while tlie details of foreign liis-
tory givQn by Tighemach relating to remarkable occurrences
OF THE ANCIENT ANNALS. 69
at and preceding the Cliristian era are very ample, his accounts lbct. m.
of Irish events down to the third or fourth century, are ex-
ceedingly meagre and scanty. annau o»
Thus, he only mentions by name many of the kings whose JIch""
reigns, from other sources, we know to have been filled with
remarkable and important acts. He barely notices the birth
and death of Cuchulainn^ and gives but a few passing words to
the Tain b6 Chuailgne^ a national event, as we have already
shoi^Ti, of such interest and importance ; and all these events,
be it remarked, falling within the historic period as limited
by himself.
We may also obser\'e that there is reason to think, from
some few facts exclusively mentioned by him, that he had be-
fore him at the time of compiling his annals, ancient records
not available to subsequent writers, as is shown by his account
of the manner of Conor Mac Nessa's death, and his notice of
the battle of "Craunagh" (vide O'Conor's Annals of Tigher-
nach, Anno Domini 33).
Tighemach undoubtedly takes the succession of the kings The cimmo-
of Emania from Eoc/iaidh OTlinn's poem, wliich enumerates IS^iSSJaS?
them fix)m Cimbaoth to Fergus Fogha. A fine copy of this o'lium.
curious poem is preser\^ed in the Book of Leinster (fol. 11.),
und two in the Book of Lecan. These different copies give
us an important instance of the irregularities which must,
almost of necessity, creep into dates and records which depend
on irresponsible transcription, where the smallest departure
from accuracy, particularly in the enumerationof dates, will lead
to confusion and inconsistency. In the copy of this poem pre-
K ned in the Book of Leinster, — a compilation of the middle of
the twelfth century, — the duration of the Ulster dynasty, from
Cimbaoth to Conor Mac Nessa, is set down at 400 years, and
the duration from Cimbaoth to the final overthrow ^of the
Ulster sovereignty by the Three CoUas, at 900 years. Now
tlie destruction of this power by the Collas in the Battle of
Achaidh Leithderg, in Famey, took place in a.d. 331, wliich
number, added to the four hundred years from Cimbaoth to
Conor, would make but 731 years instead of 900.
Again, in each of the copies in the Book of Lecain, the
yj^ace from Cimbaoth to Conor is set down as 450 years, and
*»till they give the entire duration as 900 years.
Indeed the dangers of error in transcription are admitted
in a very ancient poem in the Book of Leinster itself (folio 104),
in which many matters of actual occurrence, but raised to fabu-
lous importance, though not affecting chronology, are explained
away. This curious poem consists of 111 stanzas, and its
70 OF THE ANCIENT ANNALS.
LECT. m. authorship is ascribed to Gilla-an-Chamdech Ua CormaiCy of
^^^ whom I know nothinor more. It beffins: —
AxsTiosoF ** O, Kmaf of Heaven, clear my way . — [See onginal in
Jl°;"" Appendix, No. XXXVII.]
However laboriously Tighemach may have worked to fix a
starthig date for Irish chronology, it is quite evident that the ma-
terials from which he drew, were those records, poems, and other
compositions of the ninth, tentli, and eleventh centuries, in
which the length of reigns of the kings of Tara and of Emania
are set out. For, having once fixed, say, the date of the found-
ing of Emania, and the Roman era, and the corresponding
king of Tara, he seems to have done little more, and indeed
to have had occasion to do little more, than to con-ect the errors
of dates, chiefly given in roimd numbers, and which after any
considerable lapse of time must have led to errors in computa-
tion and to false chronology. But as far as we can judge, Tigher-
nach had not put the finisliing hand to his work at the time of
his death, and, his observations on the ante-Emanian period
being lost, we are left very much in the dark as to the grounds
of his views.
From all that has been said, I think it is not unreasonable to
conclude, that this great annalist was surprised by the hand of
death, when he had but laid down the broad outlines, the
skeleton as it were, of his annals ; and that the work was never
fiuislied.
S[«oS of""' '^^^ founding of the palace of Emania, taken as the starting
EmaniA. point of Credible Irish history by Tighemach, is an event of
such importance as to warrant a digression here, and to require
us to give some account of the circumstances which led
to the ei-ection of this seat of royalty in the north. The fol-
lowing is a nearly litei*al account of the event, from a tract in
the Book of Ix?inster. — [See the text of the original, with an
exact translation, in Appendix, No. XXXVIH.]
" AVliat is the origin of the name Emhain Machaf' begins
the >vriter. " Three kings that were upon Erinn in co-sove-
reignty. They were of the Ulstermen, namely, Dithorba^ the
son of Diman, from Uisnech, in Meath; Aedh Ru4julh^ the son
of Badum, son of Airgetmar, of Tir Aedh [now Tir-Hugh,
in Donegal] ; and Cimbaothy the son of Fintan, son of Arget-
mar, from Finnabair^ of Maph Inis'.
These kings niudo a compact, that each of them slioidd
reign seven years in turn, and tliis compact was confirmed by
the guarantee* of si»ven dniids, seven y?/«v, and seven young
rliiets (or olianipions) ; tlio seven druids to crush them by their
OF THE ANCIENT ANNALS 71
mcantations, the seven JiUs to lacerate them by their satires, lect. i
and the seven young champions to slay and bum them, should o^tj^^p
the proper man of them not receive the sovereignty at the end <uuonof
of each seventh year. And the righteousness of their sove- '^^'"■"*'
roignty was to be made manifest by tlie usual accompaniments
of a just government, namely, abundance of the fruits of the
earth, an abundance of dye-stuffs for all colouring, and that
women should not die in childbirth.
Tliev lived until each reigned three times in his turn, that
ia, dunng the space of sixty-three years. A edit Ruadh was
the first of them that died, having been drowned in the great
cataract named from him Eas Ruaidh (or Easroc), at Bally-
shannon, near Slij^o, and his body was carried to the hill there ;
hence AedKs Ilill, and Easruaidh, Aedh left no sons and but
one daughter, who was named Macha Mongruadh (or Macha the
red-haired), who after her fathers deatli claimed his place in the
soven?ignty ; but Dithorha and Cimhaoth said that they would
not allow a woman to have any share in the government.
Macha thereupon raised an army amongst her friends,
marched against the two kings, gave them battle and defeated
them, and then took her turn of seven years of the monarchy.
Dithorba was killed in battle soon after, but left five sons
who also claimed their turn of the sovereignty. Macha said
she would not admit them, as it was not under the former guar
rantee that she had obtained her soverei^ty, but by right of
buttle. The yoimg princes therefore niis-ed an army and en-
fruL^ed the queen in battle, in which they were deleuted with
tlic* lo«!« of all their iollowei-s. Macha then banislied them into
tlie wilds of Connacht, after wliich she manied lier co-sove-
Xiivrn Cimbaoth, to whom she resigned the conunand of the
national, or perliaps more correctly, the provincial army.
Macha having now consolidated her power, and secured
liCT throne against all claimants but the sons of IHthorba, laid
a plan for their destruction ; and, witli this intention, she went
into Connacht, where she socm discovered their retreat, cap-
tured and earned them prisoners into Ulster. The Ulstermen
demanded that they should be put to death, but Macha said
that that would make her reign unrighteous, and that she would
not consent to it, but that she would enslave them, and con-
demn them to build a rath or court for her, which should be
the chief city of Ulster for ever. And she then marked out
tiie foundations of the court with her golden brooch, which she
took from her breast (or neck) ; and hence the name of Emain,
or rather Eomuin, from Eo a breast-pin or brooch, and Main
the neck, — which when compounded make Eomuin, — now
72 OF THE ANCIENT ANNALS.
LKCT. in. inaccurately Latinized Emania, instead of Eomania. Ulster was
then erected into a kingdom with Cimbaoth for its first king.
This occurred, according to some authorities, 405 years before
the Incarnation of our Lord (OTlinn's poem makes it 450
years), and it was not till the year 331 of tlie Christian era
that Emania was destroyed by the CoUas, and the Ultonian
dynasty overthrown.
S«touction ^"^^ princes known in the ancient Chronicles of Erinn as the
ofEnumU; Three Collas,make such an important figure in history in con-
•^he Three ncction with the destniction of Emania, that it is but proper to
Coiiat'\ gjyg j^ brief account of tliem.
Cairhri Lifechair succeeded his father, the celebrated Cormac
Mac Art, in the sovereignty of Erinn, a.d. 267. Tliis Cairbr^,
who was killed in the Battle of Gabhra, or Gawra, left three
sons, namely, Fiacha Srabtini^ Eochaidh^ and Eocliaidh Domh-
Un, Fiacha Srabtene succeeded his father, Cairbri; but his
reign, though long, was not peaceable, being disturbed by the
sons of his brother, Eochaidh Domlm, namely, the Three Collas
{Colh Uais, or the Noble, — CoUa Meanrty or the Stammerer, —
and Colla Fochri^ or of the Earth, earthy, claylike), who
revolted against him, and at last, at the head of a large num-
ber of folio wei-s, gave him battle otDubh-Chomar^ near TaillUn
(now Telltown, m the modem county of Meath), where they
overthrew and killed him, after which Colla Uaia assumed the
monarchy of Erinn, which he held for four years.
Fiacha, the late monarch, had, however, left a son, Muireadh-
ach, who, in his turn, made war on CoUa Uais, drove him from
the sovereignty, and forced himself and liis brothers and their
followers to fly into Scotland. Here they led such a Ufe of
turmoil and danger, that in three years' time they returned into
Ireland and surrendered themselves up to their cousin, the mo-
narch, to be punished as he might think fit, for the death of his
father. Muireadhach^ however, seeing that they were brave
men, declined to visit them with any pimishment ; but, mak-
ing friends with them, he took them into his pay and confi-
dence, and gave them command in his army. After some years,
however, he prop<.>sed to them to establish themselves in some
more independent position than thev could attain in his service,
and pointed to the conquest of the kingdom of Ulster as a project
worthy of their ambition. The CH>lIai agreed to make war on
Ulster, and for that purpose nuux^hed with a niunerous band of
followers into that country, an<l onoampiHl at the Cam oiAchaidh
Leiih Jerg, in Feammltoit/h (Faruov, in the modem county of
Monaghan). From this camp tlioy ravagi^d the country around
OF THE ANCIENT ANNALS. 73
them, until the Ulstennen, under their king Fergus Fogha^ lect. hi.
came to meet them, when a contested battle was fought for ^^ ^^^
six days, in which, at lenffth, the Ulstermen were defeated, i>e»traction
and forced to abandon the iield. They were followed by their ^ *"'"'"
victorious enemies, and driven over Glen Riahe (the valley
of the present Newry Water), into the district which forms
the modem counties of Down and Antrim, from which they
never after returned. Tlie CoUas destroyed Emania, and then
took the whole of that part of Ulster (now fonning the modem
counties of Armagh, Louth, Monaghan, and Fermanagh) into
tlieir own hands as Swordland ; and it was held by their descen-
dants, the Maguircs, Mac Mahons, Ollanlons, and others, down
to the confiscation of Ulster under the English king, James
the First.
Thus ended the Ultonian djmasty, after a period of more than
seven himdred years' duration, and the glories of Emania and
of the House and Knights of the Royal Branch were lost for
ever.
LECTURE IV
[DdiTered HATch a, 1865]
The Annals (continued). 2. The Annals of Inisfallen. 8. The Annals
called the Annals of Boyle. The Poems of O Huidhrin, 4, The Annals
of Senait Mac Manus, called the Annals of Ulster.
According to the order I have prescribed to myself, we proceed
now to the consideration of the Annals compiled subsequent
to the period of Tighernach (pronounced nearly "Tcer-nah").
It is generally supposed that a considerable mtcrval of time
elapsed between the year 1088, in which this great Irish histo-
rian died, and the apjxiarance of any other body of historic
• composition deserving the name of i\jinals ; and it will be ne-
cessary for us to inquire wliether any writers on Irish affairs
existed A\athin this period requiring notice at our hands, in order
that we may follow the chain of lustoric composition with some
degree of uniformity
continna- It is, howcver, to be obser\'ed here, that in the existing
AmiiSaof^ copics of Tiglicmach we find the annals continued to the year
Tigh*mach.\ 1407; that is, to a date more than three hundred years subse-
quent to Tighernach 8 own time. It is not improbable that the
original body of these annals was gradually and progressively
enlarged ; but we have no reliable nifonnation as to the precise
manner in which, or the persons by whom, the earlier parts of
the continuation were made.
In the commencement of the fifteenth century we find re-
corded the death of a certain Augustin MacGrady^ who, it is
well known, laboured at the continuation of these annals ; but
we again fmd them continued after his death, which liappened
. in 1405, down to the year 1407 ^where they end imperfect),
though by what hand is not certam.
Tlie following entry is foimd in the Annals themselves at the
end of the year 1405 : —
" Augustin Ma Gradoigh, a canon of the canons of the Island
of the Saints [in Loch Ribh in the Shannon], a Saoi (or Doctor)
during his life, in divine and worldly Wisdom, in Literature,
in History, and in various other Sciences in like manner, and
the Doctor [OllamK] of good oratory, of western Europe, — the
man who compiled this book, and many other books, both of
OF THE ANCIENT ANNALS. 75
the Lives of the Saints and of historical events, — died on the lkct. iv.
Wednesday before the first day of November, in the fifty-sixth ^ ^
year of his age, on the sixth day of the moon. May the mercy Annaiut*
of the Saviour Jcsns Christ come upon his soul". [See origi- to^S^SS^'
nal in Appendix, No. XXXIX.] "**
It is not improbable that the subsequent continuation of
Tlghemach may have been carried on by some member of the
eamc fraternity.
In enumerating those of our national records to which the
name of Annals has been given, we have commenced with those of
Tighemach, because these annals seemed naturally to claim our
attention in the first place, not only on account of their extent
aud importance, but in consideration of the scholarship and
judgment exliibited in tlieir composition. It is by no means
certain, however, that they were the first in order of time.
There is ffreat reason to believe that both local and general an-
nals were Kept, even long before the time of Tighemach, in some
of the great ecclesiastical and educational establishments, and
also by some of those accomplished lay scholars of whom men-
tion is so frequently made as having nourished in the eighth,
ninth, and tenth centuries.
Wc have before, in the remarkable instance of Flann Mai-
nistrech, called attention to the great learning and the devotion to
scholarly pursuits wliicli were to be found in Irish laymen of
the tenth and eleventh centuries. And when we reflect that
this learning and this devotion to the pursuit of knowledge
were often combined with exalted social rank, sometimes even
frincely, and Avith the enjoyment of extensive territorial sway,
think the fact offers evidence of a cultivation and diffusion of
literature, which, at so early a period, would do honour to the
history of any country. We sliall have frequent occasion to
speak of this class of Irish scholars.
The next existing compilation after that of Tighemach, in of the
order of time, is the very extensive body of ecclesiastical as fKwriJLijc.
well as general historic records, known as the Annals of Inis-
FALi-EN. The composition of these Annals is usually attri-
buted to the early part of the thirteenth century (about a.d.
1215), but there is very good reason to believe that they were
commenced at least two centuries before this period.
The Monastery of Inu Foithlenn (pron: "Inish Fah-len"),
^^i, r^ 1 ^^' on the island of the same name, in Loch LHn
^^ Ti ^^ Killamey), is of great antiquity, dating from the
"xth century, in the latter part of which it was founded by
76 OF THE ANCIENT ANNALS.
LECT. TV. Saint Findn Lohhar, who was also the founder of Ard Finan(In
^ ^^^ the modem County of Tipperaiy), and other churches. Tne
Monastery of fcstival of thc Saint was observed on the 16th of March, accor-
iNuFALuui. ^j^g ^Q ^1^^ Martyrology of Aengus CeiU Di,
Amongst those who flourished in this monastery, at the close
of the tenth century, we find the name of Maehuthain OCear-
bhaill (pron : " Mxlsoohan O'Carroir). This remarkable man
was Lord of the Eoganacht or p]ugenian Tribes of the tem-
tory of Loch Lcin. It is probable that he had received his
early education within the Avails of Inisfallen ; and at the close
of his days, after an eventful life, we find him again amongst
its inmates, as was not unusual with princes in those times.
Maelsuthain appeal's to have attiiined great eminence as a scho-
lar. He is styled the chief Saoi or Doctor of the western
world, in the notice of his death, under the year 1009, in the
Annals of the Foiu* Masters. He attained also a high degree of
consideration amongst his contemporary princes.
There is reason to think that Brian Boroimhe was educated
under the care of this Maehuthain ; and at a subsequent time
we find him named the Anmcliara^ or Counsellor, of that
great Dalcassian chief, when monarch of Erinn. His asso-
ciation with Brian is well evidenced by a curious note still
legible in the Book of Armagh. This note was written about
1002, by MaeUuthaina own hand, in the presence of the king.
This valuable entry shall be brought mider your more imme-
diate consideration on a future occasion ; I only mention it at
present, as affording proof of the important rank and position
ofO'Carroll.
Legenflof Amongst somc few other notices of Maelsuthain which I
cfcMTouT'" \^^yQ met with, the following is altogetlier so sin^lar, and
throws light on so many subjects of interest to the Irish liisto-
rian, that, thougli of a legendary character, I think it worthy of
a place here. [See original in Appendix, No. XL.] I may
observe that I liave seen but one copy of the tract in which it
is foimd.^^
" There came three students at one time", says the narrator,
*' from Cuinnire" [the ancient church from which the diocese
of Conor, in Ulster, is now named] "to receive education
(»5) TliiB tract is in a MS. on vellum, in two parts or volumes quarto, writ-
ten in the year 1434 (part i. fol. 63, a.) The writing is often apparently that of
an unprofessional scribe, who seems to have copied largely from sources now
lost to us. These MSS. belong to James Marinus Kennedy, Esq., of 47
Gloucester Street, Dublin, to whom they were handed down from his ancestor,
Dr. Fergus. They are known by the name of the "Liber Flavus Fcrgu-
sorum". These MSS. were lent me a few years ago by the owner, and a
general list of their contents will be found in the Appendix, No. XLI.
OF THE ANCIENT ANNALS 77
from the Anmchara of Brian Mac Kennedy (or Brian Bo- lect. it.
roimhf); that is JUaelsuthain O'Carroll, of the Eoganachts of
Loch L^in, because he was the best sage of his time. These MS^thain
three students resembled each other in figure, in features, and ^'^^•'""•
in their name, which was Domnall. They remained three
years learning with him. At the end of three years, they said
to their preceptor: ' It is our desire', said they, * to go to Jeru-
salem, in the land of Judea, in order that our feet may tread
every path which the Saviour walked in when on Earth"*.
The master answered: *You shall not go until you have left
with me the reward of my labour'.
"Then the pupils said : * We have not', said they, * anything
that we could give, but we will remain three years more, to
serve you himably, if you wish it'. * I do not wish that\ said he ;
*but you shall grant me my demand, or I will lay my curse upon
you . ' We will grant you that', said they, * if we nave it'. He
then bound them by an oath on the Gospel of the Lord. * You
shall go in the path that you desire', said he, 'and you shall die
all at the same time together, on the pilgrimage. And the de-
mand that I require from you is, that you go not to Heaven
after your deaths, until you have first visited me, to tell me the
length of my Ufe, and until you tell me whether I shall obtain
the peace of the Lord'. * We promise you all this', said they,
* for the sake of the Lord' ; and then they left him their bless-
ings (and departed).
'* In due time they reached the land of Judea, and walked in
every path in which they had heard the Sa\a()iu' had walked.
" They came at last to Jei*usalcm, and died together
there ; and they were buried with great honour in Jerusalem.
Tlien Michael the Archangel came from God for them. But
thov said : * We will not go, until we have fulfilled the promise
whioh we made to our preceptor, under our oatlis on the Gospel
of Christ'. * Go', said the angel, ' and tell him that he has still
three years and a half to live, and that he goes to Hell for all
eternity, after the sentence of the day of judgment'.
** * Tell us', said they, ' wliy he is sent to IleU'. * For three
causes', said the angel, ' namely, because of how much he in-
terpolates the canon; and because of the number of women
with wliom he has connexion ; and for having abandoned the
Ahus\<»^
(») Tlie Alius, This was the celebrated poem or hyran written by Saint
Coluni Cille at lona, in honour of the Trinity, when the niessenjrers of Pope
Gro|?ory came to him witli the great cross and other presents. 'Pliis poem is
published in Colgan's "Acta Sanctorum", and is now (1859) again in course of
publication, with notes and scholia, for the Irish Archaeological and Celtic
bociety, under the editorsliip of the Rev. Dp. Todd, S.F.T CJ>.
78 OF THE ANCIENT ANNALS.
LECT. TV, "The reason why he abandoned tlie Altus'\ says the narra-
tor of this singular story, " Avas this : He had a very frood son,
MSStuthain whose name was Mael2>atrick. This son was seized with a
o'CarroiL mortal sickness ; and the Altus was seven times sung around
him, that he should not die. This was, however, of no avail
for diem, as the son died forthwith. Maelsuthain then said that
he would never again sing the Altus, as he did not see that God
honoured it. But", continues the narrator, " it was not in dis-
honour of the Altus that God did not restore liis son to health,
but because he chose tliat the youth should be among the family
of Heaven, rather than among the people of Earth.
" Maelsuthain had then been seven years without singing the
Altus.
" After this his three former pupils came to talk to Mael-
suthain^ in the forms of white doves, and lie bade them a
hearty welcome. * Tell me', said he, * Avhat shall be the length
of my life, and if I shall receive the Heavenly reward'. ' \ ou
have , said they, * tliree years to Uve, and you go to Hell for
ever then'. * Wliat should I go to Hell for T said he. * For
three causes', said they ; and they related to him tlie tln-ee causes
that we have already mentioned. ' It is not tnie that I shall go
to Heir, said he, ' for those three vices that are mine tliis day,
shall not be mine even this day, nor shall they be mine from
this time forth, for I will abandon these vices, and God will for-
give me for them, as He Himself hath promised, when He said:
"Impietas impii in quaciunque liora con versus fuerit non nocebit
ei" [Ezek., xxxiii. 12.] (The impiety of the impious, in what-
ever hour he shall be turned from it, shall not injure him.) I
will put no sense of my own into the canons, but such as I
shall find in the di\nne books. I Avill peiform an hundrcd
genuflections every day. Seven years have I been without sing-
mg the Altus, and now I will sing the Altus seven times every
night while I live ; and I will keep a three days' fast every week.
Go you now to Heaven', said he, * and come on the day of my
death to tell me the result'. ' We will come', said they ; and
the three of them departed as they came, first leaving a blessing
with him, and i*eceiving a blessing from him.
" On the day of liis death the three came in the same forms,
and they salut(^d him, and he returned their salutation, and said
to them : * Is my life the same Ix^fore God that it was on the for-
mer day that ye came to talk to me?' * It is not, indeed, the
same', said they, * for we were shown your place in Heaven, and
we are satisfied with its goodness. We have come, as we pro-
mised, for you, and come now you with us to the place which
is prepared for you, that you may be in the presence of God,
OF THE ANCIENT ANNALS. 79
id in the unity of the Trinity, and of the hosts of Heaven, lect. it.
Itlie day of judgment'. ^^ ^ ^ ^ . . ofthe
" There were then assembled about lum many pnests and akkals of
«lesiastics, and he was anointed, and his pupib parted not ^"'^^'^*
om him until they all went to Heaven together. And it is
lis good man s manuscripts (" scrcptra") that are in Inisfallen,
1 the church, still".
This singular, and, undoubtedly, very old legend, offers to
»ur minds many interesting subjects of consideration ; amongst
rhich, not the least remarkable is that of this early pilgrimage
rom Ireland to the Holy Land. On these points, however, we
ihall not dwell at present, farther than to observe that the story
umishes evidence of the reputation for learning enjoyed by
VaeUutliain, and also of the beUef that manuscripts compiled by
lis hand were to be found in Inisfallen at his death.
Whether by the Avord " Screptra'', thus mentioned, is meant
single volume, or a collection of writings constituting a library,
is not easy to determine. We find the word used in the
!count of the biuning of the Teach Screptra, or House of Wri-
ngs, of Armagh (a.d. 1020) ; and in that of the collection of
rSS. of O'Cuiminy the largest known to exist in Ireland in the
fteenth century (1416).
There has always existed in the south of Ireland a tradition
I at the Annals of Inisfallen were originally composed by
Taelsnthavi; and a similar statement is made by Edward
^'Reilly in his Irish writers.
Taking into account the acknowledged learning of O'Carroll,
le character of his mind, his own station, and the opportu-
ities afforded him by his association with the chief monarch of
rinn, tliere Is certamly no iniprobabillty in connecting him
ith the composition of these annals ; and, for my oAvn part, I
ive no doubt that lie was either the original projector of
lem, or that he enlarged the more meagre outlines of ecclcsi-
tical events kept in the Monastery of Inisfallen, as probably
most others, into a general historic work.
Of the continuations of these annals, in the two centuries
ibsequent to Maehuthain, down to the year 1215, little is
lown. Unfortunately no genuine copy of this important
xly of annals is now to be found in Ireland, and Ave must
lerefore draw from the descriptioTl of Dr. O'Conor.
A compilation of the latter half of the last century by Jolm
^'Mulconry, has also received the name of Annals of Inisfallen.
Vhy they have been thus named is not sufficiently clear; but
ny notice that we shall take of them must be reserved for
nother occasion.
80 OF THE ANCIENT ANNALS.
I.ECT. IV.
iMUrALLEV.
Tlie Bodleian Library copy of the Annals of Inisfallen is a
^ ^^^ quarto MS. on parchment. It is thus described by Dr. O'Conor,
aktcals of under the No. 64, in the Stowe Catalogue [Vol. I., p. 202] :
** It contains fifty-seven leaves, of which the three first are
considerably damaged, and the fourth partly obliterated. Some
leaves also are missing at the beginning. In its present state,
the first treats of Abraliam and the Patriarchs down to the
sixth, where the title is — * Hie incipit Return Gnccorum\ At
the end of this leaf another chapter be^ns thus — ' Hie incipit
Sexta ajtas Mundi'. The leaves follow in due order from folio
nine to the end of folio thirty-six, but, unfortunately, there are
several blanks after this. On the fortieth leaf two lines occur
in Ogham characters, wliich have been thus deciphered [by Dr.
O'Conor] — ' Nemo honoratur sine niunmo, nullus amatur .
Towards the end the writing varies considerably, and is un-
questionably more recent and barbarous.
" Indeed'*, adds Dr. O'Conor, " the latter part of tliis valu-
able MS., from folio thirty-six, where tlie di^^ion of each page
into three columns ceases, and where a leaf is missing, appears
to be written by a more recent hand ; so that from nispection
it might be argued, that the real original ended with the year
1130, and that the remainder has been added by different
Abbots of Inisfallen afterwards. Down to 1130, the initials
are rudely adorned and coloured, and the writing is elegant ;
but from thence to the end, there is no attempt at any species
of ornament, and the writing declines from barbarous to more
barbarous still, in proportion as we approach the end. The
last leaf is the fifty-seventh of the manuscript, and ends with
the year 1319.
" The few scattered notices relative to the pagan history of
Ireland, which are occasionally introduced and synchronized
with the universal history in the first leaves of this chronicle,
have been carefully collated and published in the * Rerum Hiber-
nicarum', vol. I., and from a collation of these fragments with
those preserved in the same manner by Tigheniach, it is very
clear that both are founded on a common source, since several
of the quotations and several sentences arc exactly in the same
words. What this common source was, it would be difiicult to
define. Tighcmach quotes a great nmnber of Irish authors
of the seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth centuries.
" The following account of this MS. is given bv Innes, who
saw it when it was preserved in the Duke of Chanctos' library ' —
[I still quote the author of the Stowe Catalogue.] " In the
same Chandos library are the Annals of Inisfallen and Tiglier-
nach. These, indeed, want some leaves in the beginning and
OF THE ANCIENT ANNALS. 81
elsewhere, and begin only about the time of Alexander tlic lect. rv.
Cireat. But till St Patnek's time, they treat chiefly of the
general history of the world. The Annals of Inisfallen, in AMNAwor
the same library, contain a short account of the history of the ^''"''^"•=''-
world in general, and very little of Ireland till the year 430,
where the author properly begins ('at folio nine) a clironicle of
Ireland, thus — * luoogairi Mac Neil regnavit annis xxiv.\ and
thenceforward it contains a short chromcle of Ireland to 1318.
These three manuscript chronicles, the Saltair of Cashel, Tigher-
nach, and Inisfallen, are written in Irish characters, and in the
Irish language intermixed with Latin. They were fonneriy
collected, with many other valuable MSS. relating to Ireland,
by Sir J. Ware, and came first to the Earl of Clarendon, and
then to the Duke of Chandos.
" To all this account by Innes", says Dr. O'Conor, " the
compiler of tliis catalogue, after a most patient examination,
willingly subscribes. He only adds, what escaped Innes, that
this MS. is not all in one hand, nor all the work of one author".
In the same manuscript as that which contains the Annals of ^^ '^e
Inisfallen, there is a copy of those known as the Annals of boyle.
BoTLE, of which I shall have to say something in a future lec-
ture in correction of the mistakes of Dr. O'Conor and others,
as to the name thus attributed to the annals in question. No
copy of these annals exists in Ireland ; and I mupt again quote
Dr. O'Conor /or a brief notice of the Bodleian MS.
** The ancient Monastery of Boyle was loundcd by St.
Coluniba, and called EaS'Tnac-n-Elre, a name wliich it derived
from its pleasant situation, near a cataract, about a mile from
where the river Boyle discharges itself into Loch Cci The
Cistercian Monastery of Boyle was founded, not exactly on the
.*ite of the ancient monastery, but not fur from it, in the year 1161 .
" The writers on Irish antiquities frequently confound the
Annals of Boyle with the Annals of Connacht. To prevent
mistakes of tliis kind, we must observe, that the manuscript in
the Cotton Library (Titus A, xxv.), quarto, part on paper,
part on parchment, and consisting of 138 leaves of both, is the
original from which tliis Stowe copy was transcribed. The
first article of that MS. is on parchment, and is entitled —
* Annales Monasterii de Buellio in llibemia . It is part in
Irish, part in Latin, beginning from the Creation; treating
briefly of universal history to the amval of St. Patrick, and
from thence of Irish history down to 1253".
It is to be, regretted that we have no means of fixing, with
any degree of precision, the period at which the Annals of
G
82 OF THE ANCIENT ANNAXS.
LECT. IV. Inisfallcn, or those here called the Annals of Boyle, were
7 composed. The difficulty is referriblc, not to any paucity of
AsMALaoF authors in the centuries to which they ai*e usually assigned,
^"*' but rather to the impossibility of fixing upon any one out of
the hosts of writers wliose names have come down to us, to whom
their compilation may be with tolerable certainty attributed.
With regard to the Annals of Inisfallen, there is, as we have
just seen, a high degree of probability, that some body of records
was compiled by O'OarroU in his time ; but we do not know who
continued them in the two follo\\'ing centuries. Less is unfortu-
nately to be asceitained about the Annals called tliose of Boyle.
The periods, however, within which the compilation of both may
be comprised, were veiy fertile in men of leai*ning, as will suf-
ficient! v appear from the follo\ving list, which comprises but a
few only of the more remarkable historic writers of^the period
wliich inter^'ened between the time of the composition of the
Annals of Tighernach and that of the next body of historic
Historic wri Tccords whlcli we sliall have to notice. They are selected from
xn.,**xui., ^"^^ ^'^^.y n^inierous writci*s whose deaths are recorded by the
">^ xi^*"- Four Masters, in almost every year of this period.
A.D. 1136. Died Maelisa Mac Maelcolvim, the chief keeper
of the calendar at Annagh, and the clilef topogi-aphical surveyor
and librarian of that see. In the same year died Nticlhe O'Alul-
conroy, the historian.
A.D. 1168. Died Flannagan ODuhUhaicfh [or O'Duffy], a
bishop and chief professor of the men of Ireland, in history,
genealogy, eloquence, and every species of knowledge known
to man in his time. He died at Cnnga [or Cong], in Oonnacht.
A.D. 1232. Died Tipraitc O'Braoin [or O'Breen], a man
deeply learned in theology and in law. He was successor of
Saint Coman of Roscommon, and died in Liis Clothrann on his
pilgrimage.
A.D. 1271). Giolla losa Mor Mac Firbis, one of the chief
historians of Tir Fiachra, or North-western Connacht, died.
[This author, we are well aware, was succeeded by a line of
historians and chroniclers of his own family, ending with the
learned Dnhhaltach (or Duald) Mac Firbis, in the year 1668.]
A.D. 1372. Died Shane O'Dugan, a distinguished poet and
historian of Connacht, whose poems on the Cycles, Calendar,
Epact, Dominical Letter, Golden Number, etc., are so well
known.
A.D. 1376. Conor O'Beaghan and Ceallacli Mac Curtin, the
two chief historians of Thomond, died. John GRuauaidh
[or O'Rooney], chief poet to Magonis, died. Molaghlin O'ilul-
vany, chief poet and liistorian to O'Cane, died. Doiiogh Mac
Firbis, a good historian of Connacht, died.
OF THE ANCIENT ANNALS. 83
A.D. 1390. Duibhgenn O'Duigenan, chief historian of East lect. it.
Connaught, died. otcnia
A.D. 1398. David O'Duigenan, chief historian to the Mac m ifaemh
Dermots, etc., a man of all science and knowledge, and a wealthy ^'''•'•*^"
Brugaidh [or farmer], died.
A J). 1400. Gregory, the son of Tanaidhi O'Mulconry, cliief
chronicler to the Siol Muiredhaidh [or O^Conors of Connacht],
and a master in various kinds of knowledge, was accidentally
killed by William Mac David, who was condemned to pay a
fine of 126 cows for the act.
A.D. 1405. [We have already noticed the death of Augus-
tin M'Grady, the continuator of Tigliemach at this date.]
Giolla na Naenili O'Huidhrin, a native of Leinstcr, who died
A.D. 1420, was the author of several valuable historical poems
and tracts. The most remarkable of them is his well known
Irish topographical poem.
Among his other compositions are, first, a tract and poem on
the names, reigns, and oeaths of the Assyrian emperors, from
Ninus to Sardanapalus, synchronizing them with the monarchs
of Erinn, from its earliest reported colonization down to the
death of the monarch Muineaman^ in the year of the world
3872. Second, a tract on the names and length of the reigns
of the kings of the Medes, from Arbactus to Astyages, and of the
corresponding monarchs of Erinn, from the abovemcntioned
Muineaman to Nuada FinnfdiU in the year of the world 4238.
Third, a tract or poem on the length of tlie reigns of tlie Chal-
dean kings, from Nebuchadnezzar to Baltazar, and the corres-
ponding monarchs of Erinn, from tlio abovenicntioned Nuada
to Lugiiaidh larrdonn, in the year of the world 4320, etc. And
thus he goes on with the Persian, Greek, and Roman enijxn-ors
in succession, and the succession ol' tlie contcniporaiy monarchs
of Erinn, down to Theodosius and Laoffhaire Mac Ncill, wlio
was monarch of Erinn when Saint Patrick came in a.d. 432.
The Annals of Senait (pron: " Shanat") Mac Maniis, com- ofthe
monly called the Annals of Ulster, fonn the next great ^.^^^^'
body of national records which we have to consider ; and IVom
the preceding list of writers, subsequent to the time of Tighcr-
nach, it will be apparent, that abundant materials must have
been accumulated in this long interval, which lay ready to the
hand of the compiler.
Of these annals there are five copies known to exist at pre-
sent— one in the Bodleian Library, at Oxford, written on vel-
lum, and classed as Rawlinson, 489 ; a second (only a small
fragment), in the British Musemn, classed Clarendon, 36; a
6b
84 OF THE ANCIENT ANNALS.
LECT. IV. tMrd (also but a small fragment), In the same museum, written
Of the ^^ paper, and classed Ayscough, 49 — 4795 ; a fourth, in the Li-
Avvxhaor bnuj of Trinity College, Dublin, written on vellum, and
"^*** classed H. 1. 8; and a fifth copy, on paper, in the Library of
Trinity College (E. 3. 20), which, however, extends only to
A.D. 665.^
The reason why these annals arc called the Annals of
Senait Mac Maghima is, because they were originally com-
piled by Cathal Mac Guire, whose Clann or Cliieftain title was
mac maghnvsa^ and whose residence and property lay chielly
in the Island of Senait (pron : " Shanat"), in Loch £me, be-
tween the modem Counties of Donegall and Fermanagh ; and
it was in this island that the annals were written. They have
received the arbitrary name of Annals of Ulster, merely be-
cause they were compiled in Ulster, and relate more to the
affairs of Ulster than to those of any of the other provinces.
The death of the original compiler is recorded by his con-
tinuator in these annals, at the year 1498, in a passage of
which the following is a strict translation. [See original in
Appendix, No. XLII.]
" Anno Domini 1498. A great mournful news throughout
all L-eland tliis year, namely the following: Mac Maims Ma-
guire died this year, i.e., Cailial 6g {Cathal, — pron : " CahaF, —
the younger), the son of Cathal, son of Cathal, son of Giolla-
Patrick, son of Matthew, etc. He was a Biatach (or Hospi-
taller), at Seanadh, a canon chorister at Armagh, and dean in
the bishopric of Clogher ; Dean of Lough Erne, and Rector
of Inis Caein, in Lough Erne; and the representative of a
bishop for fifteen years before his death. He was a precious
stone, a bright gem, a luminous star, a casket of wisdom; a
fruitful branch of the canons, and a foimtain of charity, meek-
ness, and mildness, a dove in purity of heart, and a turtledove
in chastity ; the pereon to whom the learned, and the poor, and
the destitute of Ireland were most thankful ; one who was fidl
of grace and of wisdom in every science to the time of his death,
in law, divinity, physic, and philosopliy, and in all the Gaedlilic
sciences ; and one who made, gatherccl, and collected this book
fix>m many other books. He died of the Galar Breac [the
small pox] on the tenth of the calends of the month of April,
being Friday, in the sixtieth year of his age. And let every
person who shall read and profit by this book, pray for a
blessing on that soul of Mac Manus".
(V) I may mention that a sixth copy was made hy myself in 1841, for the
Rev. Dr. Todd, from the vellum copy in T.C.D., with all the contractions
expanded in full.
OF THE ANCIENT ANNALS. 85
Harris, in his edition of Ware's Irish Writers, p. 90, has lect. iv.
the following notice of this remarkable man.
" Charles [the Gaedlilic name Cathal is often so translated aiwalu of
in English] Maguire, a native of the county of Fermanagh, ^"^■■*
Canon of the Chiuxih of Armagh (and Dean of Clogher), waa
an eminent divine, philosopher, and historian, and wnt Annates
Hlbemicae to his tune. They are often called Annales Sena-
tenses, from a place called Senat-Mac-Magnus, in the Caunty of
Fermanagh, where the author writ them, and oftcner Annales
Ultonienses, the Annals of Ulster, because they are chiefly
taken up in relating the affairs of that province. They begin
anno 444, and are carried down by the author to his death, in
1498 ; but they were alWwards continued by Roderic Cassidy
to the year 1541. Our author writ also a book, intitled, Aen-
ffusius Auctus, or the Martyrology of Aengus enlarged ; wherein
from Marian Gorman, and other writers, he adds such saints as
are not to be met with in the composition of Aengus. He died
on the 23rd of March, 1498, in the sixtieth year of his age".
Seanadh, or Senait, where these annals were compiled, and
from which, as we have said, they are often called Annales
Senatenses, was the ancient name of an island situated in the
Upper Lough Erne, between the modem baronies of Maghera-
stemiana and Clonawley, in the Coimty of Fermanagh. It is
called Ballymacmanus Island in various deeds and leases, and
by the natives of Clonawley, who speak the Irish language ; but
it Las lately received tlie fancy name of Belle Isle. [Sec Note
in O'Donovan s Annals of the Four Masters, at the year 1498.]
After the deatli of Mac Maghmsa^ the annals were continued
by Rtuddliridhe O'Camde, or Rory O'Cassidy, down to the year
1537, or 1541, according to Ware. They were continued after
this (I mean the Dublin copy) by some other persons, probably
the O'Luinins, down to the yeai- 1G04, where they now end.
I say probably by the O'Luinins, because the Dublin copy was
transcribed by Rnaidhrighe^ or Rory O'Luinin, as appears
from two insertions which occur in tliat volume in a blank
space, at the end of the yeiu* 1373. The first is written in a
good hand, as old at least as the year 1600, in the following
words : " Let every one who reads this little bit, bestow a bles-
sing on the soul of the man that wrote it". And this is im-
mediately followed by these words : " It is fitter to bestow it on
the soul of Rory OLuinin, who -wrote the book well". [See
ori^nual in Appendix, No. XLIIL]
From another note which is written in this copy, in the lower
margin of folio 35, col. a, it is evident that the writer of this
latter note was engaged in making a transcript of the volume
at the time, but we have no means of knowing who he was.
86 OF TUB ANCIENT ANNALS.
LKCT. IV. The OXuinins [the name is now sometimes Anglicised Lyne-
of the 8^^ were physicians, historians, and genealogists, chiefly to the
AwTALsoF MacGuires of Fermanagh, from the fourteenth to the seven-
^"^**' teenth century. One of that family, named Gillapatrick OLui-
nin^ of Ard OLuinin^ in the Coimty of Fermanagh, chief
chronicler to MacGuire, assisted the friar Michael O'Clery, the
chief of the " Four Masters", in the compilation of the Leahhar
Gabhala (or Book of Invasions and Monarchical Successions of
Erinn), for Brian Ruadh MacGuire, first Baron of Iniskillen, in
the year 1630 or 1631.
*' The Bodleian MS. (Rawlinson, 489) is called the original
copy of those annals", says Dr. O'Conor, " because, it is the
matrix of all the copies now known to exist. But it is not
meant that there were not older manuscripts, from which Cathal
Maguire collected and transcribed, before the year 1498.
" Nicolson says that the Ulster Annals begin at 444, and end,
not at 1041, as the printed catalogues of our MSS. assert, but at
1541. Mr. Edward Llhwyd [the celebrated Welch antiqua-
rian] mentions a copy of these annab which he calls Senatenses,
which he had from Mr. John Conry, written on vellum in a fair
character, but imperfect at tlie beginning and end, for it begins,
says he, at the year 454, ten years later than the Duke of Cnan-
dos\ and ends several years sooner, at 1492.
*' The truth is, as stated in the Rerum Hibemicanun, vol. I.,
that neither Maguire nor Cassidi was the author of these annals,
but only tlie collector. Augustin Magriadan had preceded both
in the same task, and contmued to nis own time, says Ware,
the chronicle, which the monks of his monastery in the island
of All Saints, in the Shannon, had commenced ; and he died
in 1405.
" We have seen that MacGraidagh was in all probability the
continuator of Tlgheniach ; but I know of no reason for assign-
ing to him any part in the compilation of the Annals of Ulster.
" In the Bodleian MS. (Rawlinson, 489), better known by
the name of tlic Chandos MS., four folios are missing after tlie
leaf paged 50. That leaf concludes with the seventh line of the
year 1131, and the next leaf (numbered 55) begins with the
conclusion of 1155, so that there is an hiatus of 24 years. The
copy now before us concludes with the year 1131, where that
hiatus occurs.
** The first page of the Oxford MS. is nearly obUterated. By
some imaccountable barbarity the engraved seal of the Univer-
sity is pasted over the written pa^, so as to efiace all the writ-
ing underneath: the words which are illegible there have
been restored in this Stowc transcript, by the aid of the copy in
OF THE AKCIKNT ANNALS 87
the British Museum, which is imperfect and interpolated, lect. i
The folios of tlie original Bodleian are paged from 1 to 134,
in modem Arabics, and they are rightly paged down to the ansam o
year 1131, after which four leaves are missing do^vTi to the ^""**
year 1150. The leaf containing the fii-st part of 1131, is rightly
paged 51, and tlie next is rightly panned 55. How the four in-
termediate leaves have been lost, it is impossible now to ascer-
tain. Folio 66 is erroneously paged 67, as if one leaf were
missing there, which is not the case. Folio 70 is paged 80, as
if ten leaves were missing, wliereas not one is lost. One folio
is missing from the year 1303 to 1315 inclusive, and the pag-
ing is then incorrect to the end. Li its present state the folios
of this MS. are precisely 126.
'* We must Ix; cautious", continues Dr. O'Conor, " in assert-
ing that the whole of this MS. was written by one person, or
at one time. Down to 952, the ink and charactei-s are uniform,
but then a finer style of writing follows down to 1001.
" WHien the transcriber comes to 999, he states on the op-
posite margin, that really tliis was the year of our ajra 1000 ;
for that the Ulster Annals precede the common jera by one year,
— a clear proof that the transcriber was not the compiler or
author ; for this note is in the same ink and chiu*acters witli the
t«'Xt. He annexes the same remark fro<inontly to the subse-
quont 3'ears; as at 1(H)0, where he says, alias 1001.
*' It is remarkable that these are unilbnn in antedating
the Chrictian an-a by one year only, down to the folio nunibereu
G-*. y(;ar 1263, and that there, instead of preceding our iera by
onlv one year, they precede by two; so tliat the year 1265 is
n'ally 1264, as stated on the margin in Ware's hand: this
pri*e».*(lenee of two years is regular to 1270. From thence to
12'Sl, til" advance is of three years; from 1284, the advance is
«^f lijur yeui-s, down to 1303, whieli is really 1307. Then a
folio is ml-siiig which has been evidently cut out, and we pass
on to 1313, which is marked by Ware on the margin 1316, an
adviince only of three years. This advance ol' three years
continu^'S from that to 1366, which is mai'ked on the margin by
Ware 1370, an advance of ti>ur years again, whicih continues to
1379, where the following note is in Ware's hand: — ' From tliis
year 1379, the computation of yeai-s is well collected.
•' It is [>i*etty clear that the writer of tliis latter part of the
Ul.-'ter Annals, who thus antedates even the latter ages of the
Christian a;ra, must be very diiFerent from the writer of the
first part down to the year 1263.
" Johnston lias published Extracts from a Version, part Eng-
lish and part Latin, in the British Museum, which he has in-
Ulstbk.
88 OF THE ANCIENT ANNALS.
JLECT. IV. serted in liis * Antiquitat<5s Celto-Normannicae', Copenhagen,
^^ ^^^ 4to, 1786, p. 57. Of this version he says very truly, that the lan-
ahhals of guage is extremely barbarous ; that it is otten hard to discover
whether the transcriber means the Scots, Mc Ercs, Dalriad,
Cruachne, Athacliath of Ireland, or the Scots, Mc Ercs, Dal-
riedae, Cruithjie, and Alacluoith of Britain; that it is with great
diffidence that he ventures to print these extracts, and that
his principal inducement was a hope that such a specimen
might suggest to some Irish gentleman the idea of publishing,
at least, tlie more material parts of tliese valuable records,
in the original.
*' After such a modest avowal, no man can find pleasure in
noticing the many errors in Mr. Johnston s work. But histo-
rical truth demands that those errors which aiFcct the very
foundations of history, should be rectified.
**At 471, Mr. Johnston's edition states, *Thc Irish plun-
dered the Saxons. Matthew, in the book of the Cuanac,
says it was in 472\
"Now'', continues Dr. O'Conor, "the venr words of the
original are : ' Preda secunda Saxonum de Hibernia, ut aUi
dicunt, in isto anno deducta est, ut Moctcus dicit. Sic in
Libro Cuanac inveni\ That is, *In 471, Ireland was plun-
' dered a second time hj the Saxons this yeai*, as some say, as
Mocteus says. I found it so in the Annals of Cuanac' [sic.T^In
Johnston s two short lines there are four material erroi-s. — i'irst,
he makes the Irish plunder the Saxons ; whereas the truth is,
that the Saxons a second time plundered them. — Secondly, he
makes the annals quote Matthew ; whereas even the interpo-
lated copy in the museum has Mactenus: the original is pro-
perly Mocteus, who was an Irish writer of the fifth century.
Thirdly, he makes this Matthew a writer in the book of
Cuanac. — Fourthly, he makes the book of Cuanac refer these
transactions to 472 !
" At 473, Johnston's edition gives only * The Skirmish of
Bui' ; whereaa the original has some foreign history under that
year, and then adds: * Quies Docci Episcopi Sancti, Brittonum
Abbatis. [The death of Docci, a holy bishop. Abbot of the
Britons.] Dorngal Bri-EIle f. Laigniu ria n Alill Molt.
[The Battle of Bri Elle was gained over the Lcinster men
by Alill Molt.]'
" At 482, Johnston's edition has " Tlie Battle of Oche.
From the time of Connac to this battle, a period intervened
of 206 years'.
" Now here the original is strangely perverted and falsified.
"The words of the original ai-e — * a.d. 482 — Bclhim Oche
OF THE ANCIKKT ANKALS. 89
la Lug. mac Laegaire agus le Muircearta mac Erca, in quo lect. iv.
cecidit Alill Moll p^cte, Molt]. A Concobaro filio Nesse usque
ad Gonnaciun filium Airt anm cccviii., a Cormaco usque ad hoc avkalb or
bellum cxvi., ut Cuana scripsit'. [That is, a.d. 482 — The ^"***
Battle of Ocha by Lughaidh, the son of Laegaire, and Muir-
ceartach, son of Earc, in which Alill Molt fell. From Concobar,
son of Nesse, to Cormac, son of Airt, 308 years. From Cor-
mac to this battle 116 years, as Cuana has written.]
" It would require", says Dr. O'Conor, " a quarto volume
as large as Mr. Johnston's whole work, to point out the errors
of his edition, with such illustrations as these unexplored re-
gions of Irish history seem to require. — The Ulster Annals'',
he continues, " are written part in Latin, and part in Irish, and
both languages are so mixed up, that one sentence is often in
words of botn ; a circmnstance which renders a faithful edition
of the original difficult. In some instances the Irish words are
few, in others numerous, — ^in both, the version must be included
in hyphens, to separate it from the text. The author of this
Catalogue has most faithfully adhered to the original — tran-
scribing the whole of this, and of the preceding MS. from the
Bodleian MS., Rawlinson 489, and inserting literal versions of
the Irish words in each sentence, so as to preserve not only tlie
meaning, but the manner of the author, from the year 431 to
1131". — Stowe Catalogue, vol. i., p. 174.
Another copy of these annals noticed by Dr. O'Conor, " con-
tains"*, he says, ** 117 written folios. This volmne has copious
extracts from the Bodleian original, from 1150 to 1303, in-
clusive ; and it has the merit, aLo, of marginal collations with
the copy in the British Museum, Clarendon, torn. 36, in Ays-
cough's Catalogue, No. 4787 ; which appears from this collation
to be in many places interpolated. It lias been collated, ako,
ii-ith a copy in the British Museum, written by one O'Connel,
who was still more ignorant than the former transcriber, as may
be seen by inspecting the MS. — Ayscough, torn, xlix., 471)5".
— Ibid., p. 176.
[There is an English translation of the Annals of Ulster in
the British Museum — Clarendon MS., vol. xlix., Ayscoughs
Catalogue, No. 4795 ; commencing with the coming of Palla-
«liiis into Ireland, a.d. 431, and coming down to a.d. 1303 (or
1307), as thus ^v^itten; but there is a defect from 1131 to
1156, at page 65. The writing appears to be of Sir James
Ware's time (XVII. Century), and the Latin of the original is
not translated. This is the voljame with which Doctor O'Conor
says that he made marginal collations of the above manuscript;
but it will be seen that 1 is library reference is wrong, as wrll
as that to the number in Ayscough's Catalogue.
90 OF THE ANCIENT ANNALS.
LECT. IV. I examined this translarion with great care, and I coiild not
find any translator's name to it ; no " one O'Connel". 1 think it
AXNAL8 OF possible that the reverend doctor never saw it. The Clarendon
t'wiM- MS., xxx^-i., British Museum, with which Dr. O'Conor says
the Stowe copy of the Annals of Ulster was collated, is only a
collection of short historical pieces, and extracts from unac-
knowledged Annals. The writing is like Ware's, as may be
seen from the volume i.. No. 4787. The reverend doctor does
not appear to liave seen this volume any more than the other ;
or if lie did really see them, it is very strange that he should
leave his readers to believe that they were both full copies, and
written in the original Irish hand.]
That the reverend doctor is quite correct in these strictures
on Johnston s publication, he has given ample proof here ; but
his own inacciurate readings of the original text are full of con-
tradictions, and are often as erroneous as those of Johnston;
and his translations and deductions are as incorrect and unjusti-
fiable. And, notwithstanding the respect in wliich his name
and that of his more accurate grandfather, the venerable Charles
O'Conor of Belanagare, are held by every investigator of the
history and antiquities of Ireland, still it must be admitted,
diat his owii writings — as regards matters in the Irish lan-
guage, in his Stowe Catalogue, and in his Rerum Hibemicarum
Scriptores, — would require very copious corrections of the inac-
curacies of text, as well as of the many erroneous translations,
unauthorized deductions, and unfounded assumptions which
they contain.
To return to the Annals of Senait Mac Manus.
The volume in vellum containing the beautiful copy of these
annals now in the library of Trinity College, commences with
three leaves which appear to be a fragment of a fine copy of
Tujhernach [see Appendix, No. XLI V.] After this the Annals
of Senait Mac Manus, which bcf^in with a long line of calends
or initials of yeai*s, some of which are very briefly filled up, but
without dates, except occiisionally the yeai-s of the worlds age,
while others remain totally blank.
These Annals begin thus — *'Anno ab Incamatione Domini
ccccxxxi., Palladius ad Scotos a Celestino urbis Rome Epis-
copo, ordinatur Episcopus, Actio et Valeriano Coss. Primus
mittitur in lliberniam, ut Christum credere potuissent, anno
Theodosii \aii." That is : " In the year from the Incarnation of
our Lord four hundred and thirty-one, I^alladius is ordained
bishop to the Scoti by Celestino, feishop of the City of Rome,
in the consulship of Aetius and Valerianus. He was the first
who was sent to Ireland, that they might believe in Clirist, in
the eighth year of Theodosius".
OF TH£ ANCIENT ANNALS. 91
" Anno ccccxxxii. — Patricius pervenit ad Hibemiam in anno lkct. iv.
Theodosii junioris, primo anno Episcopatus Sixti xlii., Rom.
£ccl., sic enumerant Beda, et Marcellinus, et Isidorus in aknaL or
Chronicis suis. in xii. an. Leaahairi mic Neiir. " Anno 432 — ulstkk.
Patrick came to Ireland in the ninth year of Theodosius the
Younger, and first of the episcopacy of Sixtus, tlie forty-
second Bishop of Rome, so Bede and MarceUinus and Isidore
enumerate them in their Chronicles, in the twelfth year of
Laeghaire Mac Neill".
" Anno ccccxxxiv. Prima preda Saxonum in Hihemia.
" Anno ccccxxxv. Mors Breasail regis Lageniae.
" Anno ccccxxxvi. Vel hie mors BrcasaiF.
*' Vels", or aliases, occur very frequently in the early part of
these annals, but they are generally written in a later and in-
ferior hand. Doctor O'Conor notices tliem in the Bodleian
copy, but has not observed whether they are written in the ori-
ginal hand or not.
The following additional early notices are interesting.
" Anno 437. Finbar Mac Hui Bardcne [a Saint] med.
"Anno ccccxxxviii. Chronicon Magnum Scriptum est''.
This was the Seanckas Mar, or great law compilation, re-
ferred to in my former lecture.
" Anno ccccxxxix. Secundinua, Auxilius, et Iseminus mit-
tuntur Episcopi ipsi in Hibemiam, in auxiliiun Patricii ".
It is not until tlie middle of the sixth century that these an-
nals begin to notice more than two or three events, often merely
of an ecclesiastical character. Not even the early battles with
the Danes are given with anytliing more than the simple record
of the fact, and the cliief persons concerned, or the names of
those who fell on. such occasions. Nor is it until the beginning
of the ninth century that they commence to group events, and
narrate them to any considerable extent; but after the year
1000, they become diffuse enough, if not in naiTatJve, at least
in the mention of distinct events, and sometimes in both, par-
ticularly as we approach the fifteenth century.
The book is written on fine strong vellum, large folio size,
and in a very fuie style of penmanship.
There is a loss of forty -eight years between the years 1115 and
1 163, the beginning of the Ibrmer and conclusion of the latter
only remaining. There is another defect between the years 1373
and 1379 ; and the volume ends imperfectly with the year 1504.
The whole manuscript volinne, in its present condition,
consists of 121 folios or 242 pages; the first folio being paged
12, and the last 144, from which it appears that there are 11
folioi?, or twenty-two pages, lost at tlie beginning, and 12 foHos,
92 OF THE ANCIENT ANNALS.
LECT. IV. or 24 pages more, deficient between the years 1115 and 1163.
The missing years between 1373 and 1379 do not interrupt
akwaL of the pagination, from which it may be inferred tliat they were
UL8TKR. j^g^ f^^j^ ^}j^ original MS. of the Annals of Ulster, of which
this part of the MS. is but a transcript. The first three folios
are, 1 believe, a portion of the Annals of Tighemach. The
third leaf belongs to neither compilation. The fourth leaf
begins the MS. of the Annals of Ulster. [See Appendix, No.
XLIV.]
Throughout this MS. the annals have the year of our Lord
prefixed to them, but they are antedated by one year. Tliis error
IS, however, generally corrected in a later hand throughout the
volume.
Throughout the earlier portion especially of these Annals of
Ulster, the text is a mixture of Gaedhlic and Latm, sometimes
being written partly in the one language and partly in the
other.
It may be remarked also, that throughout the entire MS.
blank spaces had been left by the original scribe at the end of
each year, and that in these spaces there have been added by a
later hand several events, and aliases or corrections of dates.
It will have been seen from Dr. O'Conor s remarks in the
Stowe Catalogue, that the copy which Bishop Nicholson des-
cribed, in his work called "Nicholsons Irisli Library", was
carried down to the year 1541, whilst the Dublin copy in its
present state ends with 1504. [See Nicholson's Irish Library,
p. 37.] There is, however, every reason to be certain that
this is the identical volume or copy of the same Annals men-
tioned by him in his Appendix (6 ; p. 243). [See discussion
on the Annals of Loch Ci; infra.]
It may seem that I have dwelt with too much prolixity on
the technical details of the Annals hitherto considered; but
I believe their importance fully warrants this. They form the
great framework around which the fabric of our history is yet
to be built up. The copies of them which now remain are un-
fortunately all imperfect and widely separated, in diflTerent libra-
ries and MSS. collections ; and in the critical examination of
them (short as such an examination must be in lectures such
as the present^, and the collation of all the evidences we
can bring togetner about them, I believe that I am doing good
service to the future historian of Ireland.
LECTURE V.
[D«UT«red June 19, IBM.]
Tlie Annals (continued). 6. The Annals of Loch C<^, hitherto sometimes
called The Annals of Kilronan. Of the Plain of Magh Slecht, 6. The
Annals of Connacht. Remarks on the so-called Annals of Boyle.
In my last Lecture I gave you some aecoimt of the Amials of
Imiisfallen, and those of Senalt MacManus, commonly called
the Annals of Ulster: having on the previous day commenced
with the earlier compilation of Tighemach. Thus we have
disposed of the most of the earlier compilations in that list of
the more important annals, which I named to you as the
sources of our history, which it was my intention, in accordance
with the plan of these Lectures, to bring under your notice.
Before, however, we reach the last and greatest monument
of the learning of the Gaedhils, called the Annals of the Four
Masters, there remain at least four other remarkable collections
for your consideration : the Annals of Kilronan,^**^ or rather of
Inis Mac Nerinn in Loch C<f, as they ought to be called; the
Annals of Boyle ; those called the Annals of Connacht ; and
Mac Firbis' Chronic um Scotorum ; and it is to these works
that, proceeding in regular order, I shall have this evening
to direct your attention.
And first, of the Annals which have been known for some or the
time under the name of the Annals of Kilronan, but which, loch^ck!'
I think, it will presently be seen should be called the Annals
of Inis Mac Nerinn in Loch Ci.
The only copy of these Annals known to exist at present is
that in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin, Class IL 1, 19.
It is on vellmn, of small folio size ; the original writing in va-
rious hands, but all of them fine and accurate. Several leaves
having, however, been lost from the original volume in various
parts of it, the chasms are filled up, sometimes with paper and
sometimes with vellum, and some of the missing annals re-
(*> It is only within the last few years that this name '^Annals of Kilronan**
was applied to these Annals, which are referred to by the Four Masters
(see Ann. IV. Masters, Preface, p. xxviii.) as the * Book of the O'Duigenans
of Kilronan*. [They are so referred to by Dr. O'Donovan at p. 778 of the
Annals, note {hi) to a.d. 1013.] Kilronan was in the country of the Mac
Dermotts, in the present County of Roscommon.
94 OF THE ANCIENT ANNALS.
LECT. T. stored, although in an inferior style of penmanship. These
Of the restorations are principally in the handwriting of Brian Mac
Awn ALs OF Dermot. ' The cnief defects in the body of the book are obser-
vable from the year 1138 to 1170, where thirty-two years are
missing; and from the year 1316 to 1462, where 142 years are
missing. The year 1468 is also omitted.
The following notices will sufficiently show the names of tlie
chief transcriber, of the owner, and the time of transcribing
the volume.
At the end of the year 1061 we find this notice: — " I am
fatigued from Brian Mac Dermot's book ; Anno Domini 1580.
I am Philip Badley". — [See original in Appendix, No. XLV.]
The Christian name of the scribe appears in several places
from this to the end of the year 1588 ; but a memorandum at
the end of the year 1515 is conclusive in identiiying not only
the chief transcriber, but the date of the original transcipt, as
well as the place in which, and the person for whom, the volume
was transcnbed or compiled : —
" I rest from this work. May God grant to the man [that
is, the owner] of this book, to return safely from Athlone ; that
is Brian, the son of Riiaidhrigh Mac Dermot. I am Philip who
wrote this, 1588, on the day of the festival of Saint Brendan
in particular. And Cluain Hi Bhraoin is my place". — [See
original in Appendix, No. XLVI.]
Of this Badley, if that be his real name, I have never
been able to learn anything more than wliat he has written of
himself in this volume. I may observe, however, that tlie name
of PhiUp was not uncommon in the learned family of O'Duibh-
ghenainn or Duigenan; and Clumn I Bhf'aoin, where Philip
wrote tills book, was at this time the residence of a branch of tlie
O Duibhghenainn or O'Duigenans, as will appear from the fol-
lowing entry in these Annals, in the handwriting of the owner
of the book, Brian Mac Dermot, at the year 1581 : — *' Fear-
caogadh O'Duigenan, the son of Fergal, son of Plillip, died at
Cluain I Bhraoin\ — [See original in Appendix, No. XLVII.]
We find, too, the name of Dubhthach O'Dulgenain, set
down as a scribe in the book at the end of the year 1224.
The following memorandimi at the end of the page at which
the year 1462 commences (tlie book Is not paged), gives us fur-
ther reason still for supposmg that the O'Dulgenaus had some
connection with this book. It runs thus : — " Tliree leaves and
five scores of vellum that are contained in tliis book, per me,
Daniel Duignan". — [See original in Appendix, No. XL VIII.]
This memorandum is without date ; and I may observe that, as
the book contains at present but ninety-nine of the original
OF THE ANCIENT ANNALS. 95
leaves, four leaves must have been lost since this memorandum lect. v.
was wntten. of the
I have not, however, quoted these memoranda merely in aioials or
order to show by what particular scribe the Annals in question ^^"
were written. A mistaKC has, it appears to me, been long cur-
rent with regard to the identity of the MS., and I believe I am
in a position to correct it.
It IS my opinion that the notices just referred to are sufficient
to show that these are not those Annals, or that * Book of the
O Duihh^enainns of Kilronan', which was one of the books men-
tioned by the Four Masters as having been used by them in clieir
compilation, and wliich extended from the year 900 to the year
1563. The present volume begins with the year 1014, and in its
original form ends (imperfectly) with the year 1571 ; and we
find that one of the O'Duigenan family was a transcriber in
the early part of it, and that it was transcribed at Cluain I
Uliraoin. But it is, I think, more than probable that the
volume is but a transcript of the original Book of the O'Dui-
Smans of Kilronan, made, as far as it went, for Brian Mac?
ermot ; and that to the text of this transcript that noble chief
himself, and other scribes, made several additions, carrying the
annals down to the year 1590, or two years before his death
in 1592. Such is the opinion at which I have arrived as to
this manuscript.
Tliat the present volume was carried down to the year 1590,
I am rather fortunately in a position to prove beyond any
doubt, having myself discovered a part of the continuation in the
British Museum in the year 1849. This part contains sixteen
consecutive years, and part of a dislocated year, extending from
the latter part of 156^ to 1590, but still leaving a chasm in
the volume from 1561 to 15()8. This continuation is written
partly on vellum and partly on paper, in various hands, among
which that of Brian Mac Dermot is still very plainly distin-
guishable ; and the following translation of an entry, at the year
1581, %vith Brians note on it, seems to complete the identifica-
tion of the volume : —
'* Calvagh {C(tlbhach), the son of Donnell, son of Teigc
(Tculhcf), son of Cathal O'Conor, the heir of Sligo and of
Lower Connacht, without dispute, died on the Friday between
the two Hastei-s [that is, between Eiister Sunday and Low Sim-
day] in this year '. — [See original in Appendix, No. XLIX.]
To this article Brian Mac Dermot adds the following note : —
"And the death of this only son of Donnell O'Conor and
Mor i\{ Ruairc is one of the most lamentable events of Erinn.
And there never came, of the descendants of Brian Luighncach
96
OF THE ANCIENT ANNALS.
Of the
Annal!) or
U»chCk.
O'Conor] a man of his years a ffreatcr loss than him, nor is it
ikely that there will come. And this loss has pained the
learts of all Connacht, and especially it has pained the scholars
and poets of the province of Connacht. And it has divided
my own heart into two part«. Uch ! Uch ! how pitiable my
condition after my comrade and companion, and the man most
dear and tnithful to me in the world I
" I am Brian Mac Dermot, who wrote this, upon Mac Der-
mot's Rock ; and I am now like Olioll Oluim after his sons,
when they were slain, together with Art Aenfhir, the son of
Conn of the Hundred Battles, in the battle of Afagh Afucnnmhd
by Mac Con, the son of Mac Niadh, son o{ Lughaidh; or like
JDeirdre after the sons of Uisneach had been treacherously slain
in Eamhain Mhacha [Emania] by Conchohhar the son of
Fachtnn, son of Runali, son of Rudhraidhe [Conor Mac
Nessa] ; for I am melancholy, sorrowful, distressed, and dis-
pirited, in grief and in woe. And it cannot be described or
related how I feel after the departure of my companion from
me, that is the Calvach. And it waa on the last day of the
month of March that he was interred in Sliyech (Shgo)'\ —
[See original in Appendix, No. XLIX.]
Mac Dermot s Rock {Carraiq Mhic-Diarmada)^ and the Rock
of Loch Ce {Carraw Locha Ce) were the popular names of a
castle built on an Island in Loch Ce, near Boyle, in the pre-
sent County of Roscommon. This castle was the cliief resi-
dence and stronghold of Mac Dennot, the native chief and
prince of Magh jLuirg (or Moylorg), an extensive territory in
the same County of Roscommon.
The above Brian Mac Dermot, the owner, restorer, and conti-
nuator of these Annals, was chief of Magh Luirg between the
years 1585 and 1592, though in what year he succeeded his
father, Rory {Ruaidhri), the son of Teige {Tadlig\ I am not
able to say. The father was chief in 1540 and 1542.
Of Brian Mac Dermot himself, we find in the Annals of the
Four Masters, — under tlie year 1585 (in which year all the
native chiefs of Erinn were called by proclamation to a parlia-,
ment in Dublin), — that Tadhg the son of Eoghan Mac Dermot
attended this Parliament as deputy from Mac Dermot of Magh
Luirg ; that is, Brian the son of liiuitdliri, son of Tadhg, son
of Ruaidhri Og^ which Brian was then a very old man. And
at the year 1592 the same Annals record the death of this
Brian Mac Dermot in the following words:
"Mac Dermot of Magh Luirg, — Brian the son of Ruaidhri,
son of Tadha Mac Dermot, died in the month of November ;
and the death of this man was the more to be lamented, be-
OF THE ANCIENT ANNAL3. 97
cause there was no other like him of the clann Maolrua- lect. v.
naidh pMaebtiny', the tribe name of the Mac Dermots,] to ^^^^j^^
succeed him in the chieftainship". — [See orimnal in Appendix, ammam o»
No. L.] ^ '^"'="-
It would then appear, I think, that these cannot be the so-
called Annals of Kilronan ; but that they are those called the
Annals of Loch C^, quoted by Sir James Ware in his work on
the Bishops of Erinn, is by no means certain.
Dr. Nicholson (Protestant Bishop of Dcrry, and afterwards
Archbishop of Cashel), in his valuable " Insh Historical Li-
brary", published in Dublin in 1724, p. 36, thus speaks of the
Annals of Loch Ce, quoted by Sir James Ware :
" The Annals of this monastery are frequently quoted by
Sir James Ware ; but all that he ever saw was a Fragment of
them (part in Latin and part in Ksh) beginning at 1249 and
ending at 1408. He supposes the author to have been a Canon-
Begumr of the said Abbey, and to have lived about the middle
of the Fifteenth Century. His copy, perhaps, has had some
farther loss since it fell into other hands ; seeing all that can be
now said of it is * Pars Annalium Ccenobii S, Trin. de Logh-
kcsay incipiens ab An. 1249. et deainens An, 1381. ea Hiber-
nieo Idiomate in Anglicum versa! ".
The same writer (Appendix No. 6, page 243) says:
" The most valuable collection of Irish MSS. that I have
met with, in any private hand, here in Dublin, next to that of
the Lord Bishop of Clogher, was communicated to me by Mr.
John Conry ; who has great numbers of our Historico-Poetical
Composures, and (being a perfect master of their language and
prosodia) knows how to make the best use of them. Amongst
these, there's
" 1. An ancient copy of the Annales Senatenses (Annals of
Ulster), written on Veflura and in a fair character ; but imper-
fect at the beginning and end ; for it begins at the Year 454,
ten Years later than the Duke of Chandois s, and ends (about
50 years sooner) at 1492.
" 2. There is also, in the same Letter and Parchment, and the
same folio Volume, a copy of the Annals of the Old Abbey of
Inch-Maccreen, an island in the Lake o£ Loghkea, very diffe-
rent from those of the Holy Trinity, an abbey (in the same
Loch) of a much later foundation. This book commences at
the year 1013, and ends with 1571.
" 3. He has likewise the original Annals of Donegal (or the
Quatuor Magistri), signed by the proper hands of the four
Masters themselves, who were the Compilers of that Chronicle",
etc., etc., etc.
LoohCs.
98 OF THE ANCIENT ANNALS.
LTCT. ▼. This, indeed, is a most valuable notice from the very candid
^ ^^ Bishop Nicholson.
amnau or The Annals of the Old Abbey of Inis Maccreen, properly
Inis Mac Nerinn, an island in Loch C^, which he mentions,
are beyond any doubt those which I have already identified as
such. According to Conry's report to the bishop, these Annals
commenced with the year lOlo, and ended with 1571 ; but it
is quite clear that the year 1013 is a mere mistake for 1014,
witn which the book commences in its present, and I am sure
in its then condition. For it commences with an account of
the battle of Clontarf ; and as the original page is much de-
faced and the date totally illegible, and as the date of that
great event is given by the Four Masters under the year 1013,
It seems probable that, without looking to the copy of the
whole annal, and the date mentioned below, Conry gave that
year as the commencement of the book to the bishop. The
last page of the year 1571, with which the volume (without
the British Museum addition) ends, is also ille^ble, showing
plainly that the book had been a long time lying without a
cover, probably in the ruined residence of some departed mem-
ber of the Mac Dermot family, before it passed into Conry's
hands. Still, notwithstanding that Conry gave this book the
name of the Annals of the Abbey of Inis Mac Nerinn of Loch
Ci^ it is quite clear from the circumstances under which tliey
were written, that they were not the annals of that abbey, if
any such annals ever existed.
There is some mystery as to the way this volume passed
from the hands of John Conry. It was, however, purchased
at the sale of the books of Dr. John O'Fergus, in 1766, by
Dr. Leland, the historian, along with the Annals of Ulster, — a
transcript made for the doctor of the first volume of the An-
nals of the Four Masters, — and the imperfect autograph of the
second volume, described above by Dr. Nicholson, — and placed
by him (Dr. Leland) iii>'-tiie.>College Library, where the group
may now be seen together. It is fortunate that we actually
have still in existence a copy of the printed catalogue of the
books of the patriotic Doctor OTergus, which is preserved
along with several other memorials of mm, by his worthy great-
grandson, my esteemed friend, James Marinus Kennedy, Esq.
(of 47 Lower Gloucester Street, in this city), who has kindly
permitted me to consult this interesting catalogue. On exa-
mining it, I found included in it the Annals of Ulster, — a tran-
script of the first volume of the Annals of the Four Masters,
by Hugh O'Mulloy, an excellent scribe, in two volumes, — and
the imperfect autograph copy of the second volume, — among
OF THE ANCIENT ANNALS. 99
several other MSS. of less value, set down for sale ; but no lect. v.
account of the Annals of the Abbey of Inia Mac Nerinn, men- ^ ^^^
tioned by John Conry in his communication to Dr. Nicholson. AjwALa o»
So fer indeed we have lost the direct evidence of the volimie ^^^ ^**
being that which Conry had mentioned to the bishop ; but the
fict of its having been purchased by the College along with the
other books and transcnpts belon^g to Conry's collection, the
identity in the years of its begmmng and ending, and the
original locality to which it was referred, which, though erro-
neous, was approximately correct, can leave no rational doubt
of its being tne reputed Annals of the Abbey of Inis Mac
Nerinn in JLoch Ci^ though the internal evidences clearly prove
it to be the Annals of the Rock of Loch CS^ or Mac Dermot's
Rock, the residence of the owner and part-compiler, Brian Mac
Dermot, in 1590. Indeed even the wanting link above alluded
to is supplied in a contemporary list or catalogue of the Irish
books sold at Dr. OTergus's sale, which is preserved in (pasted
into) a MS. volume in the Library of the Royal Irish Aca-
demy (commonly known by the name of " Vallancey's Green
Book"), and contains the names of the persons to whom and the
prices at which the various Irish MSS. there were sold. For
m that list I find it mentioned that Dr. Leland bought " No.
2427, Annals of the 4 Masters, 3 vols, [the two volumes of tran-
scription and one of autograph before mentioned], a fine MS.,
£7 19s;'; and also, " 2410, Annals of Ulster, by the 4 Masters
[sic], a very ancient MS. on vellum''; and "2411, Continu-
ation of the Annals of Tighemach, very ancient, on vellum",
both together for £18. The last mentioned MS. was, I have
no doubt, the one of which we have been speaking, mistaken by
the maker of the catalogue for a " Continuation of Tighemach",
probably only because he could make no better guess at what
It really was. And it is singular that this volume is now lettered
"Tiffhemaci Continuatio" on the back (H. 1. 19, T.C.D.)
I have thus, I think, conclusi\d^ identified the MS. spoken
of by Dr. O'Donovan as the " Annals of Kilronan", and I have
identified it as one dlflcrent from the original Book of the
O'Duigenans of Kllronan, referred to by the Four Masters.
Whether that MS. is or is not the same as the Annals of Loch
Ci^ referred to by Sir James Ware, does not, however, appear
to me to be by any means clearly settled by Nicholson, the ac-
curacy of whose aescriptions of Irish MSS. is not always im-
plicitly to be depended on. Certainly Sir James Ware does
quote fi-om what he calls the Annals of Loch Ci at the year
1217, as we shall presently see, though in the passage before
quoted from Nicholson, that writer positively says that " all he
7b
100 OF THE ANCIENT ANNALS.
LECT. V. (Ware) ever saw was a fragment of them, begmning at 1249
Of ^^^ and ending at 1408".
AicRAu or The references by Ware to these Annals are in his " History
of the Bishops", in the first volume of this important work
(as edited by Walter Harris, pp. 84, 250, 252, 271), we find it
stated on the authority of the Annals of *' Lough Kee" (Loch
Ce)^ that Adam O'Muirg (^Annadh 0' Muireadliaigh\ Bishop of
Ardagh (Ardachadh)j died in the year 1217 ; CairbrS O'Scoba,
Bishop of Raphoc (Rath BhothaJ, in the year 1275 ; William
Mac Casac, Bishop of Ardagh, in the year 1373; and John
Colton, Archbishop of Armagh, in the year 1404. On refer-
ence to our volume of Annals, we find the death of Anncuih
O Muireadhaigh and Cairhri O'Scoba under the respective years
of 1217 and 1275. The other years, 1373 and 1404, are now
lost, though these lost sheets were probably in existence in
Ware's time.
The following httle note, written in the lower margin of the
eleventh page of the fragment in the British Museum, is not
without interest in tracing this very volume of Annals to the
possession of the family of Sir James Ware.
" Honest, good, hospitable Robert Ware, Esq., of Stephen's
Green ; James Magrath is his servant for ever to command".
This Robert was the son of the very candid writer on Irish
history just mentioned. Sir James Ware ; and it is pretty clear
that this entry was made in the book, of which the fragment in
the British Museum formed a part, while it was in the hands
of either the father or the son.
Having thus endeavoured, and I trust successfully, to identify
for the first time this valuable book of Irish Annals, I now pro-
ceed to consider the character of its contents, so as to form a just
estimate of its value, as a large item in the mass of materials
which still exist for an ample and authentic History of Ireland.
These Annals of Loch Ciy as I shall henceforth call them,
commence with the year of our Lord 1014, containing a very
good account of the Battle of Clontarf ; the death of the ever
memorable Brian BoroimM; the final overthrow of the whole
force of the Danes, assisted as they were by a numerous army
of auxiliaries and mercenaries; and the total destruction of
their cruel and barbarous sway within the * Island of Saints'.
The first page of the book is nearly illegible, but it was restored
on inserted paper in a ven^ good hand, at Cam Oilltriallaigh in
Connacht, on the 1st of November 1698, by S, Mac Conmidhe,
The account of the Battle of Clontarf just alluded to, is es-
pecially interesting because it contains many details not to be
found m any of the other annals now remaining to us.
OF TUB ANCIENT ANNALS 101
In chronology as well as the general character, the Annals of lbct.
Loch Ce resemble the Annals of Tighemach, the Annals of Ul- ^^~
ster, and the Chronicum Scotorum ; but they are much more akwam c
copious in details of the affairs of Connacht than any of our ^^*^ ^^
other annals, not excepting even, perhaps, the Chronicle now
known as the Annals of Connacht, — a collection which will
presently engage our attention. And as all these additional de-
tails involve much of family history and topography, every item
of them will be deemed valuable by the diligent investigator of
our history and antiquities.
The dates are always written in the original hand, and in
Roman numerals, represented by Irish letters.
The text is all in the ancient Gaedlilic characters, and mainly
in the Gaedhlic language, but mixed occasionally with Latin,
particularly in recording births and deaths, when sometimes a
sentence is riven partly in both languages, as at A J). 1087,
which runs thus :
" The Battle of Connchail in the territory of Corann (in
Sligo), was gained by Rory O'Connor of the yellow hound,
son of Hugh of the gapped spear, over Hugh the son of Art
O'Ruairc ; and the best men of the Conmaicne were slaughtered
and slain. — [See original in Appendix, No. LL]
" In this year was bom Torloch O'Conor". — [See Appendix,
No. LIL]
The following specimen of the style and copiousness of the
Annals of Loch Ce, may be appropriately introduced. The
same events are given m but a few lines in the Annals of
the Four Masters, a.d. 1256 It is the accoimt of the cele-
bmted Battle of Magh Slecht (or Plain of Genuflexions). —
[See original in Appendix, No. LIII.]
**A great army was raised by Walter Mac Rickard Mac
William Burke, against Fedhlim, the son of Cathal Crohhdhearg
[or Cathal O'Connor of the red hand], and against Aedh [or
11 ugh] the son of Feidhlim; and against the son of Tighenian
O'lluairc. And it was a long time before this period since a
liost so nmnerous as this was collected in Erinn, for their num-
Ixjr was counted as twenty thousand to a man. And these great
hosts marched to Magh-Eo [Mayo] of the Saxons, and from
that to Balla, and from that all over Luighne [Leyney], and
they ravaged Luighne in all directions around them. And they
came to Achadh Conaire [Achonry], and sent messengers thence
to the O'liaghallaigh [O'Reillys), caUing upon them to come to
meet them at Croa-Doirg-Chaoin^ upon the south end o{ Brat-
Shliabh in Tir- Tuathal. And the O'Reillys came to Clachan
Mucadha on Sliabh-an-Iarainn, but they turned back without
having obtained a meeting from the Euglish.
LoobCk.
102 OF THE ANCIENT ANNALS.
LECT. V. "It was on that very day, Friday precisely, and the day of
^ ^^^ the festival of the Cross, above all days, that Conchohhar the
AmiAM OF son of Tigheman O'Ruairc, assembled the men of Breifni and
T>.«» rn, Conmaicni^ and all others whom he could, under the command
of Aedh O'Conor, as were also the best men of Connacht, and
of the Siol Muireadhaigh [the O'Conors]. And the best (or
noblest) that were of that nost were Conor the son of Tigher-
nan O'Ruairc, Kmg of the Ui Briuin and Conmaicni; Cathal
OFlaiihhhmrtaigh [OTlaherty], and Murchadh Finn OFergh-
ail; and Ruaidhri Orloinn of the wood ; and Flann Mac Oireach-
taigh; and Donn 6g Mac Oireachtaigh; and a great body of the
O'Kellys ; and Mac Dermot's three sons ; and Dermot OTlan-
nagan ; and Cathal the son of Duarcan OHeaghra (O'Hara) ;
and the two sons of Tigheman O'Conor, and GioUa-na-
Naomh O'Taidhg [OTeige.] And numerous indeed were the
warriors of Connacht there. And where the van of that host
overtook the O'Reillys was at Soiltean-na-nGasan; and they
pursued them \/o Alt Tighe Mhic Cuirin. Here the new recruits
of the O'Reillys turned upon the united hosts, and three times
drove them back. The main body of the hosts then came up,
but not till some of their people had been killed, and among
them Dermot O'Flannagan, and Mac Maonaigh, and Coicle
O'CoiclS [Cokely O'Cokely], and many more.
" Both armies now marched to A It-na-h-Eilti, and to Doirin
Cranncha^ between Ath-na-Beithighe and Bel an Bheallaigh^
and Coill Eassa, and Coill Airthir, upon Sliabh an larainn.
Here the O'Reillys turned firmly, ardently, furiously, wildly,
ungovernably, against the son of Feidhlim [O'Conor], and all
the men of Connacht who were with him, to avenge upon them
their wrongs and oppression. And each party then urged their
people against the other, that is the Ui Briuin and the Con-
nacht forces. Then arose the Connacht men on the one side of
the battle, bold, expert, precipitate, ever moving. And they
drew uj) in a bright-flaming, quick-handed phalanx, valiant,
firm, united in their ranks, under the command of their brave,
strong-armed, youthful prince, Aedh [Hugh] the son of Feidh-
lim^ son of Cathal the red-handed. And, certainly, the son of
the high king had in him the fury of an inflamed chief, the
valour of a champion, and the bravery of a hero upon that day.
"And a bloody, heroic, and triumphant battle then was
fought between them. Numbers were killed and wounded on
both sides. And Conor, the son of Tigheman (O'Ruairc),
King of Breifni^ and Murchadh Finn OFerghaill [Murrogh
Finn O'Ferall], and Aedh [Hugh] O'Ferall, and Maolrua-
naidh [Maelroney] Mac Donnogh, with many more, were left
OF THB ANCIENT ANNALS. 103
wounded on the field. And some of these died of accumn- lect. y
lated wounds in their own houses; among whom were Morrogh
Finn O'Ferall ; and Flann Mac Oireachtaigh was killed in tne amnaIs oi
deadly strife of the battle, with many others. And now what ^^" ^■'
those who had knowledge of this battle [who witnessed this
battle] say, is, that neither the warriors on either side, nor the
champions of the great battle themselves, could gaze at the face
of tlie chief king; for there were two great royal, torch-like,
broad eyes, flaming and rolling in his forehead ; and every one
feared to address him at that time, for he was beyond speaking
distance in advance of the hosts, going to attack the battalions
of the Ui Briuin. And he raised his battle-cry of a chief king
and his champion shout aloud in the middle of the great battle ;
and he halted not from his career until the force of the Ui
Briuin utterly gave way.
*' There were killed on this spot Cathal O'Reilly, King of
the Muintir Maoilmordlia, and of the clan o{ Aedk Finn, and
his two sons along with him, namely — Uonnell Roe and Niall ;
and his brother Cuchonnacht; and Cathal JJubh O'Reillys three
eons, GfeofFry, Fergal, and Donnell. And Annadh, the son of
Donnell O'Reilly, was killed by Conor, the son of Tigheman
(O'Ruairc), and the Blind O'Reilly, that is, Niall ; and Tigher-
nan Mac Brady, and Gilla-Michael Mac Taichly, and Donogh
O'Bibsaigh, and Manus Mae Gilla-JJuibh, and over three score
of the }>est of their people along with them. And there were
sLxteen men of the O'Reilly family killed there also.
" Tliis was the IJattlc oi Ma<jh Slecht, on the brink o( Ath
Deanj [the Red Ford] at Alt na hEillti [the Hill of the Doe]
over Bealnch na Beitliujhe [the Road of tlic Birch]".
The precision with which the scene of this domestic battle
(which took place in the modern county of Cavan) is laid down
in this article, is a matter of singular interest, indeed of singular
importance, to the Irish historian. AFaijh SlecJit [that is, the
Plain of Adoration, or Genuflexions], the situation and bearings
of whicli are so minutely set down here, was no other than that
same })lain of J/«</A Slecht in whicli stood Crom Cruach (called
Ceann Cruach in the Tripartite Life), the great Idol of Milesian
paLran worship, the Delphos of our Gadelian ancestors, from the
time of their first coming into Erinn until the destruction of the
idol by Saint Patrick, in the early part of his apostleship among
them. The precise situation of this historical locaUty has not
been hitherto authoritatively ascertained by any of our antiqua-
rian investigators ; but it is pretty clear, that, if any man fairly
acquainted with our ancient native documents, and practised in
the examination of the ruined monuments of antiquity, so thickly
7»
104
OF THE ANCIENT ANNALS.
<»fthe
Aw ALB or
Loch Cb.
scattered over the face of our country, — if, I say, such a man,
with this article in liis hand, and an extract from the Life of St.
Patrick,^**^ should go to any of the points here described in the
route of the belligerent forces, he will have but little difficulty
in reaching the actual scene of the battle, and will there stand,
with certamty, in the veritable Magh Slecht ; nay, even may,
perhaps, discover the identical Crom Cruach himself, with his
twelve buried satellites, where they fell and were interred when
struck down by St. Patrick with liis crozier, the Bachall Iota, or
Sacred Staff of Jesus !
Of the
AvKALfl or
CONMACHT.
Much could be said on the value of these and of others of our
local and independent chronicles, concerning the vast amount
they contain of cimiulative additions to what is recorded in
other books, and of minor details, such as could never be found
in any general compilation of national annals. Space will not,
however, in lectures such as these, pennit us to dwell longer on
the subject at present, and we shall, therefore, pass on at once
from the Annals of Loch C6 to the consideration of those com-
monly called by the name of the Annals of Connacht.
The only copies of the chronicle which bears tliis title now
known to exist in Ireland are, a large folio paper copy, in two
volumes, in the library of T.C.D. [class H. 1. 1. and H. 1. 2.] ;
and a large quarto paper copy, in the library of the Royal Irish
Academy, No. 25.4 ; 25.5 ; both in the same handwriting. The
writing is tolerably good, but the orthography is often inaccurate,
owing to the ignorance of the copyist, whose name appears at
the end of the second volume in T.C.D., in the following entrv :
" Written out of an ancient vellum book, and finished the
29th day of the month of October, in the year of the age of the
Lord 1 764, by Maurice O'Gorman". — [See original in Appen-
dix, No. LV.j
This Maurice O'Gorman, a well-known though a veir incom-
petent scribe, flourished in Dublin before and for some time after
this year of 1 764. The Trinity College copy was made by
him for Dr. O'SuUivan, F.T.C.D., and Professor of Law in the
University ; the two volumes in the Royal Irish Academy, for
the Chevalier Thomas O'Gonnan, of the county of Clare, in
the year 1783, in the house of the Venerable Charles O'Conor,
of Belanagare, in the county of Roscommon, as apjjears from a
notice in English prefixed to the first volume. The scribe's
name does not a])pear in this copy.
These annals m their present condition begin with the year of
<») The passage in the Life of St. Patrick will be found, with translation, in
the Appendix, No. LIV.
OF THE ANCIENT ANNALS. 105
our Lord 1224, and end with the year 1562 ; but the years lect. t.
1394, 1395, 1396, 1397, arc missing; and this is the more to be ^^^^^
regretted as the same years are also missing from the Annals of AKNALaot
Loch Ci. At what tmtie, or by what authority this chronicle ^®**^^"^-
received the name of the Annals of Connacht, it is now, perhaps,
impossible to ascertain.
Usher quotes both from the Annals of Connacht, and from
those of Boyle (Primordia, pp. 895, 966) ; but it is to be feared
that Usher was his own autnority, as we shall see presently.
Sir James Ware gives the name of Annals of Connacht to the
chronicle now known as the Annals of Boyle, in these words :
'*An anonymous monk of the Coenobium Buelliensis, added an
index to the Annals of the affairs of Connacht up to the year
1253, at which time he Uved. The MS. book exists in the Cot-
tonian Library, the gift of Oliver late Viscount Grandison, of
Limerick". [Ware's Irish Writers, 4to, 1639, p. 60]. And in
Ware's Catalogue of his own manuscripts (Dublin, 4to, 1648),
p. 14, No. 44, ne says, " A copy of the Annals of Connacht, or
of the Coenobium Buelliensis, to the year 1253. The autograph
exists in the Cottonian Library of Westminster".
The book of which Ware makes mention in both these extracts,
under the names of an index to the Annals of Connacht, and as
the Annals of Connacht themselves, and the autop*aph of which,
he says, was then in the Cottonian Library of Westminster, is
certainly that now known as the Annals of Boyle. The auto-
graph which was then in Westminster is now in the British
Museum (imder the library mark of Titus A. 25), and lias been
published by the llev. Charles O'Conor, in his Rerum Iliber-
nicanmi Scriptorcs.
Wlicn alluding to these Annals of Boyle in a fonner Lecture,
I was reluctantly obliged to take tlic Rev. Charles O'Conor's
very unsatisfactory account of them from the Stowc Catalogue ;
but since that time, and during the summer of the last year
(1855), I had an opportunity of examining the original book
itself in the British Museum. As there is veiy much to correct
in Dr. O'Conor s account, I am tempted shortly to state here
the result of my own examination of the MS., but I shall do so
only in the briefest manner.
The book (the pages of which measure about eight inches in of the
length, by five and a-half in breadth) contains, as I find, about hoyliI;* "^
130 leaves, or 260 pages; and of these the Annals foi-m the 34
first leaves, or 68 pages, of good, strong, but somewhat disco-
loured vellum ; the remainder of the book is written in the En-
ghsh language on paper, and has no concern with Ireland. It
IS written in a bold, but not elegant hand, chiefly in the old
Of the
106 OF THE ANCIENT ANNALS.
black letter of (as I should think) about the year 1300. The
capital letters at the commencements of years and articles, and
AxxALs OF sometimes proper names, are generally of the Graedhlic alphabet,
***'"•'- and so gracefully fonned that it appears to me unaccountable
how the same hand could have traced such chaste and graceful
Gaedhllc and such rude and heavy black letters, in one and the
same word.
The annals commence fourteen years before the birth of
Lamech, the Father of Noah ; but those years are only marked
by the letters " Kl.", which stand for the kalends or first day of
January of the year. They then give the years from Adam to
Lamech as 974. These blank kalends contain the dates (almost
uninterruptedly) down to Noah ; then Abraham ; Isaac ; tlie In-
carnation of our Lord ; and so to the coming of St. Patrick on
his mission into Ireland, in the fourth year of the monarch
Laeghaire^ a.d. 432. Even from this time down to their pre-
sent termination at the year 1257, the record of events is very
meagre, seldom exceeding a line or two, generally of Latin and
Irish mixed, until they reach tlie year 1100; indeed even from
that year down to the end of the annals, the entries are still very
poor, and without any attempt at description.
The years throughout, to near the end, are distinguished by
the initial kalends only, excepting at long intervals where the
year of our Lord and the corresponding year of the world are
inserted. In one instance the computation is from the Passion
of our Lord, thus: " From the beginning of the world to the
death of St. Martin, according to Dionisius, 56 11 years; from
the Passion of the true Lord, 415". The year of the world is
always given according to Dionisius, but m one instance the
Hebrew computation is followed, and this is where the chrono-
logy begins to agree with the common era ; as thus, at the year
939 : *' Here begin the wars of Brian, the son of Kennedy, son
of Lorcan, the noble and gi-eat monarch of all Erinn, and they
extend as far as the year 10 14 from the Incarnation of Jesus
Christ. From the be5rinnin;]f of the world, accordin^: to Dioni-
mus, 6000 years, but according to the Hebrew, 5218 years".
There is so much irregularity and confusion in the chronolo-
gical progress and arrangement of tliese annals (a confusion
which the Rev. Doctor O'Conor appears to me to have made
more confased), that it would have been hopeless to attempt to
reduce and correct them, without an expenditure of time, and a
facility of collation with other annals, which a visit to London
for other and weightier purposes would not admit of Nor
should I have deemed it necessary to revert to them a second
time in the course of these Lectures, but that I feel bound to cor-
OF THE ANCIENT ANNALS. 107
rect^ as far as I can, any small errors into whicli such distin- lect. v.
goished scholars as Ussher, Ware, Nicholson, and O'Conor, may ^ ^
have fallen for want of a closer examination of these annals. annaL o»
In the first place we have seen that Ussher, Sir James Ware, ^^"*
his editor Walter Harris, Bishop Nicholson, and Doctor O'Co-
nor, call them the Annals of Boyle ; and it may, I think, be
believed that Ussher was the father of the name, and that his
successors followed him implicitly.
As far as the annals themselves can show, there is nothing
whatever in them to indicate that they are annals of Boyle, ex-
cept the words "Annales Monasterii in Bucllio in Hibemia",
which are written on the original vellum fly-leaf at the begin-
ning of the book, in a fine bold English hand, apparently of
the early part of the last century.
In a note by Doctor O'Conor on the death of Saint Maedhog
of Ferns, at the year 600 of his published copv of these annals,
he says, it is evident that Ussher must have had another copy
of them in his possession, because he places the death of Samt
Maedhog at the year 632 on their authority. Now it is singular
enough that here the doctor is wrong and Ussher right, for the
vear of our Lord 605 appears distinctly in the original text
in correspondence with the vear of the world 5805. The doc-
tor gives this annal 605, which is in Latin, correctly, but, in
accordance with his adopted system, places it under the year
573. The record runs thus: "In hoc anno Beatus Grcgorius
quievit. Scilicet in DCVto anno Dominice Incarnationis, ut
Beda dicit in Historia sua. Beatus vero Gregorius XVI. annis, et
men.«ibus VI. et diebus X. rexit Ecclesiam, Anni ab initio mundi
VDCCCV". [i.e. "In this year the blessed Gregory rested.
That is to say, m the 605th year of the Incarnation of our Lord,
as Bede says in his History. Truly the blessed Grcgory ruled the
Cliurch 16 years, 6 months, and 10 days — Five thousand eight
hundred and five years from the beginning of the world".]
As I had occasion to fix the date of a particular occurrence in
Irish history according to these annals, and as no other date ap-
pears in them from 605 down to the record of that event, I
^Tote out the number of blank kalends, with a few of their lead-
ing records down to the occurrence in which I was interested.
Among the items that I took down was the death of Saint Maed-
hog of Ferns, and by counting tlic number of kalends between
that event and the above date of 605, I find it to be 27 ; so that
both numbers when added make 632, the precise year at whicli
Ussher places it on the authority of these annals. Tliis then, as
far as Dr. O'Conor s obser\'ation goes, is the book that Ussher
quotes from.
108 OF THE ANCIENT ANNALS.
jjjCT y It is only at the year 1234 that the regular insertion of the
day of the week on which the kalends of January fell, and the
AswALs OF y®^ of o^^ Lord in full, begin to be inserted in the text, and these
BoTLK. Doctor O'Conor gives, down to 1 238 ; after which he passes with-
out observation to the year 1240, and concludes with 1245.
The learned doctor has fallen into a confusion of dates here,
as the event which he places at the year 1251, and the three
years that follow it in O'Conor, precede it in the original in re-
gular order.
The year 1251 is the last that can at present be read in these
annals, but there are six distinct but illegible years after that,
bringing down the records to the year 1257.
There is but one occurrence recorded under the year 1251,
and as it may be found, in connection with a few other facts, to
throw some probable light on the original locality and history
of the work, it may be well to give it in full. The record is
in Latin, and runs as follows:
" Kl. enaie foe Domnach, M-CCL^.I**.
" Clarus, Archidiaconus Elphinensis vir prudens et discretus
qui camem suam jejuniis et orationibus macerabat, qui pauperes
orfanos defendebat, qui patientiae coronam observabat, qui perse-
cutionem a multis propter justitiam patiebatur, venerabilis fun-
dator locorum Fratemitatis sanctae Trinitatis per totam Hiber-
niam, et specialiter fundator monasterii sancta; Trinitatis apud
Loch Che ubi locum sibi sepulturi elegit. Ibidem in Christo
quievit Sabbato Dominice Pent, anno Domini M.CC.L°.P.
Cujus animae propitietur Deus omnipotens in coelo cui ipse ser-
vivit in seculo. In cujus honorem Ecclesiam de Renduin et
Monasterium Sanctae Trinitatis apud Loch Uachtair, Ecclesiam
Sanctae Trinitatis apud Ath Mogi, Ecclesiam Sanctae Trinitatis
apud Kklleas edihcavit, pro cujus anima quilibct librum le-
gens, dicat Pater Noster".
[The Calends of January on Sunday, m.cc.l'^.i°.
Clarus, Archdeacon of Elphin, a man prudent i discreet,
who kept his flesh attenuated by prayer and fasti ig, who de-
fended the poor orphans, who waited lor the crown of patience,
who suffered persecution from many for the sake ol justice ; the
venerable founder of the places of the Confraternity o£ the Holy
Trinity throughout all Ireland, especially the founder of tlie
Monastery of the Holy Trinity of Loch Ce, where he selected
his place of sepulture ; there he rested in Christ, on the Saturday
before Pentecost Sunday, in the year of our Lord 1251. May
the Almighty God in Heaven be propitious to his soul, whom
he served in the world, in whose honour he built the Church of
Renduin and the Monastery of the Holy Trinity .at Loch Uach-
OF THE ANCIENT ANNALS. 109
tair (Upper Lake), also of the Holy Trinity at Cellrais, for lect. ^
whose soul let whoever reads this book say a Pater Noster.] ~~
It is quite apparent from this honourable and feeling tribute akkals o
paid to Clarus Mae Mailin, as he is called in the Annals of®®"*
the Four Masters, a.d. 1235, — but who was a member of the
learned family of O'Mulconry, — that the annalist, whoever he
may have been, had a high veneration, if not a personal friend-
ship, for him; and it is equally clear, or at least it is much
more than probable, that an annalist of the Abbey of Boyle,
with which he had no known connexion whatever, would not
speak so warmly and affectionately of one who perhaps was
the light of a rival establishment.
It is certain that he was a dignitary of the ancient church of
Elfinn, which was founded by Saint Patrick, and the oldest foun-
dation in that district, situate on the southern borders of Mac
Dermot's country, though not in it ; that, among several others,
he founded the Monastery of the Holy Trinity on an Island in
Loch C^; and that he was buried in tnat monastery. It is evi-
dent that the annals in which these events and personal memo-
rials are so affectionately and religiously recorded, must have
belonged to the immediate locality. It is also clear that they
are not the annals of the Island of Saints in Loch liibh [ReeJ,
because the annals of that island, as recorded by the Four
Masters, came down but to the year 1227, and because that
island did not belong to Mac Dermot's country. It is equally
clear, if we are to credit the venerable Charles O'Conor, of
Bclanagar, that tliey cannot be the Annals of Connacht, com-
piled in the Cistercian Abbey of Boyle, since that chronicle
commenced with the year 1224, and ended with the year 1546.
We have no account of any annals of the Island of Saints in
Loch Gamhna, and even if we had, we could not, without posi-
tive evidence, believe that these could be they. Loch Gamhna be-
ing in thi' County of Longford, a different district and province.
Taking J. then, all these circumstances into account, I cannot
avoid comijf g to the conclusion that this ancient and curious chro-
nicle mu.^t jave belonged to some church situated within Mac
Dermot s cAimtry, and that probably it belonged to the Island of
Saints in I-pch CJ, though we liave no record of the time at
which the church of that island became ruined and abandoned.
I must confess that this idea would never probably have oc-
curred to me, if it had not been suggested by wliat I found in the
book itself; for at the lower margin of foUo 14 b, I foimd this re-
cord, in a good hand, of the period to which it refers — 1594.
" Tomaltachy son of Owen, son of Hugh, son of Dermod, son of
Rory Caech (the blind), died in the last month of this year.
BOTLE.
110 OF THE ANCIENT ANNALS.
MCT. V. in his own house in Cluain FraoicK^. [See original in Ap-
~^^ PENDIX, No. LVI.l
AvKALs OF This is a remarkable entry to be found in this book. Cluain
* " FVaoich, near Strokestown, in the County of Roscommon, was
the name of the ancient palace of the O'Uonor family, Kings of
Connacht down to the sixteenth centuiyj but the name of the man
and the pedigree which are given in this obituary are not found
among the O'Conor pedigrees, as far as I have been able to dis-
cover, though I have examined all the accessible old genealo-
E'cal tables of authority of that family ; and as there is no such
le of pedigree as the present to be foimd among them, it na-
turally follows that this Tomaltach, the son of Owen, must have
been a member of some other important family situated in the
same country, and in a residence of the same name. And such
was the fact ; for we find in Cucogry O'Clery's Book of Pe-
digrees (R. I. Academy) the folio wmg curious line of a branch
of the great Mac Dermot family, which must have struck off
from the parent chieftain tree in the person of Dermod, the
son of Rory Caech (or the blind) Mac Dermot, which Rory the
blind must have flourished about the middle of the fifteenth cen-
tury, as we find in the annals that his son Rory dg, or junior.
Lord of Moylurg, died in the year 1486.
O'Clery says : " The Sliocht Diarmada are descended from
Dermot, the son of Rory Caech (the blind), son of Hugh,
etc., viz. — Tomaltachy the son of Owen, son of Hugh, son of
Dermot, son of Rory (the blind), son of Hugh, son of Conor'*,
etc. Now we find that the Tomaltach [or Thomas], the first,
or rather the last, link in this line of pedigree preserved by
O'Clery, is precisely the same Tomaltach whose death is so
circumstantially recorded, in a post insertion, in what have been
called the Annals of Boyle, at least since Ussher's time, that
is for nearly 250 years.
This record shows pretty clearly that at the time of making it
the book was in the possession of the Mac Dermot family ; and
that it was so, there are still stronger proofs in the book itself to
show ; for in several parts of it — ^towards the end, but particularly
at folios 10, 20, 30, 31, 33, — we find emendations and additions
in the handwriting of Brian Mac Dermot, who made the addi-
tions to the Annals of Loch Ce, which have already been no-
ticed in speaking of that important chronicle These insertions
are sufficient to show that the original book, now in the British
Museum, and known as the Annals of Boyle, was at the close of
the sixteenth century in the possession of the chief, Brian Mac
Dermot, lord of the territory in which Boyle is situated ; and
this would and should be received as evidence enough for their
OF THE ANCIENT ANNALS. Ill
being the Annals of Boyle, if really any such annals had ever lect. v
existed. There is, however, in the lower margin of folio 30, ~
page a, or 33, page b, — I am not certain at present which, — a akkaL or
memorandum, m a few words, which is incontestably fatal to the ^^^*'
name of Annals of Boyle. The words, which are written in a
bad but old hand, run thus: "The historical book of the
Island of the Saints". — [See original in Appendix, No. LVII.]
And to connect them still further with some Island of tlie
Saints, we find the following words in a good hand of the lat-
ter part of the sixteenth century, in the lower margin of folio
13, D, of the book : " Four score years from the death of Saint
Patrick to the death of Dermot Ma4) Cerhhaill ["monarch of
Erinn], according to the Martyrology of the Island of the
Saints". — [See onginal in Appendix, No. LVIII.]
It must be confessed that, although these words prove clearly
enough that this book of annals did not belong to the Abbey of
Boyle, still they do not show with equal clearness to what place
they really did belong, any more than that they must, according
to these evidences, have belonged to some place in or about Loch
Ce, in Mac Dermot's country.
That tliey belonged to some island is plain enough, and that
they are not the Annals of the Island of the Saints in Loch
Ree in the Shannon, is evident, as the Four Masters say of that
book of annals, that it came down but to the year 1227, whereas
these came down to 1257 ; and if we may rely on the word
of the venerable Charles O'Conor of Belanagar, they cannot
be the Annals of Connacht; for in a list of Irish manuscripts
in his possession about the year 1774, and which list is in his
own hand>vriting, I find — " The Annals of Connacht, compiled
in the Cistercian Abbey of Boyle, beginning at the year 1224
and ending 1546". [M.S. in the Royal Irish Acaaemy, No.
23. 6 ; p. 126.]
By the aid of my learned and esteemed friend, Denis H.
Kelly, Esq., of Castle Kelly, in the county of Roscommon, I
find that there really is an Oihan na Naemh, or Saints' Island,
in Loch Ce, close to Mac Dermot's rock or castle, and about two
miles from Boyle ; and that the local tradition is, that the ruined
church which still remains on it, was founded by Saint Colum
Cille, about the same time, probably, that he founded the church
of £os Mac nEirc, at the mouth of the river Boyle, in the same
neighbourhood, and the church on Oilean naNaemhy or Saints'
Island in Loch Gamkna^ in the County of Longford. Tradition
ako has it that the church was occupied by "Culdees", or Ceilide
/>«?, down to the twelfth century.
That Saint Colum Cille foimded a church on some island in
BOTLB.
112 OF THE ANCIENT ANNALS.
LEcyr. V. Loch CS, some time about the year 550, will also clearly be
Of the ^^^ from the following extract from O'Domiell's remarkable
akiials of collection of ancient tracts, relating to the life and acts of that
^'" eminent saint.
** On one occasion that Colmn Cille was staying upon an is-
land in Loch Ce in Connacht, and a poet and man of science
came to visit him, and conversed with him for a while, and then
went away from him. And the monks wondered that Colimi
Cille did not ask for a specimen of his composition from the
poet, as he was wont, to ask from every man of science who
visited him. And they asked him why he had acted so. Co-
lum Cille answered them, and said, that it would not be proper
for him to ask for pleasant things from a man to whom sorrow
was near at hand ; and that it should not be long before they
should see a man coming unto him (Colum Cille) to tell him
that that man had been killed. Scarcely had this conversation
ended when they heard a shout at the port of that island (that
is, the landing place on the main land opposite to it), and
Colum Cille said that it was with an account of the killing of
the poet the man came who raised that shout. And all was
verified that Colum Cille had said ; and the names of God and
of Colum Cille were magnified on that account". — [See original
in Appendix, No. LIXj
From this notice, as well as from several other references that
could be adduced, it is certain that Saint Columba founded a
monastery on the island in Loch Ci^ which is now called the
Island of the Saints.
The Annals of the Four Masters, in the Testimonium, and
again at the year 1005, mention and quote the Annals of the
Island of Saints in Loch Ribh [Ree]. (Loch Ree is an expan-
sion of the river Shannon between Athlone and Lanesborough.)
And the second continuation after the yojor 1405 of the chronicle
now called the Annals of Tighemach, states in that work, that
Augustin Mac Grady (the continuator probably, from 1088
to 1405), was a canon of the Island of the Saints, but he does
not say where this island was situated. There can be no doubt,
however, that this Island of the Saints was the one situated in
Loch Ribh [Ree], to the north of Inis Clothrann, and belong-
ing to the County of Longford, — an island which still contains
venerable though ruined monuments of ancient Catholic piety
and taste.
It is stated by Colgan, Ware, and Doctor Lanigan, that Inis
Ainghin^ an island situated in the Upper Shannon, above Ath-
lone, and belonging to Westmeath, was this Island of the
Saints. This, however, is not correct, as that island continued
OF THE ANCIENT ANNALS. 113
to bear its original name down to a recent period, — as it does uct. ▼.
sdll with the Irish-speaking neighbours, though it is called ^ ^^^
Hare Island bj English speakers. avkalsov
Archdall, in his Monasticon, says that the Island of the Saints ^"***
in Loch Gamhna in Longford, on which Saint Colum Cille
founded his church, was anciently called Inis Ainghin; but I
have shown in a former lecture, from indisputable authority,
that the church of Inis A inghin^ the ruins of which remain still,
was founded by the great Saint Ciaran, before the founding of
his celebrated ecclesiastical city of Clonmacnois.
To return to the Annals of Connacht. These annals, or of the
rather the existing fragment of them, extend from the yearcJ^jJJn/
1224 to the year 1562.
It is imfortunate that neither the transcriber, nor the person
for whom they were transcribed, has left us any notice of the
extent or history of the old vellum MS. from which they were
copied. There is reason, however, to believe that they are a
£cagment of the book of Annals of the O'Duigenanns, of Kil-
ronan, in the county of Roscommon, mentioned, as we hiave
ahready sjdd, by the Four Masters as having been used by them
in their great compilation, and which extended from the year
900 to the year 1563.
The original of this fragment, however, was in the late Stowe
collection, and passed, by purchase, into the hands of Lord
Ashbumham, an English nobleman, in whose custody they are
as safe from the rude gaze of historical investigators as they were
when in the hands of His Grace of Buckingham, who got pos-
session of them by accident, and sold them as part of the ducal
furniture, to the prejudice of thp late Mathew O'Conor, Esq.,
of Dublin, the true hereditary owner.
The following observations on this ancient vellum fragment
will be found in the Rev. Dr. O'Conor's catalogue of the Stowe
manuscripts, vol. L, no. 9, p. 73.
"Annals of Connacht, foho, parchment. — ^Tlie written pages
arc 174, beginning with the year 1223, and ending with 1562.
Ireland produces no chronicle of the affairs of Connacht to b«
comparea with this. The narrative is in many instances cir-
cumstantial ; the occurrences of the different years in every part
of the province arc noticed ; as are the foundations of castles and
churches, and the chronology is every where minutely detailed.
"There is no history of the province of Connacht; neither is
there of any town or district of that most populous part of
Ireland, except this unpublished chronicle.
8
114 OF THE ANCIENT ANNALS.
LECT. ▼.
Of the
"This chronicle is, therefore, invaluable. Many are the in-
ducements which it holds out to dwell upon some of its events ;
AHMAL8 o» many the notices which would inform and instruct the people
CojuiAOHT. ^ ^hose country they refer. But in the vast variety of matter
hitherto unpublished^ the difficulty of making a selection, and the
danger of exceeding the limits of a catalogue, forbid the attempt.
"Those who have been misled by elalSrate discussions on tne
antiquity of Irish castles and churches, will find the errors of
Knderous volumes corrected in this MS. with a brevity which
Lves no room for doubt, and an accuracy which leaves none
for conjecture. The pride and dogmatism of learning must bow
before the 'barbarous' narrative which gives the following infor-
mation".
[Here follow the dates of the creation and destruction of cas-
tles and monasteries from the year 1232 to 1507, with some
particulars respecting them, after which the article concludes in
the following words :]
"It is to be lamented that the first part of the Annals of Con-
nacht are missing in this collection ; they are quoted by Ussher
in his Primordia, and confounded with the Annals of Boyle by
Nicholson". [Nicholson, p. 34.]
The same learned writer gives also the following extract,
original and translation, in illustration of his observations on
these annals, at page 76 of the above-mentioned volume :
"a.d. 1464, Tadhg O* Conor died, and was buried in Ros-
common, the nobility of Connacht all witnessing that inter-
ment ; so that not one of the Connacht kings, down from the
reign of Cathal of the red hand, was more honourably interred ;
and no wonder, since he was the best of the kings of Comiacht,
considering the gentleness of his reign. Tliere was no king of
Connacht after him — they afterwards obtained the title of
O'Conor, and because they were not themselves steady to each
other, they were crushed by lawless power and the usurpations
of foreigners. May God forgive them their sins. Domine ne
status nobis hoc peccatum. Tliis extract is taken from the
book of Kilronan, which has the approbation of the Four Mas-
ters annexed to it, by me Cathal O'Conor (of Belanagare), 2
August, 1728".
It is very plain from the style of tliis article, in the Gaedhlic
of Mr. O'Conor of Belanagare, that it was an abstract of the ori-
ginal record of this event, made by himself, and this will appear
more decidedly from the following translation of the entire
article, made oy me from the copy of the book which he had
then before him, which he calls the Annals of Kilronan, and
which we have now, under the name of the Annals of Connaclit :
OF THE ANCIENT ANNALS. 115
" A.D. 1464. Tadhg O'Conor, half-king of Coimaght, mor- lect. r,
tuns est on the Saturday after first Lady Day in autumn, et
sepultus in Roscommon, so honourably and nobly by the Sil ahuals or
Muiredhaighj such as no king before him, of the race of Catlial ^***^^-
of the Red Hand, for a long time before had been. Where
their cavalry and gallowglasses were in full armour aroimd the
corpse of the high king in the same state as if they were going
to battle ; where their green levies were in battle array, and the
men of learning and poctiy , and the women of the Sil Muiredr
haigh were in countless flocks following him. And countless
were the alms of the church on that day for the [good of the]
corpse [soul] of the high king, of cows, and horses, and money.
And he had seen in a vision Michael [the Archangel] leading
him to judgment". [See original in Appendix, No. LX.]
The Annals of Loch Ce, which have been erroneously called
the Annals of Kilronan, dispose of this article in three hues, re-
cording merely the death, at this year, of " Tadhg the son of
Torlogn Roe O'Conor, half-king of Connaght, a man the most
intelligent and talented in Connaght, in his own time". [See
original in Appendix, No. LXI.]
It was from this man's mausoleum that the stones with sculp-
tured gallowRlasses were procured for the Antiquarian Depart-
ment of the late Great Insh Exhibition (1853). Tliey have
been again very properly restored to their original place ; but
surely some individual or society ought to procure casts of them
for our public museums.
And here, before we pass from tliis remarkable extract, can
we fail to be struck by the feeling terms in which the venerable
Charles O'Conor sighs for the fallen fortunes of his house and
family, and sighs the more, as their unfaitlifulncss to each other
was the cause of their decay and of their subjection, and that
of their country, to a comparatively contemptible foreign foe ?
This is a singular admission on the part of the best Irish his-
torian of his time, — ^but it is a fact capable of positive historical
demonstration, even from these very annals, — that the downfall
of the Irish monarchy and of Irish independence was owing
more to the barbarous selfishness of the house of O'Conor of
Connaght, and their treachery towards each other, \vith all the
disastrous consequences of that treachery to the country at large,
than to any other cause either witliin or without the kingdom
of Ireland.
It must appear very clear, from the extract we have quoted
from Mr. O'Conor, that the Annals of Kilronan, from which he
made it, — the very book mentioned by the Four Masters, — was
in existence in some condition, and in his possession, so late
8b
COXVACHT.
116 OF THE ANCIXNT ANNALS.
uBCT.v. as the year 1728. And as Mr, O'Conor's books were not scat-
of the tcred ouring his own long life, nor until the chief part of them
AJWAui^f were carried to Stowe by his grandson, the late Rev. Charles
^mrArirr qiq^^j^qj.^ j^ ^^^ scarcclj admit of doubt that the vellum book,
which the latter writer describes as part of this collection in the
Stowe catalogue, must be the book of Kilronan from which the
former made the extract.
Those Annals, according to the Testimonium to the Annals
of the Four Masters, extended from the year 900 to the year
1563. How the first three himdred years of these annals could
have disappeared, we have now no means of ascertaining ; but
it is clear that they were missing at the time that O'Gorman
made his transcript, else he would have copied them with the
remainder of the book.
The following notices, in English, appear in the copy of these
annals in the Royal Irish Academy, in the handwriting, I think,
of Theophilus OTlannagan.
On the fly-leaf of the first volume (there are two volumes),
we find this entry : — " The Annals of Connacht, transcribed
from the original m the possession of Charles O'Conor of Be-
lanagar, Esq., of the house of O'Conor Dun, at the expense of
the Chevalier Thomas O'Gorman, Anno Domini 1783 .
Of the year 1378 there remains but the date and one line,
with the following notice, in the same English hand : " N.B. The
remainder of this Annal, together with the years 1379, 1380,
1381, 1382, 1383, 1384, are wanting to the Annals of Con-
nacht, all to the following fragment of the year 1384, but they
may be filled from the Four Masters, who have transcribed the
above Annals".
Again, at what appears to be the end of the year 1393, the
following notice is found in the same English hand : "N.B. The
years 1394, 1395, 1396, 1397, are wantmg in the original, but
may be filled from the Four Masters".
And, again, at the end of the year 1544, we find this notice
in the same English hand : " N.B. Here end the Annals of Con-
nacht, the following annal (1562) has been inserted by a dif-
ferent hand".
The first of these notices is sufficient to show that tliis was the
sanuB book from which Charles O'Conor made the extract at the
year 1464, and he says that that was the Book of Kilronan, with
the approbation of the Four Masters appended to it ; and it ap-
pears from the third or last notice, that not only had the first
three hundred years disappeared from the book, but also the
years fix)m 1544 to 1563, the last year in it, according to the
Four Masters.
OF THE ANCIENT ANNALS. 117
It may, however, be doubted whether the Four Masters did lect. v.
not count the years in this book, from the first to the last, ^vith-
out pausing to notice an^ defect, or number of defects, in it, and askals o»
that the kst year of it m tlieir time was tlic year 1563. We c^^'^^*'"*-
believe that tne Annals of Senait Mac Manus, now known as the
Annals of Ulster, had, when in their hands, two deficiencies,
one of them greater than the defect here between 1544 and 1562,
and that they take no notice whatever of it.
At what time local annals came to receive provincial names —
such as the Annals of Ulster, tlie Annals of Connacht, etc. —
I cannot discover. Such names, as far as I recollect, are only
found in the works of Ussher, Ware, and their followers ; the
Four Masters do not distinguish by provincial names any of
the old chronicles from wliich they compiled, and indeed it
would be absurd if they had done so, as it might happen
that any or each of the provinces might have several books of
annals, none of which would be exclusively devoted to the re-
cords of provincial transactions. Finding this book, therefore,
known as the Annals of Connacht, is no evidence whatever of
its not being the Book of Kilronan, or any other of the old
chronicles mentioned by the Four Masters, with which it may
be found to agree in extent.
The followmg passage from the Rev. Dr. O'Conor's Stowe
catalogue 'will show, among a thousand others, how cautious we
ought to be in receiving, as facts, opinions and observations on
subjects of this difficult kind, written hurriedly, or without ex-
ammation. In describing volume No. 3 of the Stowe collection
of Irish manuscripts, page 50 of the catalo^ie, the writer says :
"Folio 50. An Irish chronicle of the kings ofConnaught,
from the arrival of Saint Patrick, with mai'ginal notes by Mr.
O'Conor of Belanagar, written in 1727. This clironicle begins
from the arrival of Saint Patrick, and ends with 1464. It was
transcribed from the ancient manuscript of the Church of Kil-
ronan, called * The Book of Kikonan', to which the Four Mas-
ters aflixed their approbation in their respective hands, as stated
in this copy, folio 28".
Now it IS plain that the reverend doctor has added to the words
of his gi'andiather here, or that the latter, which is very impro-
bable, wrote what was not the fact, — namely, that he (tew this
chronicle of Connacht kings, from the coming of Saint Patrick
to the year 1464, from the Book of Kilronan, since we have it
on the authority of the Four Masters, that this book, not of the
church of Kilronan, but of the O'Duigenanns of Kilronan, went
no further back than the year 900, or nearly 500 years after
the coming of Saint Patrick.
118 OF THE ANCIENT ANNALS.
LECT. ▼. To sum up, then, It would seem that this old manuscript in the
Of the Stowe collection, must be a fragment of one of two books which
AMiiALs OF the Four Masters had in their possession, namely, the Book of
coHMACHT. ^^ O'Mulconrys, which came from the earliest times down to
the year 1505, and which was, probably, added to afterwards,
like the Annals of Ulster, down to it« present conclusion ; or
the Book of the O'Duigenanns, of Kilronan ; and if the elder
O'Conor was correctly informed, and tliat he is correctly re-
ported by his grandson, it was without any doubt the latter.
We must observe, however, that the elder O'Conor, in his list of
his own MSS., where he calls this book the Annals of Connacht,
speaks of it as compiled in the Cistercian Abbey of Boyle-
It is remarkable too, that we find in this book, at the end of
the jrear 1410, the following entry: "Marianus filius Tathei
O'Beime submcrsis est on the 14th of the kalends October.
Patin qui scrlpslt". Now there is little doubt that this "Patln"
was Padin [radecn] O'Mulconry, the poet, who died in the
year 1506.
Again, we find the name of Nicholas O'Mulconry at the end
of the year 1544, in such a position as to induce the belief that
he was the writer of the preceding annal ; or at least, as in the
preceding case, of the concluding part of it. So that if tlie
elder O'Conor be correct in his own written words, this book
really consists of the Annals of Boyle, or else a fragment of the
Book of the O'Mulconrys: but that book came down but to the
year 1505. Had we the original manuscript to examine, it
could be easily seen whether these were strange insertions or not ;
and I only desire to put these facts on record here from O'Gor-
man's transcript, hoping that they may be found hereafter useful
to some more favoured and accomplished investigator.
To some of my hearers, tlie minute examination I have thought
it necessary to make before them, of the Identity and authority
of the several important manuscripts which have engaged our
attention, may, perhaps, have seemed tedious. Yet it is not
merely for the sake of thus recording in a permanent shape the
information which I have collected on these subjects, that I have
taken this course. It is chiefly because the earnest student in
this now almost imtrodden path of historical inquiry (and I hope
there are many among my hearers who desire to become earnest
students of their country s history), will find In the examples I
am endeavouring to trace for him, of the mode In which alone
our subject must be investigated, the best introduction to a seri-
ous study of It. And It Is only by such careful canvass of au-
thorities, by such jealous search into the materials which have
OF THE ANCIENT ANNALS. 119
been handed down to us, that we can ever hope to separate the lect. ▼.
true from the false, and to lay a truly sound and reliable founda- ^^ ^^^j^
tion for the superstructure of a complete History of Erinn, m material.
For the present, you will remember, I am occupied in giving ®'**^*®'^-
you an account of the chief collections of annals or clironicles
m which the skeleton of the events of Gacdhlic History is pre-
eerved with greater or less completeness ; and that you may un-
derstand the value and extent ot the reliable records of this kind
that remain to us, it is the more necessary that I should go into
some details, because there is no published account of, or ^lide
to, this immense mass of historical materials. But I shall not
neglect to point out to you also, how these dry records may be
used in the construction of a true history, as vivid in its pictures
of life, as acx;urate and trustworthy in its records of action. And
before this short course terminates, I hope to satisfy you that
collateral materials exist also in rich abundance, for the illustra-
tion and completion of that history in a way fully as interest-
ing to the general Irish reader as to the mere philologist or
antiquarian.
LECTURE VI.
CDeUrered Jniu> IS, 18d6j
The Annals (continued). 7. The Chronicum Scotonim of Duald Mac Firbw,
Of Mac Furbis, his life and deatli, and his works. 8. The Annals of Lecain,
Of the Story of Queen Gormlaith. 9. The Annals of Clonmacnois.
If we followed exactly a chronological order, the next great
record which should claim our attention would be the Annals
of the Four Masters ; but the importance and extent of that im-
mense work demand, at least, the space of an entire lecture ; and
I shall, accordingly, devote the greater part of the present to
the consideration of an almost contemporary compilation, — ^the
last but one of those I have already named to you, — ^the Chroni-
cum ScoTORUM of the celebrated Duald Mac Firbis {Dubhal-
tcLch Mac Firbhisigli),
Exifting Of tliis chronicle there are three copies known to me to be in
CHMwcmi existence. One, the autograph, in the library of Tiinity College,
ScoTOBUM. Dublin ; and two in the library of the Royal Irish Academy.
Of the latter, one is in the handwriting of tfohn Conroy, whose
name has been mentioned in a former lecture, in connection witli
this tract and the Annals of Tighemach ; the second is a copy
lately made in Cork, by Paul O'Longan, from what source I am
not able to say with certainty, but I believe it to have been from
a copy made by his grandfather, Michael O'Longan, in Dublin,
about the year 1780; and if I am correct in this opinion, there
are four copies in Ireland, besides any that the present O'Lon-
gans may have made and sold in England.
This chronicle has been already mentioned in our account of
the Annals of Tighemach, and as nothing of its history is known
to me but what can be gathered from the book itself, and the
hand in which the autograph (or Trinity College copy) is written,
I proceed without further delay to the consideration of that
manuscript.
The Trinity College MS. is written on paper of foolscap size,
like that upon which the Annals of Tighemach in the same vo-
lume are written, but apparently not so old. It is in the bold
and most accurate hand ol Duhlialtach (sometimes called Duvald,
Duald, or Dudley) Mac Firbis, the last of a long line of histo-
rians and chroniclers of Lecain Mic Fhirbhisigh^ m the barony
of Tir-Fhiachradhj or Tircragh, in the county of Sligo.
OF THE ANCIENT ANNALS. 121
Duald Mac Firbis appears to have been intended for the he- lect. w
reditaiyprofession of an antiquarian and historian, or for that
of the Fenechas or ancient native laws of his country (now im- mm Firbu
properly called the Brehon Laws). To qualify him for either
of these ancient and honourable professions, and to improve and
perfect his education, young Mac Firbis appears at an early age
to have passed into Munster, and to have taken up his residence
in the School of law and history, then kept by the Mac JEgans,
of Lecain, in Ormond, in the present county of Tipperary. He
studied also for some time, cither before or after this, but I be-
lieve after, in Burren, in the present county of Clare, at the not
less distinguished literary and legal school of the O'Davorens ;
where we find him, w^ith many other young Irish gentlemen,
about the year 1595, imder the presidency of Donnell O'Davoren.
The next place in wliich we meet Mac Firbis is in the col-
lege of Saint Nicholas, in the ancient town of Galway ; where
he compiled his large and comprehensive volume of redigrees
of ancient Irish and Anglo-Norman families, in the year 1650.
The autograph of this great compilation is now in the posses- xhe Book (
sion of the liarl of Roden, and a fac-simile copy of it was made ^w nrtia
by me for the Royal Irish Academy in the year 1836. Of this
invaluable work, perhaps the best and shortest description that
I could present you with, will be the simple translation of the
Title prefixed to it by the author, which rims as follows [See
original in Appendix, No. LXII.]:
"The Branches of Relationship and the Genealogical Rami-
fications of every Colony that took possession of Erinn, traced
fix)m this time up to Adam (excepting only those of the Fomo-
rians, Lochlanns, and Saxon-Galls, of whom we, however, treat,
as they have settled in our country) ; together with a Sanctilo-
gium, and a Catalogue of the Moniirchs of Erinn ; and finally,
an Index, which comprises, in alphabetical order, the surnames
and the remarkable places mentioned in this book, which was
compiled by Dubhaltach Mac Firbhisicjh of Lecain, 1650.
"Although the above is the customary way of giving titles to
books at the present time, we will not depart from the Ibllowing
of our ancestors, the ancient suimnaiy custom, because it is the
plainest ; thus :
"The place, time, author, and cause of writing this book,
arc : — the place, the College of St. Nicholas, in Galway ; the
time, the time of the religious war between the Catholics of
Ireland and the Heretics of Ireland, Scotland, and Elngland,
particularly the year 1650; the person or author, Dubhaltach^
the son of (iilla ha M6r Mac Firbhisigh^ liistoriau, etc., of
Lecain Mac Firbis, in Tireragh, on the Moy ; and the cause of
122 OF THE ANCIENT ANNALS.
LECT. VI. writing the book is, to increase the glory of Grod, and for the in-
TheBookof formation of ^e people in generar. , t • . a
Pedigrees of It was to Dr. rctnc that the Council of the Royal Irish Aca-
^ demy entrusted the care of having the copy of this book made,
which I have just alluded to ; and, afterwards, on the occasion
of laying that copy before them, he read an able paper, which
is published in the eighteenth volume of the Transactions of the
Academy, on the character and historic value of the work, and
on the httle that was known of the learned autlior's history.
Of the death In the course of his remarks, this accomplished writer says :
MMiTrbiB. "To these meagre facts I can only add that of liis death, which,
as we learn from Charles O'Conor, was tragical, — ^for this last of
the Mac Firbises was unfortunately murdered at Dunflin, in the
county of Sligo, in the year 1670. The circumstances connected
with this event were known to that gentleman, but a proper re-
spect for the feelings of the descendents of the murderer, who
was a gentleman oi the country, prevented him from detailing
them. They are, however, still remembered in the district in
which it occurred, but I will not depart from the example set
me, by exposing them to public light".
It was quite becoming Dr. Petrie's characteristic delicacy of
feeling to follow the cautious silence of Mr. O'Conor in rela-
tion to this fearful crime. Now, however, there can be no
offence or impropriety towards any living person, in putting on
record, in a few words, the brief and simple facts of the cause
and manner of this murder, as preserved in the hving local
tradition of the country.
Mac Firbis was, at tnat time, under the ban of the penal laws,
and, consequently, a marked and almost defenceless man in the
eye of the law, whilst the friends of the murderer enjoyed the
full protection of the constitution. He must have been then past
his eightieth year, and he was, it is believed, on his way to Dub-
Hn, probably to visit Robert, the son of Sir James Ware. He
took up his lodgings for the night at a small house in the little
village of Dun Flin, in his native county. While sitting and
resting himself in a little room off the shop, a young gentleman,
of the Crofton family, came in, and began to take some Uberties
with a young woman who had care of the shop. She, to check
his freedom, told him that he would be seen by the old gentle-
man in the next room ; upon which, in a sudden rage, he snatched
up a knife from the counter, rushed furiously into the room, and
plunged it into the heart of Mac Firbis. Thus it was that, at
the hand of a wanton assassin, this great scholar closed his long
career, — the last of the regularly educated and most accom-
plished masters of the history, antiquities, and laws and lan-
guage of ancient Erinn.
OF THE ANCIENT ANNALS. 123
But to return lect. vi
Besides his important ffenealo<ncal work, Mac Fiibis compiled ^ .^
- rt* 'n 1 i»i f> t Of the va-
two Others ol even still greater value, which uniortunatcly are riou» work
not now known to exist : nameljr, a Glossary of the Ancient Macnrw*
Laws of Erinn ; and a Biographical Dictionary of her ancient
writers and most distinguished hterary men. Of the fonner of
these, I have had the good fortune to discover a fragment in the
hbrary of the DubUn University (class H. 5. 30) ; but of the
latter, I am not aware that any trace has been discovered.
There are five other copies of ancient glossaries in Mac Firbis s
handwriting preserved in the DubUn University library (all
in H. 2. 15). Of these, one is a copy of Comiacs Glossary,
another a copy of his tutor Donnell O'Davoren s own Law Glos-
sary, compiled by him about the year 1595 ; besides wliich,
separate fragments of three Derivative Glossaries, as well as
a fragment of an ancient Law Tract, with tlie text, gloss, and
commentary properly arranged and explained. So that in all
there are six glossaries, or fragments of glossaries, in liis hand-
writing in T.C.D. It is in the introduction to his great book
of Geneaologies that he states that he had written or compiled
a Dictionary of the "Brehon Laws", in which he had explained
them extensively; and also a catalogue of the writings and
writers of ancient Erinn ; but, with the exception of the frag-
ments just referred to, these two important works are now un-
known. [And 1 may here mention, that I have copied out
tliese precious fragments of his own compilation in a more acces-
sible form, for tlie Dublin University.] Besides these MSS. at
home, I may mention that there is m the British Museum also
a small quarto book, containing a rather modem Martyrology, or
Litany of the Saints, in verse, chiefly in Mac Firbis's hand.
Mac Firbis does not seem to have neglected the poetic art
either, for I have in my own possession two poems, of no mean
pretensions, written by him on the C SeachnaMiiyh (O'Shaugh-
nessys) of Gort, about the year 1G50.
Of Mac Firbis s translations from the curlier Annals we have
now no existing trace. That he did translate largely and gene-
rally we can well understand, from the following renuirks of Har-
ris in his edition of Wares Bishops, page 612, under the head
of Tuam : —
*'One John was consecrated about the ycai* 1441. [Sir
James Ware declai'cs he could not discover when he died ; and
adds, that some called him John dc Burgo, but that he could
not answer for the truth of that name.] But both these parti-
culars are cleared up, and his immediate successor, named by
Dudley Firl)isse, an amanuensis, whom Sir James Ware em-
124 OF THE ANCIENT ANNALS.
LECT. VI. ployed in his house, to translate and collect for liim from the Irish
Of the Ta- ^SS., one of whose pieces bc^s thus, viz. : 'This translation
rtou* worku bcginncd was by Dudley Firbisse, in the house of Sir Jaines
MMiibis. Ware, in Castle Street, Dublin, 6th of November, 1666 \ which
was twenty-four days before the death of the said knight. The
annals or translation which he left behind him, begin in the year
1443, and end in 1 468. I suppose the death of his patron put
a stop to his further progress. Not knowing from whence he
translated these annals, wherever I have occasion to quote tliem,
I mention them under the name of Dudley Firbisse**.
Again under the head of Richard O'Ferrall, bishop of Ar-
dagh, page 253, Harris writes:
"In MS. annals, in titled the Annals of Firbissy (not those of
Gelasy [Gilla ha] Mac Firbissy, who died in 1301, but the
collection or translation of one Dudley Firbissy), I find mention
made of Richard, bishop of Ardagh, and that he was son to the
Great Dean, Fitz Daniel Fitz John Golda O'Fergaill, and his
death placed there under the year 1444".
Of those Annals of Gilla Isa (or Gillisa) Mac Firbis of
Lecan, who died in 1301, we have no trace now ; it is probable
that they were the Annals of Lecan mentioned by the Four
Masters as liaviug come into their hands when tlieir compilation
from other sources was finished, and from wliich they added
considembly to their text.
Of Duald Mac Firbis's translation, extending from the year
1443 to 1468, there are three copies extant, one in tlie British
Museum, classed as "Clarendon 68", which is, I believe, in the
translator's own handwriting. The second copy is in the library
of Trinity College, Dublin fclass F. 1. 18]. The third copy is in
Harris's collections in the library of the Royal Dublin Society ;
it is in Harris's own hand, and appears to have been copied from
the Trinity College copy, with corrections of some of the former
transcriber s inaccuracies.
The following memorandiun, prefixed to a list of Irish bishops,
made for Sir James Ware, and now presei-ved in the manuscnpt
above referred to in the British Museum, will enable us to form
some idea of the sources, the only true ones, from which this list
has been drawn.
"The ensuing bishops' names are collected out of several L-ish
ancient and modem manuscripts, viz. : ol'Gilla-isa Mac Fferbisy,
written before the year 1397 (it is he that wrote the great e Booke
of Leackan Mac Fferbissy, now kept in Dublin), and out of
others the Mac Fferbisy Annals, out of saints' calendars and ge-
nealogies also, for the Right Worshipful and ever honoured Sir
James Ware, knight, and one of his Majesties Privie Council,
OF THE ANCIENT ANNALS. 125
and Auditor General of the Kingdom of Ireland. This coUec- lect. vt.
tion is made by Dudley Firbisse, 1655". — -p. 17. ofthera-
These translated annals have been edited by Dr. John O'Do- riooaworki
noTan, and published in the first volume of the Miscellany of Ma^ibu.
the Archaeological Society, in the year 1846.
Mac Firbis' was of no ordinary or ignoble race, being cer-
tainly descended from Dathi, the last pagan monarch of Erinn,
who was killed by lightning, at the foot of the Alps, in Anno
Domini 428. At what time the Mac Firbiscs became professi-
onal and hereditary historians, genealogists, and poets, to various
princes in the province of Connacht, we now know not ; but we
know that from some remote period down to the descent of
Oliver Cromwell upon this country, they held a handsome patri-
mony at Lecain Mac Firbis, on the bants of the River Muaidh^
or iloy, in the county of Sligo, on which a castle was built by
the brothers Ciothruadh, and James, and John oa, their cousin,
in 1560. So early as the year 1279, the Annals of the Four
Masters record the death of Gillu laa (or Gillisa) Mor Mac
Firbis, " chief historian of Tir-Fiachrach'' [in the present
county of Sliffo.] Again, at the year 1376, they record the death
of Donogh Mac Firbis, "an historian". And again, at the year
1379, they record the death of Firbis Mac Firbis, "a learned
historian".
The great Book of Lecain^ now in the library of the Royal
Irish Academy, was compiled in the year 1416, by Gilla ha for
Gillisa] Mor, the direct ancestor of Duald Mac Firbis ; and the
latter quotes in his work (p. 66), not only the Annals of Mac
Firbis, but also the Leabhar Gahhala, or Book of Invasions of Ire-
land, of liis grandfather, Dnhhaltach [or Dudley], as an authority
for the Battle odVfagh Tuireadh [Moytura], and the situation of
that place ; and at p. 248, the Duml) Book of James Mac Firbis
for the genealogy of his own race. There is in the library
of Trinity College, Dublin, a large and important volume of
fragments of various ancient manuscripts (classed H. 2, 16),
part of which professes to have been Avritten by Donogh Mac
Firbis in the year 1391 ; and in anotlicr place, in a more modem
hand, it is wntton, that this is the Yellow Book of Lecain.
Dubhaltach Mac Firbis, in his introduction to his great gene-
alogical book, states that his family were poets, historians, and
genealogists to the great families of the following ancient Con-
nacht chieftaincies, viz. : Lower Connacht, Ui Fiachrach of the
Moy, Ui Amhulgaidh^ Cera, Ui Fiachrach oiAidhney\mA Eachtr
gha, and to the Mac Donnells of Scotland.
126
OF THE ANCIENT ANNALS.
LECT. VI.
orthoTa-
MacFlrbU.
The Mac Firbis, in right of being the hereditary poet and
historian of his native territory of Ui Fiachrach of the Moy (in
riouiVoTks the present county of Sligo), took an important part in the mau-
?"* iration of the O'Dowda, the hereditary chief of that country,
he following cuiious account of this ceremony will more clearly
show the position of the Mac Firbis on these great occasions ;
it is translated from a little tract in the Book of Lecan, in the
library of the Royal Irish Academy.
"The privilege of the first drink [at all assemblies] was given
to O'Caomhain by O'Dowda, and OCuomhain was not to drink
until he first presented it [the drink] to the poet, that is, to
Mac Firbis ; also the arms and battle steed of O'Dowda, after
his proclamation, were given to O'Caomhain, and the arms and
dress of O Caomhain to Mac Firbis ; and it is not competent ever
to call him the O'Dowda until O'Caomhain and Mac Firbis
have first called the name, and imtil Mac Firbis carries the
body of the wand over O'Dowda ; and every clergyman, and
every representative of a church, and every bishop, and every
chief of a territory present, all are to pronounce the name after
O'Caomhain and Mac Firbis. And there is one circumstance,
should O'Dowda happen to be in Tir Amhalghaidfi [Tirawley],
he is to go to AmhalghaidKs Cam to be proclaimed, so as that
all the chiefs be about him ; but should he happen to be at the
Carn of the Daughter of Brian, he is not to go over [to AmhaU
gaidh's Cam] to be proclaimed ; neither is he to come over from
Amhalgaidh's Cam, for it was Amhalgaidh, the son of Fiachra
Ealgach, that raised that Cam for himself, in order that he liim*
self, and all those who should attain to the chieftainship after
him, might be proclaimed by the name of lord upon it. And it
is in this Cam that Amhalgaidh himself is buried, and it is from
him it is named. And every king of the race of Fiachra that
shall not l>c thus proclaimed, shall have shortness of hfe, and
his seed and generation shall not be illustrious, and he shall never
see the kingdom of God". — [See original in Appendix, No.
LXIIL]
This curious little tract, with topographical illustrations, will
be found in the volmnc on the Tribes and Customs of Hy-Fi-
achrach, among the important publications of the Irish Archae-
olo^cal Society.
So much, then, for the compiler of the chronicle which I am
now about to describe, the value of which, as a liistorical docu-
ment, has only, of late years, come to be proj>erly understood.
The Chronicum Scotorum, which, as I have already stated,
is written on paper, begins with the following title and short
preface, by the compiler. — [See original in Appendix, No.
Of the
Cnaoaicnii
SOOTOBUM.
OF THE ANCIENT ANNALS 127
" The Chronicle of the Scots (or Irish) begins here. — lect. n.
" Understand, O reader, that it is for a certain reason, and, ^ ^^
particularly, to avoid tediousness, that our intention is to make CHKoincnM
only a short abstract and compendium of the histonr of the ^*^*^*™-
Scots in this book, omitting the lengthened details of the his-
torical books ; wherefore it is that we beg of you not to criti-
cize us on that accoimt, as we know that it is an exceedingly
great deficiency".
The compiler then passes rapidly over the three first ages of
the world, tne earlier colonizations of Ireland, the death of the
Partholanian colonists at Tallaght (in this county of Dublin) ;
and the visit of Niid, the son of Fenius Farsaidh, to Egypt, to
teach the languages after the confusion of Babel; giving the
years of the world according to the Hebrews and the Septuagint.
This sketch extends to near the end of the first column of
the third page, where the following curious note in the original
hand occurs: —
" Ye have heard from me, O readers, that I do not like to
have the labour of writing this copy, and it is therefore that I
beseech you, through true friendship, not to reproach me for it
(if you understand what it is that causes me to be so) ; for it is
certain that the Mac Firbises are not in fault". — [See original in
Appendix, No. LXV.]
What it was that caused Mac Firbis's reluctance to make
this abridged copy of the old book or books before him, at this
time, it is now difficult to imagine. The writing is identical
with that in his book of genealogies, wliich was made by him
in the year 1650 ; and this copy must have been made about
the same disastrous period of our history, when the relentless
rage of Oliver Cromwell spread ruin and desolation over all
that was noble, honourable, and virtuous in our land. It is
very probable that it was about this time that Sir James Ware
conceived the idea of availing himself of Mac Firbis's exten-
sive and profound antiquarian learning; and as that learned,
and, I must say, well intentioned writer, was then concerned
only with what related to the ecclesiastical history of Ireland,
this was probably the reason that Mac Firbis offers those warm
apologies for having been compelled to pass over the " long and
tedious" account of the early colonizations of this country, and
pass at one step to our Christian era. (We know that Ware
quotes many of our old annals as sterling authorities in his
work. As these were all in the Gaedlilic language, and as
Ware had no acquaintance with that language, it follows clearly
enough, that he must have had some competent person to assist
him to read those annals, and whose busmess it was doubtless
SCOTOftUM.
128 OF THE ANCIENT ANNALS.
LECT. vi. to select and translate for him such parts of them as were
Of the deemed by hhn essential to his design.) Excepting for some such
CHBoincuM purpose as this, I can see no reason whatever why Mac Firbis
*"^ should apply himself, and with such apparent reluctance, to
make this compendium from some ancient book or books of
annals belonging to Ids family. It appears, indeed, from liis
own words, that it was poverty or distress that caused him to
pass over the record of what he deemed the ancient glory of
his country, and to draw up a mere utilitarian abstract for some
person to whose patronage he was compelled to look for sup-
port in his declining years ; and it is gratifying to observe the
care he takes to record that his difliculties were not caused
by any neglect on the part of his family, who were, as we
know, totally ruined and despoiled of their ancestral pro-
perty by the tide of robbers and murderers which the com-
monwealth of England poured over defenceless Eriim at this
period.
To return to the Clironicum. Continuing his abstract, the
compiler passes rapidly over the history of the early coloniza-
tion of Ireland to the year of our Lord 375, that being the
year in which St. Patrick was bom. This date is written in
the back margin in the hand of Mr. Charles O'Conor of Bela-
nagar. and from that to the year 432 there is no date given.
The date 432 is written in Roman numerals (in Guedhlic
characters, of course) in the original hand, and under it the
arrival of St. Patrick in Irehind from Rome, on his apostolic
mission, by the direction of Pope Celestine. The arrival of
the great apostle is given precisely in the same words as in the
annals of Ulster.
From this to the year of our Lord 1022, no date appears in
the original hand, nor even after that, except occasionally the
year of the world. The latter is set down at the end of the
year of our Lord 1048, as 5,000 years, according to the Hebrew
computation.
Tne next dates that appear are 453, 454, 455, 456, 458, all
in the margin ; and all these are, I believe, as well as the re-
maining dates, all through to the end, in the handwriting of
Roderick O'Flaherty, the author of the Ogygia.
No date, however, is inserted from the year 458 to the year
605 ; but from tliis year forward the dates appear regularly in
the margin.
A large deficiency occurs at the year 722, where the com-
piler has written the following memorandum : —
" The breasts [or fronts] of two leaves of the old book, out
of which I write this, are wanting here, and I leave what is
OF THE ANCIENT ANNALS. 129
before mo of this page for them. I am Dubhaltach FirHsighP, lect. vi.
— fSee original in Appendix, No. LXVI.] ^ ^^^
Unfortunately, this defect occurs, by some unknown chance, CHuusiciru
not only to the extent of the loss here noticed, but as far as ^**™*°''*
from the year 722 to the year 805.
It is remarkable that the defect in the annals of Tighemach
should beprin nearly with the same year (718); but it extends
much further, to the year 1068.
The order and arrangement of the events recorded, and the
events themselves, often, though not always, agree with the
annals of Tighemacli. The details are brief and condensed,
but they so oflen convey scraps of rare additional information,
as to leave us reason to regret the imknown circumstances
which caused the writer to leave out, as he said he did, the
" tediousness** of the old historical books.
The Chronicum comes down, in its present form, only to the
year 1135; and, whether it was ever carried down with more
ample details to the year 1443, when the compiler's translations
for \\rare commence, is a question which probably will never
be cleared up. Such as it is, however, and as far as it goes,
there can be no doubt of its being one of the most authentic
existing copies of, or compilations from, more ancient annals.
I have already stated that this manuscript is in the well-known
hand of its compiler, Duald Mac Firbis, and that it was written,
probably, about the year 1650; yet hear what the Rev. Charles
O'Conor says of it, in the Stowc catalogue :
" Some have confounded this clironicle with Tlgheniach's, be-
cause it is frequently called Chronicon Cluanense, and was writ-
ten in Tighemach s Monastery of Cluainmacnois". He then
continues : " Tlie Stowe copy now before us was carefully trans-
cribed from the Dublin copy, by the compiler of this catalogue,
from that Dublin MS-, winch is quite a modem transcript, being
the only copy he could find". — [Stowc Cat. vol. i. p. 201, No. 63.j
How clearly do these words show that the reverend writer,
though otherwise a sufficiently good scholar, was totally incom-
petent to pronounce a con-cct opinion on the age of any Graedlilic
iVIS., from the character of the writing, or from an acquaintance
with the peculiar hands of the diflfercnt writers who preceded
him, excepting, indeed, that of his own grandfatiier, Charles
O'Conor, of Bclanagar. Yet there is no man more dogmatic
in his decisions on the dates of manuscripts and compositions, —
his two most favourite periods being, we may observe in passing,
"the thirteenth or fourteenth centuries", and "the reign of James
the First". Indeed, I am oblifjcd to say, that his readings and
renderings of text, as well as his translations of Irish, are as in-
9
130
OF THE ANCIENT ANNALS.
Of the
Chiovxctm
SOOTOBCM.
Of the
AxiTAUor
Cloxmao-
acGurate, as his historical deductions, and even positive state-
' ments, are often unfounded, however arrogantly advanced.
In connexion with this fragment of the Lecain collection of
annals, I may mention that t£ere is a short tract of annals pre-
served in the great Book of Lecain, now in the library of the
Royal Irish Academy, the compilation of which was finished
in the year 1416. These annals are without date, and some of the
items arc out of chronological order. They begin with the bat-
tle of Uchbadh, which was fought in the year 733, at a place of
that name in the county of Kddare, between Aedh Allan, the
monarch of Ireland, and the kings and chiefs of Leinster, in which
the latter were completely overthrown, and their whole coimtry
devastated and nearly depopulated.
These chronicles come down to the treacherous death of the
celebrated Tieman O'Rourke, king of J5rei/n^ [Bre&y], at the
hands of the Anglo-Normans, in the year 1172. Tlie events
recorded, briefly of course, are the reigns, battles, and deaths of
the monarchs and provincial kings of Ireland; the accessions
and deaths of the bishop and abbots of Armagh ; and the more
unusual atmospheric phenomena, such as remarkable seasons
and other extraordinary occurrences, etc.
There are several little additions, among the items of informa-
tion recorded in these annals, which are not to be found in the
Annals of the Four Masters ; as, for instance, in recording the
death of the monarch Maelseachlainn^ or Msdachy the Second
(who died Anno Domini 1022), they give a list of five-and-
twenty battles gained by him, of which the Four Masters men-
tion but four. In connection with these battles also, many
topographical names are preserved, not to be found in any of
the other existing books of annals. And I may remark in con-
clusion, that the annab contained in this short tract are, as re^ds
date of transcription, the oldest annals that we have in Ireland.
I shall close this lecture with some account of one other book
of annals, to which I have already shortly referred, and which,
though only remaining to us in the English language, is not
without its interest and value. I allude to the book tolerably
well known \mder the name of the Annals of Clonmacnois,
the only copy or version of which known to be extant is an
English translation made from the Irish in the year 1627, by
Connla Mac Echagan, of Lismoyne, in the county of West-
meath, for his friend and kinsman, Torlogh Mac Cochlan, Lord
of Delvin, in that coimtj.
This translation is written in the quaint style of the Elizabe-
than period, but by a man who seems to have well understood
XJBCT. TI.
OF THE ANCIENT ANNALS. 131
the value of the original Gaedhlic phraseology, and rendered it
every justice, as far as we can determine in the absence of the ^ ^^
orieinaL It was believed, — and, indeed, there is reason still to ashtaLof
beheve it,^ — ^that the original book was preserved in the posses- S^*^^*''
fiion of the femily of the late Sir Richard Naele, who was de-
scended from the translator by the mother's side ; however, on
the death of the worthy baronet, a few years ago, no trace of it
could be found among the family papers, though other ancient
memorials of the house of Mac Echagan were preserved among
them. It was rumoured in the coimtry, that this old book con-
tained, or might possibly contain, some records of events that it
would be as well for the Mac Echagan family not to have
brought before the world ; and that for this reason, the female
representatives of the family had for some generations kept the
volume out of sight. I haa the honour of a slight acquaintance
with the late Sir Richard Nagle, which I improved so far as to
mention this tradition to him. He did not deny the correctness
of the rumour, as far as the keeping out of sight of the book went ;
but he had no knowledge of any particular reason, more than a
laudable care for what was looked upon as a remarkable national
record, and a witness to the respectability and identity of the fa-
mily. Indeed, the impression left on my mind by my conver-
sations on this subject with Sir Richard was, that the book had
been in the custody of his mother, but that that respected lady
cherished so closely this relic of her ancient name as to be re-
luctant even to show it, much less to part with it for any con-
sideration whatever.
There is nothing in this book (so far as we can judge in the
absence of the original) to show why it should be called the An-
nals of Clonmacnois. We have already seen, and we shall have
occasion to touch on the same fact again, that the Annals of
Clonmacnois used by the Four Masters, came down but to the
year 1227, whereas this book comes down to the year 1408.
The records contained in it are brief, but they sometimes pre-
serve details of singular interest, not to be found in any of our
other annals. As a specimen of these additions — the most in-
teresting of them, perhaps — let me take the following passage,
which occurs at the year 905, but which should be placed at me
year 913; I give it m the exact phraseology of the original: —
" Neal Glunduffe was king [of^Ireland] three years, and was
married to the Lady Gormphley, daughter of King Flann, who
was a very fair, virtuous, and learned demosell ; was first married
to Cormacke Mac Coulenan, King of Munster; secondly to
King Neal, by whom she had a son, called Prince Donncll, who
was drowned; upon whose death she made many pitiful and
9b
132 OF THE ANCIENT ANNALS.
LECT. VI. learned ditties in Irish ; and lastly, she was married to Cearbhall
Mac Morgan, King of Leinstcr. After all which royal mar-
riages, she begged from door to door, forsaken of all her friends
and allies, and glad to be relieved by her inferiors'*.
*"»« "tonr The order of GonnlaiiKs marriages is not accurately given in
%or^^th. this entry. Let us coiTcct the entry from another and more re-
liable authority, that of the Book of Leinstcr.
It is true that Gormlaith was first married, or rather betrothed,
to the celebrated king, bishop, and scholar, Cormac Mac Cul-
lennan. King of Munster ; but that marriage was never consum-
mated, as the young king changed his mmd, and restored the
princess to her father, witn all her fortune and dowry, while he
himself took holy orders. He (as you are aware) became subse-
quently Archbishop of Cashel, and was, as you may remember,
the author of the celebrated Saltair of Gashel, as well as of the
learned compilation since known as Cormac's Glossary.
After havmg been thus deserted by King Cormac, Gormlaith
was married against her will to CearbhalljKing of Leinstcr.
Shortly afterwards, in the year 908, — probably in reality on
account of the repudiation of the princess by the King of
Munster, though ostensibly to assert his right to the presenta-
tion to the ancient churcn of Mainister Eibhin^ now Monas-
tereven (in the present Queen's county), which down to this time
belonged to Munster, — Flann Siona, the father of Gormlaith,
who was hereditary King of Meath, and then Monaix;h of Erinn,
proceeded to make war on the southern prince ; and, accom-
panied b^ his son-in-law, the King of Leinstcr, he marched with
their umted forces to Bealach Mughna (now Ballymoon, in the
south of the present county of KiHare), within two miles of tiie
present town of Carlow. Here they were met by King Cormac
at the head of the men of Mimster, and a furious battle ensued
between them, in which the Munstermen were defeated, and Cor-
mac, the king and bishop, killed and beheaded on the field.
Cearbhall, King of Leinster, -and husband of the princess
Gormlaith, was badly wounded in the battie, and carried home
to his palace at Naas, where he was assiduously attended to by
his queen, who was scarcely ever absent from his couch. It hap-
pened that one day, when he was convalescent, but still confined
to his bed, the battle of Bealach Mtigkna became the subject of
their conversation. Cearbhall described the fight with anima-
tion, and dwelt with seemingly exuberant Satisfaction on the de-
feat of Cormac, and tiie dismemberment of his body in his pre-
sence. The queen, however, who was sitting on the foot-rail of
the bed, said that it 'was a great pity diat die body of the good
and holy bishop should have been unnecessarily mutilated and
OF THE ANCIENT ANNALS 133
desecrated ; upon which the king, in a sudden fit of rage, struck lect. yi.
her so rude a plow with his foot, as threw her headlong on the ^^ ^
floor, by which her clothes were thrown into disorder, in the pre- of Queen
senceofallher ladies and attendants. oormiaith.
The queen felt highly mortified and insulted at the indignity
thus ofiered to her, and fled to her father for protection. Her
father, however, in the presence of a powerfiil Danish enemy in
Dublin, did not choose to take any nostile steps to punish the
rudeness of King Cearhliallj but sent his daughter back again to
her husband. ISlot so her young kinsman, Niall Glunduhh [" of
the Black Knee"], the son of the brave Aedh Finnliathj King of
AUeach [i.e. King of Ulster.] This brave prince, having heard of
the indignity wmch had been put upon nis relative, raised all
the northern clans, and at their head marched to the borders of
Leinster, witili the intention of avenging the insult, as well as of
taking the queen herself under the protection of the powerful
forces of the north. Queen Gormlaitn, however, objected to any
violent measures, and only insisted on a separation from her
husband, and the restoration of her dowry. She had four-and-
twenty residences given to her in Leinster by Cearbhall on her
marriage, and these he consented to confinn to her, and to re-
lease her legally from her vows as his wife. The queen being
thus once more freed firom conjugal ties, returned to her fathers
house for the third time.
After this Niall Glunduhh^ deeming that the gross conduct
of Cearbhall to his queen, aad their final separation, had legally
as well as virtually dissolved their marriage, proposed for her
hand to her father ; but both father and daughter refused, and, for
the time, she continued to reside in the court of Flann.
In the course of the following year (904), however, Cearbhall
was killed in battle by the Danes of Dublin, imdcr their leader
Ulbh^ and all impediments being now removed, Gormlmth be-
came the wife of^Niall Glundubli.
From this period to the year 917, we hear nothing more of
Queen Gormlaith. Her father died in the mean time, in the
year 914, and after liim the young Niall Glundubh succeeded
to the supreme throne as Monarch of Erinn.
With the exception of the immortal Brian Boroimhi^ no
monarch ever wielded the sceptre, which was the sword, of
Erinn with more vigour, than this truly brave northern prince.
His battles with the fierce and cruel Danes were incessant and
bloody, and his victories many and glorious, and liimself and
liis brave father Aedh were the only monarchs who ever
attempted to relieve Munstcr of the presence of these cruel foes,
before Brian. Having, in fine, hemmed in so closely the
134 OF THE ANCIENT ANNALS.
LECT. VI. Danes of Meath, Dublin, and all Leinster, that they dared not
j^^^ move from the immediate vicinity of Dublin, he determined at
of Qaeen last to attack them even there, in their very stronghold. With
^''^''"*****^ this resolve, therefore, on Wednesday, the 17th day of October,
in the year 917, he marched on Dublin with a large force, and
attended by several of the chiefs and princes of Meath and
Oriell ; but the Danes went out and met him at CiU Moaomdg
(a place not yet identified), in the neighbourhood of the city,
and a furious battle ensued, in which, unfortunately, the army
of Erinn was defeated, and Niall himself was killed, with most
of his attendant chiefs and an inunense number of their men.
And thus was the unfortunate queen Gormlaith for the third
time left a widow. Her elder brother Conor was killed in
the battle, and her younger brother Donnehadh succeeded her
husband in the sovereignty, which he enjoyed till his death in
the year 942.
Of Queen GormlaiMs history, during the reign of her bro-
ther, we know nothing ; but, on his death, the sceptre passed
away from the houses of her father and of her husband;
and it is possible, or rather we may say probable, that it was
then that commenced that poverty and neglect, of which she
so feelingly speaks in her poems, as well as in various stray
verses which have come down to us. Her misfortunes conti-
nued during the remaining five years of her life — ^namely, from
the death ot her brother, the monarch Donnehadh^ in the year
942, to her own death in the year 947.
I should not, perhaps, have dwelt so long on the short but
eventful history of the unfortunate queen Grormlaith, but that
the translator of these annab of Clonmacnois, as they are
called, faUs into several mistakes about her ; but, whether they
be part of his original text, or only traditionary notes of his
own, I cannot determine : I believe the latter to be the more
probable explanation. He says, at the year 936 (which should
DC the year 943), that, after the death of Niall Glundubhy she
was married to Cearbhallj king of Leinster; but I have taken
the proper order of her marriages, and the present sketch of her
history, from tiie Book of Lemster (a MS. of the middle of
the twelfth century), as well as from an ancient copy of a most
curious poem, written during her long last illness by Gormlaith
herself, on her own life and misfortunes. In this poem she
details the death of her son, who was accidentally drowned in
the coimty Gralway during his fosterage, and the subsequent
death of her husband ; and in it is also preserved an interesting
account of her mode of living ; a sketch of the more fortunate
or happy part of her life ; a character of Niall, of Cearbhall,
OF THE ANCIENT ANNALS. 135
«nd of Coimac; a description of the place and mode of sepul- lect. vi.
tuie of mall ; and, on the whole, a greater variety of references
to habits, customs, and manners, than I have found in any other ottmm
piece of its kind. I have, besides this, which is a long poem, ^^^''"•'*'**-
collected a few of those stray verses which Gormlaith composed
under a variety of impulses and circiunstances.
The following short, but very curious, account of the im-
mediate cause of her death (the date of which is given by
Mac Echagan, at the year 943, by mistake for the year 948),
appears to nave been taken fix)m the poem just mentioned. I
quote again firom the same translation of tne annals of Clon-
macnois : —
** Grormphbr, daughter of King Flann Mac Mayleseachlyn,
and queen of Ireland, died of a tedious and grievous wound,
which happened in this manner: she dreamed that she saw
Kiog Niall Ulunduffe ; whereupon she got up and sate in her bed
to behold him ; whom he for anger woidd forsake, and leave the
chamber; and as he was departing in that an^ry motion (as she
tfaou£[ht), she gave a snatch afler him, thinking to have taken
him by the mantle, to keep him with her, and fell upon the bed-
stick of her bed, that it pierced her breast, even to her very
heart, which received no cure until she died thereof".
The queen did not, however, immediately die of the injury
thus strangely received. Her last illness was long and tedious,
and it was during its continuance that she composed the curious
poems which are still preserved, in one of which she gives an
accoimt of the manner of the wound which soon after caused
her death.
I cannot do better than close my remarks on this curious
volume by transcribing the translator's address and dedication
to Mac Coghlan, for whom he translated it. These documents
are, besides, not only very explanatory of the design and idea
of the work, but in themselves so quaint, so interesting, and so
suggestive, that I am persuaded you would be sorry to lose
them, and they have not hitherto been published.
" A book containing all the inhabitants of Ireland since the
creation of the world, until the conquest of the English, wherein
is showed all the kings of Clana Neimed, Firbolg, Tuathy
De danan, and the sons of Miletius of Spain : translated out of
Irish into English, faithfully and well agreeing to the History
de Captionibus Hibcmia;, Historia Magna, and other authentic
authors. Partly discovering the year of the reigns of tlie said
kings, with the manner of their governments, and also the
deaths of divers saints of this kingdom, as died in those several
reigns, with the tyrannical rule 'and government of the Danes
for 219 years.
136 OF THE ANCIENT ANNALS.
ixcT. VI. "A brief catalogue of all the kings of the several races, after
^ ^^^ the coming of Saint Patrick, until Donogh Mac Bryan carried
Ar<5AL8 or the crown to Rome, and of the kings that reigned after, until
clwmac- ^j^^ ^j^^ ^|» ^j^^ conquest of the English, in the twentieth year
of the reign of Roiy O'Connor, monarch of Ireland.
"Also of certain things which happened in this kingdom after
the conquest of the English, until the sixth year of the reign of
Bang Henry the Fourth, in the year of our Lord God 1408.
"To the worthy and of great expectation young gentleman,
Mr. Terence Coghlan, his brother, ConeU Ma Geoghcgan,
wisheth long hedth, with good success in all his affairs.
"Among all the worthy and memorable deeds of Bang Bryan
Borowe, sometime king of this kingdom, this is not of the least
account, that after that he had shaken off the intolerable yoke
and bondage wherewith this land was cruelly tortured and har-
ried by the Danes and Normans for the space of 219 years that
they bore sway, and received tribute of the inhabitants in gene-
ral,— and though they nor none of them ever had the name of
king or monarch of the land, yet they had that power, as they
executed what they pleased, and benavcd tlicmsclves so cruel
and pagan-like, as well towards the ecclesiasticals as temporals
of the kingdom,, that they broke down their churches, and razed
them to their very foundations, and burned their books of chron-
icles and prayers, to the end that there should be no memory left
to their posterities, and all learning should be quite forgotten, —
the said King Bryan seeing into what rudeness the kingdom
was fallen, after setting himself in the quiet government thereof,
and restored each one to his ancient patrimony, repabed tlieir
churches and houses of religion ; he caused open schools to be
kept in the several parishes to instruct their youth, which by the
said long wars were grown rude and altogetlicr illiterate ; he assem-
bled together all the nobility of the kingdom, as well spiritual as
temporal, to Caehel, in Munster, and caused them to compose a
book containing all the inhabitants, events, and septs, tliat lived
in this land from the first peopHng, inhabitation, and discovery
thereof, after the creation of the world, until that present, wliich
book they caused to be called by the name of the Saltair of Cashel,
signed it with his own hand, together with the hands of the kings
of the five provinces, and also with the hands of all the bishops
and prelates of the kingdom, caused several copies thereof to be
given to the kings of the provinces, with straight charge that
tnere should be no credit given to any other chronicles thence-
forth, but should be held as false, disannulled, and quite forbid-
den for ever. Since which time there were manv septs in the
OF THE AKCIEKT ANNALS. 137
Idngdom that lived by it, and whose profession it was to chron- lect. vi.
icle and keep in memory the state of the kingdom, as well for
the time past, present, and to come ; and now because they cannot 2ikaL of
enjoy that respect and gain by their said profession as heretofore J^*"*^
they and their ancestors received, they set nought by the said
knowledge, neglect their books, and choose rather to put their
children to learn English than their own native language, inso-
much that some of them suffer tailors to cut the leaves of the
said books (which their ancestors held in great account), and
sew them in long pieces to make their measures of, that the pos-
terities are like to fall into more ignorance of any things which
happened before their time. In the reign of the said King
Biyan, and before, Ireland was well stored with learned men
and schools, and that people came from all parts of Christendom
to learn therein, and among all other nations that came thither,
there was none so much made of nor respected with the Irish,
as were the English and Welshmen, to whom they gave several
colleges to dwell and learn in ; [such] as to the English a col-
lege m the town of Mayo, in Connacht, which to this day is
called Mayo of the English ; and to the Welshmen, the town of
Gallen, in the Kings County, which is likewise called Gallon of
the Welshmen or Wales ; from whence the said two nations have
brought their characters, especially the English Saxons, as by
comparing the old Saxon characters to the Irish (which the
Irish never changed), you shall find little or no difference at all.
" The earnest desire I understand you have, to know these
things, made me to undertake tlic translation of the old Irish Book
for you, wliich, by long lying shut and unused, I could hardly
read, and left places that I could not read, because they were
altogether grown illegible and put out ; and if this my simple
labour shall any way pleasure you, I shall hold myself thoroughly
recompensed, and my pains well employed, which for your own
reading I have done, and not for the reading of any other curious
fellow that would rather carp at my phraze, than take any de-
light in the History ; and in the meantime I bid you heartily
farewell, from L<5ijevanchan, 20th April, Anno Domini 1G27.
" Your very loving brother,
CONELL MaGeOGHEGAN''.
The translator then gives the following list of his authorities,
to which I would ask your particular attention : —
" The names of the several authors whom I have taken for the
book : Saint Colum Kill j St. Boliine ; Calvagh O'More, Esq. ;
Venerable Bede ; Eocliye OTlannagan, Archdean of Ajmagh
and Clonfiachna ; Gillcmen Mac Conn-ne-mbocht, Archpriest of
Clonvickenos ; Keileachair Mac Con, alias Gorman; Eusebius;
138 OF THE AKCIENT ANNALS.
LECT. VL Marcellinus ; Moylen O'Mulchonrye ; and Tanaye O'Mulchon-
of the 7® 5 ^^ professed chroniclers'*.
^AL8'of It is not easy to see wliat Mac Echagan means, when he says
Hoi8?^°' that he had taken these authors for this book. We have only
to beUeve that he took ifrom Euscbius, Marcellinus, and Bede,
some items or additions, and some dates for the early part of his
translations, and that he took the various readings and additions,
to be found in it, from the Irish authorities to whom he refers.
But, whatever his meaning may be, this is a curious list of au-
thors to be consulted by an Irish country gentleman in the early
part of the seventeenth century.
Without going back to his very earlier authorities, we may
show the antiquity of the second class.
JEochaidh O'Flannagain, Archdean of Armagh and Clon-
fiachna, died in the year 1003. If this learned man's books
came down to Mac Echagan's times, he must have had a rich
treat in them indeed. These books are referred to in the fol-
lowing words, in the ancient book called Leabhar na h-Uidhre,
written at Clonmacnois before the year 1106. At the end of a
most curious and valuable tract on the ancient pagan cemeteries
of Ireland, the writer says that it was Flann, the leamedpro-
fessor of Monasterboice, who died in the year 1056, and Eoch-
aidh, the learned, O'Kerin, that compiled this tract from the books
of Eochaidh O Flannagain at Armagh, and the books of Monas-
terboice, and other books at both places, which had disappeared
at the time of making this note.
Of the books of Gillananaemh mac Cann-na-^mBocht, Arch-
priest of Clonmacnois, I have never heard anything more than
Mac Echagan's reference to them. Of Ceileacliair Mac Conn
na-mBocht, I know nothing more than that the death of his son
is recorded in the Annals of tjie Four Masters, at the year 1106,
in the following words : — " Maelmuire, son of the son of Conn-
na-mBocht, was killed at Cluainmicnois by a party of plun-
derers". This Maelmuire was the compiler or transcriber of
the above mentioned Leabhar na A- Uidhre, in wliich he is set
down as Maelmuire, the son of CeiUachair, son of Conn-na-
mBocht.
The two O'Mulconrys, of whom he speaks, belonged to the
fourteenth century, and were poets and historians of Connacht ;
but it is not easy to distinguish their works now from the com-
gjsitions of other members of that talented family, of the same
hristian names, but of a later period.
It is much to be regretted that the original of the curious book
of which I am now speaking, and which certainly existed in the
early part of the last century, should be lost to us ; and, conse-
OF THE ANCIENT ANNALS 139
Suently, that we have no means of ascertaining to what extent lect. ^
fac'Echagan's translation is a faithful one. He appears to
have drawn a little on his imagination, in his address to Mac akwaub c
Clochlan, where he states that it was Brian Boroimhe that ordered SJJJ^**'
the compilation of the Saltair of Cashel. This certainly cannot
be the truth, for we have the Saltair of Cashel repeatedly
quoted in the Books of Ballymote and Lecan, and its authorship
as repeatedly ascribed to the Holy King, Cormac Mac Cullennan,
who flourisned more than one hundred years before the time
ascribed to that work by Mac Echagan.
It is true that Brian Boroimhe^ after the expulsion and sub-
jugation of the Danes, did rebuild and repair tne churches and
other ecclesiastical edifices which had been ruinedand desecrated
by the Danes; that he restored the native princes, chiefs, and
people, to their ancient inheritances ; estaolished schools and
colleges; caused all the ancient books that had survived the de-
solation and desecration of the two preceding centuries to be
transcribed and multiplied ; and that he fixed and established
permanent &mily names : but, although we have an accoimt of
all this firom various sources, some of them nearly contemporary
with himself, we have no mention whatever of his havmg di-
rected the writing of the Saltair of Cashel, orany work of its kind.
There are three copies of Mac Echagan's translation known
to me to be in existence : one in the library of Trinity College,
Dublin (class F. 3, 19) ; one in the British Museum ; and one in
Sir Thomas Phillips's large collection, in Worcestershire. They
are all written in the hand of Teige O'Daly, and they are dated
(the Dublin one at least) in the year 1684. O'Daly has pre-
nxed some strictures on the translator, charging him with parti-
ality for the Heremonian or northern race of Ireland, one of
whom he was himself, to the prejudice of the Hebcrian or
southern race. But O'Daly's remarks are couched in language
of such a character that I do not think it necessary to allude to
them farther here.
I have now completed for you a short examination of all the
J)rincipal collections of Annals wliich may be depended on as
brming the solid foimdation of Irish liistory, with the exception
of the last and greatest work of this kind, the Annals of the
Four Masters of the Monastery of Donegal. That magnificent
compilation shall form the subject of our next meeting, after
which I shall preceed to the consideration of the other classes of
historical authorities to wliich I have so frequently alluded in
the course of the lectures I have already addressed to you.
LECTURE VII.
CD«UTer«d July X 1856.]
The Annals (continned). 10. The Annals of the Four Masters. The ** Con-
tention of the Bards". Of Michael O'Clery. Of the Chronology of the Four
Masters.
In the last lecture we examined the " Chronicum Scotorum", and
the Annals of Clonmacnois. The next on the list, in point of
compilation, and the most important of all in point of interest
and historic value, are the Annals of the Four Masters.
In whatever point of view we regard these annals, they must
awaken feelings of deep interest and respect ; not only as the
largest collection of national, civil, military, and family history
ever brought together in this or perhaps any other country, but
also as the final winding up of tne affairs of a people who had
preserved their nationality and independence for a space of over
two thousand years, till their complete overtlirow about the time
at which this work was compiled. It is no easy matter for an
Irishman to suppress feelings of deep emotion when speaking of
the compilers of this great work ; and especially when he con-
siders the circumstances imder which, and the objects for which,
it was imdertaken.
It was no mercenary or ignoble sentiment that prompted one
of the last of Erinn's native tprinces, while the utter destruc-
tion of his property, the persecution and oppression of his creed
and race, and even the general ruin of liis country, were not
only staring him in the face, but actually upon liim, — ^thosc
were not, I say, any mean or mercenary motives that induced
this nobleman to determine, that, although liimself and his
country might sink for ever under the impending tempest, the
history of that country, at least, shoidd not be altogether lost.
In a former lecture I have observed that, after die termination
of the Elizabethan wars, all, or nearly all, the Irish nobles had
sunk into poverty and obscurity, had foimd untimely graves in
their native land, or had sought another home far over the seas.
It has been shown that, with the decline of these nobles and
chiefs, our national literature had become paralysed, and even
all but totally dead. And this was absolutely the case during
more than the first quarter of the seventeenth century, and even
for some time afterwards ; for, although the Rev. Father Greof-
OF THE ANCIENT ANNALS. 141
fry Eeting compiled in the native language his History of lect. \
Erinn, his *• Three Shafts of Death'', and his '* Key and Shield ^^^^^,,^
of the Mass', between 1628 and 1640, yet so far was he from tontion
receiving countenance or patronage, that it was among the in- Barda".
accessible crags and caverns of the Gailte, or Graltee, mountains,
and among the fastnesses of his native coimty of Tipperary,that
he wrote mese works, while in close concealment to escape die
wanton vengeance of a local tyrant.
Still, though the fostering care of the chief or the noble had
disappeared, the native bardic spirit did not altogether die out ;
and about the year 1604 (apparently by some preconcerted
arrangement), a discussion sprang up between Tadhg Mac Brody,
a distinguished Irish scholar and bard of the county of Clare,
and the no less distinguished poet and scholar, Lughaidh O'Clery
of Donegall, of whom mention was made in a former lecture.
The subject of this discussion, which was carried on in verse,
was the relative merits and importance of the two great clan-
divisions of Erinn, as represented by the Heberians in the
south (that is, the O'Briens and Mac Carthys, and the other in-
dependent chiefs of Munster, die descendants of Eber), and tho
Heremonians of Ulster, Connacht, and Leinster (embracing the
O'Neills, O'Donnells, O'Conors, Mac Murachs, etc.), who were
descended from Eremon.
It is quite evident that the real object of this discussion was
simply to rouse and keep alive tlie national feeling and family
pride of such of the native nobility and gentry as still continued
to hold any station of rank or fortune m the country ; and, as
the war ol words progressed, several auxiliaries came up on
both sides, and took an active part in the controversy, which
thus assumed considerable importance.
This discussion, which is popularly called **Tlic Contention
of the Bards", brought into prominent review all the great events
and heroic characters of Irish histoiy from the remotest ages,
and inspired the livilicst interest at the time. Indeed one of the
northern auxiliaries in the controversy, Annluan Mac -^ilgan,
seriously charges O'CIery widi treachery, and with allowing
himself to be worsted in the contest by Mac Brody, from par-
tiality to the south, where he had received his education.
The scheme of the "Contention", however, seems to have pro-
duced little effect on the native gentry; for shortly after we
find Mac Brody coming out with a very curious poem, addressed
to the southern chiefs, demanding from them remuneration,
according to ancient usa^e, for his defence of their claims to
superior dignity and rank.
Whether this controversy had the desired effect of stimulat-
142 OF THE ANCIEHT AKNALS.
ucT.Tn. ins to any extent the libetality of the remaining native Irish
Of ^jj^ chiefs or not, is an inquiry beyond the scope of our present pur-
O'Cieryi. posc ; but that it tended greatly to the renewed study of our
native literature, may be fairly inferred from the important Irish
works which soon followed it, such as those of Keting and the
O'Cleiys, and of Mac Firbis.
Of Keting we shall a^n have to speak, and we shall now
turn to a cotemporary of nis, who, like nimself, found the deep
study of the language and history of his native land quite con-
sistent with the strict observance and efficient discharge of the
onerous duties of a Catholic priest. I allude to the celebrated
friar, Michael O'Clery, the chief of the Four Masters, and the pro-
jector of the great national literary work which bears their name.
Michael O'Clery appears to have been bom in Kilbarron,
near Balljrshannon, in the county of DonegaU, some time about
the year 1580. He was descended of a family of hereditary
scholars, lay and ecclesiastical, and received, we may presume,
the rudiments of his education at the place of his birth.
It appears from various circumstances that in the latter part
of the sixteenth and early part of the seventeenth centuiy, the
south of Ireland afforded a higher order of education, and
greater facilities for its attainment, than the north; and we
bam, therefore (from Michael O'Clery's Graedhlic Glossary,
published by him in Louvain in 1643), that he, as well as ms
cousin, Lvghaidh O'Clery, already mentioned, had received, if
not their classical, at least their Gaedhlig education, in the south,
from Baothghalach Ruadh Mac -^gan.
Of the early life of Michael O Clery, or at what time he
entered the Franciscan order, we know, unfortunately, nothing;
but in the year 1627 we find him engaged in visitmg the va-
rious monasteries of his order in Ireland, as well as other eccle-
siastical and lay repositories of ancient Irish Manuscripts, and
laboriously transcribing from them with his own most accurate
hand all that they contained of the history of the Irish Catholic
Church and the lives of the Irish Saints, as well as important
tracts relating to the civil history of the country. Among the
latter is the detailed history of me great Daniwi invasion and
occupation of Ireland, now in the Burgundian Library at Brus-
sels, ri may add that this valuable book was lately borrowed
by the Kev. Dr. Todd, for whom I made an accurate copy of it.]
O'Clery's ecclesiastical collection was intended for the use of
Father Aedh Mac an Bhaird (commonly called in English,
Hugh Ward), a native of Donegal, a Franciscan friar, and, at this
time, guardian of Saint Anthony's in Louvain, who contem-
plated the publication of the Lives of the Irish Saints ; but hav-
OF THE ANCIENT ANNALS. 143
ing died before he had entered fullj upon this great work, the lkct. vi
materiab supplied by O'Cleiy were taken up by another equally
competent Franciscan, Father John Colgan. Ihis distinguished o*cie^a.
writer accordingly produced, in 1645, two noble volumes in the
Latin lanmiage. One of these, called the Trias Thaumaturgus^
is devotea exclusively to the Lives of Saint Patrick, Saint
Bridget, and Saint Coliun Cille, or Columba; the other vo-
lume contains as many as could be found of the Lives of the
Irish Saints whose festival days occur from the 1st of January
to the Slst of March, where the work stops. Whether it was
the death of Father Michael O'Clery (who must have been the
translator of the Ksh Lives), which happened about this time,
1643, that discouiBged or incapacitated Father Colgan from
proceeding with his work, we do not know ; but although he
published other works relating to Ireland after this time, he
never resumed the publication of the lives of her saints. The
collection made by the noble-hearted Father O'Clery at that
time, is that which is now divided between the Burgundian
Library at Brussels, and the Library of thb College of St.
Isidore at Rome.
Father John Colgan, in the preface to his Acta Sanctorum
HibemicB, published at Louvain m 1645, after 8j)eaking of the
labours of Fathers Fleming and Ward, in collecting and eluci-
dating the Lives of the Irish Saints, and their subsequent mar-
tyrdom in 1632, writes as follows of their religious Brother
Michael O'Clery.
" That those whose pious pursuits he imitated, our tliird asso-
ciate. Brother Michael O'Clery, also followed to the rewards of
their merits, having died a few months ago, a man eminently
versed in the antiquities of his country, to whose pious labours,
through many years, both tliis and tne other works which we
labour at are in a great measure owing. For, when he was a
la3rman, he was by profession an Antiquarian, and in that faculty
esteemed amongst me first of his time ; after he embraced our
Seraphic Order, in this convent of Louvain, he was employed
as coadjutor, and to this end, by obedience and with the per-
mission of the superiors, he was sent back to his coimtry to
search out and obtain the lives of the saints and other sacred an-
tiquities of his country, which are, for the greater part, written
in the language of his country, and very ancient.
"But, in the province entrusted to hmi, he laboured with in-
defatigable industry about fifteen years ; and in the meantime
he copied many lives of saints from many very ancient docu-
ments in the language of the country, genealogies, three or four
different and ancient martyrologies, and many other monuments
144 OF THE ANCIENT ANNALS.
LECT. vn. of great antiquity, which, copied anew, he transmitted hither to
Of Frtar ^' Vardcns. At length, by the charge of the superiors, deputed
Michael to this, he dcvotcd his mind to clearing and arranging, in a
^^' better method and order, the other sacred as well as profane liis-
tories of his coimtry, from which, with the assistance of three
other distinguished antiquarians (whom, from the opportunity of
the time and place, he employed as colleagues, as seeming more
fit to that duty), he compiled, or, with more truth, since they
had been composed by ancient authors, he cleared up, digested,
and composed, three tracts of remote antiquity, by comparing
many ancient documents. The first is of the Kings of Erinn,
succmctly recording the kind of death of each, tlie years of their
reign, the order of succession, the genealogy, and the year of
the world, or of Christ, in which each departed, which tract, on
account of its brevity, ought more properly to be called a cata-
logue of those kings, than a history. The second, of the Grenea-
logy of the Saints of Erinn, which he has divided into thirty-
seven classes or chapters, bringing back each saint, in a long
series, to the first autlior and progenitor of the family from
which he descends, wliich, therefore, some have been pleased to
call Sanctilogium Genealogicum (the genealogies of the saints),
and others Sancto- Genesis, The third treats of the first Inhabi-
tants of Erinn, of their successive conquests from the Flood,
through the different races, of their battles, of the kings reign-
ing amongst them, of the wars and battles arising between those,
and the other notable accidents and events of the island, from
the year ^78 after the Flood, up to the year of Christ 1171.
"Also, when in the same college, to wliich subsequently, at
one time, he added two other worts from the more ancient and
approved chronicles and annals of the country, and particularly
from those of Cluane, Insula, and Senat, he collectea the sacred
and profane Annals of Ireland, a work thoroughly noble, useful,
and honourable to the country, and far surpassing in import-
ance its own proper extent, by the fruitful variety of ancient
affairs and the minute relation of them. For, he places before
his eyes, not only the state of society and the various changes
. during upwards of tliree thousand years, for which that most
ancient kingdom stood, by recording the exploits, the dissen-
sions, conflicts, battles, and the year of the death of each of the
kings, princes, and heroes ; but also (what is more pleasing and
desirable for pious minds) the condition of Catholicity and eccle-
siastical affairs, from the first introduction of the faith, twelve
himdred years before, up to modem times, most flourishing at
many periods, disturbed at others, and subsequently mournful,
whilst liardly any year occurs, in the mean time, m which he
OF THB ANCIENT ANNALS. 145
does not record the death of one or many saints, bishops, abbots, LEcr.vn.
and other men, illustrious through piety and learning; and also ^f^^^
the building of churches, and their burnings, pillage, and dc- Michael
▼astadon, in ffneat part committed by the pagans, and after- ^^'**'^-
wards by the heretical soldiers. His colleagues were pious men.
As in the three before mentioned, so also in this fourth work,
which far surpasses the others, three arc eminently to be
praised, namely, Ferfessius OMaelchonairi^ Peregrine (Cu-
cogry) O'Clery, and Peregrine (Cucogry) O Duhhghennain^
men of consummate learning in the antiquities of the country,
and of approved faith. Ana to these subsequently was added
the cooperation of other distinguished antiquarians. Mauritius
ffMadchonairiy who, for one month, as Conary Clery during
many months, laboured in its promotion. But, since those an-
nals which we in this volume, and in others following, very
frequently quote, have been collected and compiled by the as-
sistance and separate study of so many authors, neither the
desire of brevity would permit us always to cite them indivi-
dually by expressing the name, nor would justice allow us to
attribute the labour of many to one ; hence, it sometimes seemed
proper that those were called from the place the Annals of
Donegal, for they were commenced and completed in our con-
vent of Donegal. But, afterwards, on account of other reasons,
chiefly from the compilers themselves, who were four most emi-
nent masters in antiquarian lore, we have been led to call them
the Annals of the Four Masters. Yet it is also said even
now that more than four assisted in their preparation ; however,
as their meeting was irregular, and but two of them, during a
short time, laboured in the unimportant and latter part of the
work, but the other four were engaged in the entire production,
at least, up to the year 1267 (from whicli the fii-st, and most im-
portant and necessary part for us is closed), hence we quote It
under their name ; since, hardly ever, or very rarely, anything
which happened after that year comes to be related by us".
We know not whether it was while engaged in collecting of the
the materials for the publication of the Lives of the Irish Saints, the f"ur'
that Father O'Clery conceived the idea of collecting, digest- mastkks.
ing, and compiling the Annals of the ancient Kingdom of
Erinn ; and wnat fruitless essays for a patron he may have made
among the broken-spirited representatives of the old native
chiefs, we are not in a condition to say ; but that he succeeded
in obtaining distinguished patronage from Fearghal [Ferral]
O'Gara, hereditary Lord of Magh Ui Gadhra (Magh O'Gara),
and Cuil O-bh-Finn (Cuil OTinn, or " Coolavin") (better known
as the Prince of Coolovinn, in the County of Sligo), is testified
10
146 OF THE ANCIENT ANNALS.
LECT.vu. in Father O'Clery's simple and beautiful Dedication of the
work to that nobleman, of which address the following is a
AKWiOJi OF literal translation [see original in Appendix, No. LXVIL] : —
totfoto « J i^egeech God to bestow every happiness that may conduce
to the welfare of his body and soul upon Fearghal O^Gadhra,
Lord oi Magh Ui-Gadhra, and Cuil-O-bh-Finn^ one of the two
knights of f^arliament who were elected (and sent) from the
County of Sligeach [Sligo] to Ath-cliath [Dublin], this year of
the age of Christ 1634.
" It is a thing general and plain throughout the whole world,
in every place where nobiKtjr or honour has prevailed, in each
successive period, that nothmg is more glorious, more respect-
able, or more honourable (for many reasons), than to bring to
light the knowledge of the antiquity of ancient authors, and a
Imowledge of the chieftains and nobles that existed in former
times, in order that each successive generation might know how
their ancestors spent their time and their lives, now long they
lived in succession in the lordship of their countries, in dignity
or in honour, and what sort of death they met.
*'I, Michael O'Clerigh, a poor friar of the Order of St.
Francis (after having been for ten years transcribing every old
material which I found concerning tne saints of Ireland, observ-
ing obedience to each provincial that was in Ireland succes-
sively), have come before you, O noble Fearghal O'Gara. I have
calculated on your honour that it seemed to you a cause of pity
and regret, gnef and sorrow (for the glory of God and the ho-
nour of Ireland), how much the race of Gracdhil the son of Niul
have passed under a cloud and darkness, without a knowledge
or record of the death or obit of saint or virgin, archbishop,
bishop, abbot, or other noble dignitary of the Church, of king
or of prince, of lord or of chieftain, [or] of the synchronism or
connexion of the one with the other. I explained to you that
I thought I could get the assistance of the chroniclers for whom
I had most esteem, in writing a book of Annals in wliich these
matters might be put on record; and that, should the writing
of them be neglected at present, they would not again be found
to be put on record or commemorated, even to the end of the
world. There were collected by me all the best and most co-
pious books of annals that I could find throughout all Ireland
(though it was difficult for me to collect them to one place), to
write this book in your name, and to your honour, K)r it was
you that gave the reward of their labour to the chroniclers, by
whom it was written ; and it was the friars of the convent of
Donegal that supplied them with food and attendance, in like
manner. For every good that will result from this book, in
OF THE ANCIENT ANNALS. 147
giving light to all in general, it is to you that thanks should be LEcr.vn.
given^ and there should exist no wonder or surprise, jealousy or ^^^
envy, at [any] good that you do; for you are of the race of akhalbo?
Eiber Mac mileadh [Heber the son of Milcsius], from whom JuOTwr
descended thirty of the kings of Ireland, and sixty-one saints ;
and to Teadgh mac Cein mic Oilella Oluim, from whom eigh-
teen of these saints are sprung, you can be traced, generation
by generation. The descendants of this Tadhg rTeigeJbranched
out, and inhabited various parts throughout Ireland, namely:
the race of Cormac Gaileng in LuighnS Connacht, from whom
ye, the Muintir-Gadhra^ the two Ui Eaghra in Connacht,
and Oh'Eaghra of the Ruta, O'Carroll of Ely, O'Meachair in
Vi-Cairin, and O'Conor o£ Cianachta-Glinne-Geimhin,
" As a proof of your coming from this noble blood we have
mentioned, here is your pedigree :
[Here follows the pedigree of O'Garal
" On the twenty-second day of the month of January, a.d.
1632, this book was commenced in the convent of Dim-na-ngall,
and it was finished in the same convent on the tenth day of
August, 1636, the eleventh year of the reign of our king Charles
over England, France, Alba, and over Eir^,
" Your affectionate friend,
" Brother Michael 0'Clery'\
What a simple unostentatious address and dedication to so
important a work !
O'Clery having thus collected his materials, and having foimd
a patron willing Doth to identify himself with the undertaking,
and to defray its expenses, he betook himself to the quiet solitude
of the monastery of Doncgall, then presided over by his bro-
ther, Father Bemardine O'Clery, where he arranged his collec-
tion of ancient books, and gathered about him sucn assistants as
he had known by experience to be well qualified to carry out
his intentions in the selection and treatment of his vast materials.
The result of his exertions, and the nature of the great work
thus to be produced, will perhaps appear in the most charac-
teristic as well as complete form if I here quote the Testimonium
signed by the fathers of the monastery of Doncgall, and inserted
in the copy of the work presented to Fergal O'Gara. The
following, then, is a literal translation of it [Appendix, No.
LXVIIL]
[Testimonium].
'* The fathers of the Franciscan Order who shall put their
hands on this, do bear witness that it was Fearghal O'Gadhra
that prevjdled on Brother Michael OClerigh to bring together
10 B
Of the
148 OF THE ANCIEKT AKKALS.
the chroniclers and learned men, by whom were transcribed the
books of history and Annals of Ireland (as much of them as it
AxriuiA OF was possible to find to be transcribed), and that it was the same
Tfls Four F^rghol OGara that gave them a reward for their writing.
*' The book is divided into two parts. TRie place; at which
it was transcribed from beginning to end, w;as the convent of the
friars oi Dun-na-ngall^ they supplying food and attendance.
*' The first book was begun and transcribed in the same con-
vent this year, 1632, when Father Bemardine O'Clery was a
guardian.
" The chroniclers and learned men who were engaged in ex-
tracting and transcribing this book from various books were,
Brother Michael OClerigh ; Maurice, the son of Toinia CMaelr
chonaire^ for one month ; Ferfeasa^ the son o( Lochlainn OMael-
chonnire, both of the County of Roscommon ; CucoigcrichS (Cu-
cogry^ O'Cl^righ, of the County of Donegall ; Cucoigcrichi (Cu-
cogry) O'Duithghennain, of the Coimty of Leitrim; and
Conairi OClerigh^ of the County of Donegall.
** These are the old books they had : the book of Cluain mac
Noia [a church], blessed by Saint Ciaran, son of the carpenter;
the book of the Island of Saints, in Loch Ribh; the book of
Seanadh Mic MaghniLsaj in Loch Erne ; the book of Clami Ua
Maelchonaire ; the book of the 0*Duigenans, of Kilronan; the
historical book of Lecan Mic Firbiaigh, which was procured for
them after the transcription of the greater part of the [work],
and from which they transcribed aU the important matter they
found which they deemed necessary, and which was not in the
first books they had ; for neither the book of Cluain nor the book
of the Island were [carried] beyond the year of the age of our
Lord 1227. • . . .
" The second, which begins with the year 1208, was com-
menced this year of the age of Christ 1635, in which Father
Christopher Ulltach [O'Domevy] was guardian.
" These are the books from which was transcribed the greatest
part of this work ; — ^the same book of the O'Mulconrys, as far as
the year 1505, and this was the last year which it contained;
the book of the O'Duigenans, of which we have spoken, fix>m
[the year] 900 to 1563 ; the book of Seanadh Mic Maghnusa,
which extended to 1532 ; a portion of the book of Cucogry,
the son of Dermot, son of Tadhg Cam OClerigh^ from the year
1281 to 1537 ; the book of Mac Bruaideadha (Maoilin 6g)^
from the year 1588 to 1602.
" We have seen aU these books with the learned men of whom
we have spoken before, and other historical books besides them.
In proof of everything which has been written above, the fol-
OF THE ANCIENT ANNALS. 149
lowing persons put their hands to this in the convent of Donegal, lect.yh
the tenth day of August, the age of Christ being one thousand ^^^^
six hundred and thirty-six. axxalsof
^ ^ " Brother Bernardine O'Clery, lEi^
" Guardian of Donegal.
" Brother Maurice Ulltach.
" Brother Maurice Ulltach.
" Brother Bonaventura O'Donnell,
" Jubilate Lector".
You wifr*hgfe noticed that the last signature to this testi-
monium is that of Brother Bonaventura O'Donnell. Up to the
year 1843, this signature was read as " O'Donnell" only, and
it is curious that the learned and acute Charles O'Conor of
Belana^, should not only have so read it, but also written
that this was the counter-signature of the O'Donnell, Prince of
Donegall. The Rev. Charles O'Conor followed his grand-
father in reading it the same way in 1825.
It was Dr. Petrie that first identified (and purchased, at the
sale of the library of Mr. Austin Cooper), the originel volume
of the second part of these Annals, which contains this testi-
monium, and placed it in the library of the Royal Irish Aca-
demy. He immediately afterwards wrote a paper, which was
read before the Academy on the 16th of March, 1831, entitled
" Remarks on the History and Authenticity of the Autogr^jjh
original of the Annals of the Four Masters, now deposited in
the Library of the Royal Irish Academy".
This profound and accomplislied antiquary followed the
O'Conors unsuspectingly, in reading these signatures, and his
and their reading was received and adopted by all the Irish
scholars in Dublin at the time, and for some seventeen years
after. However, in the year 1843, tlie Royal Irish Academy
did me the honour to employ me to draw up a descriptive cata-
logue of their fine collection of Irish manuscripts. For some
considerable time before this I had entertained a suspicion that
O Donnelly Prince of Donegall^ was a false reading of the sig-
nature, for this, among other reasons, that there was no " O'Don-
nell". Prince of Donegall, in existence at the time, namely, in
the year 1636, nor for more than sixteen years before that pe-
riod, those titles having become extinct when Hugh Roe O'Don-
nell, and after him, his brother Rory, had received and adopted
the English title of Earl of Tirconnell at the beginning of that
century. The first of these brothers having died in Spain in
1602, and the second having fled from Ireland in 1607, and
died in Rome in 1608, and no chief having been lawfully
elected in his place, consequently there was no man living in
150 OF THE ANCIENT ANNALS.
LgcT.vii. 1636 who could with propriety sign the name " O'Donnell" to
^^^^ this testimonium. And, even if there had been, it would be an
annaxs op act totally unbecoming his name and house to extend the dig-
MjuTkiwf nity of his name only to a great national literary work, which had
been compiled within his own ancient principality, yet at the
expense of one of the chiefs of a different race and province.
Satisfied with this argument, and seeing that there was room
for a Christian name before the surname, when I came to de-
scribe this volume in my catalogue I applied to the Coimcil of
the Academy, through the then secretary, the Rev. Dr. Todd
(now President of the Academy), for liberty to apply a proper
preparation to the part of the vellum which appeared bl^k
before the name O'Donnell, and between it and the margin of
the page. The academy complied with my request. I took the
necessary means of reviving the ink, and in a little time I was
rewarded by the plain and clear reappearance of what had not
been before dreamt of There, surehr enough, were the name
and the title of " Bonaventura O'Donnell , with the words
added, " Jubilate Lector".
Mr. Owen Connellan was ignorant of this reading when his
translation of this volume of the Annals was published in the
year 1846. Dr. O'Donovan, the able editor of the more elabo-
rate, learned, and perfect edition of this volume, in the introduc-
tion published by him to that work in 1848, acknowledged
with satisfaction the discovery I had made, justly important as
it seemed to him at the time. In the recast of his introduction
to the first division of the work, as corrected for publication in
1851, he has, however, only retained the reading, omitting to
refer to what I had done, and thus leaving it imcertain at what
time, under what circumstances, and by whom, the true read-
ing was discovered, and these circumstances I have thought
it but fair to myself here again to place on record.
In making use of the rich materials thus collected, O'Clery ,
as might be expected from liis education and position, took
special care to collect from every available source, and to put
on imperishable record, among the great monuments of the
nation, not only the succession and obits of all the monarchs,
{)rovincial kings, chiefs, and heads or distinguished members of
amilies, but also, as far as he could find them, the succession
and deaths of the bishops, abbots, superiors, superioresses, and
other distinguished ecclesiastics and religious of the countless
churches, abbeys, and convents of Ireland, from the first founding
of its civil and of its religious systems, down to the year 1611.
The work of selection and compilation having been finished,
OF THB ANCIEKT AinTALS. 151
as we have seen, in the year 1 636, Father O'Clery, to stamp lect. vu.
on it a character of truthfuhiess and importance, carried it for ^^^^
inspection to two of the most distinguished Irish scholars then aknals or
living, whose written approbation and signature he obtained lusxKlIif
for it ; these were Flann mac AedJtagan of Bally Mac Aedh-
again^ in the County of Tipperary, and Conor Mac Bruaideadha
(or Brody) of CillrChaidhe and Leitir Maelain in the County of
Clare. Ajud, along with these, he procured for his work the
approbations and signatures of Malachy O'Kelly, Archbishop
of Tuam ; Baothakalach or Boetius Mac Aeean, Bishop of
Elfinn ; Thomas Fleming, Archbishop of Dublin, Primate of
Ireland ; and Fr. Roche, Bishop of liildare ; and thus forti-
fied with the only approbation which he deemed necessary
to rive general currency and a permanent character to his
work, he committed it (in manuscript only) to the care of time
and to the affection and veneration of his countrymen.
Upon the chronolog;^ of the Annals Dr. O'Conor has made
the following remarks in his Catalogue of the Stowe MSS.
(among which is one of the original copies of this work).
'* This volume begins, Uke most chronicles of the middle
ages, from the Deluge, which it dates with tlie Septuagint,
Anno Mundi 2242 ; and ends with the Anglo Norman inva-
sion of Ireland, a. n. 1171. * * * * * *
" Notwithstanding these approbations, there are some glaring
faults in these annals, wliicli no partiality can disguise. The
first, and greatest of all faults, relates to their system of chrono-
io<ry. We quarrel not with their preferring the chronology of
the Septuagint to that of the Hebrew text : great men have
adtjTited the same system ; making the first year of our era agree
wiih the year of tlie world 5199. But in applying it to chiono-
l<.';jy, they commit two faults. Dating by the Christian era,
tliey g«_*ncrally place the events four years, and sometimes five,
Ix^fore the proper year of that era, down to the year 800, when
tliev approach nearer to the true time; this is their greatest
fault ; and it is evident, from the eclipses and corresponding
events occasionally mentioned by themselves. From the year
8<)0 to 1000, they differ sometimes by three years, sometimes by
two. From the year 1000, their clironology is perfectly accu-
rate. Their second fault is more excusable, because it is com-
mon to all the annalists of the middle ages ; thev advance the
antiquities of their country several centuries higher than their
own successions of kings and generations by eldest sons will
permit.
" Following the technical chronology of Coeman, they ought
152 OF THE AKCIENT ANNALS.
LECT. VII. to have stated, in notes, the chronology of Flann, who preceded
Of the Coeman, and given the Christian era accurately, as it agrees
AioiALB or with the years of the Julian period, and of the Koman Consuls
*"■ ^* and Emperors, whom they synchronise. This is Bede's method,
and has been that of all the best chronologers, who, by adhering
to it, have successfully determined the ckronology of Europe.
" * We sec no reason for denying to Ireland a series of kings
older than any in Europe', says Mr. Pinkerton.
" The oldest Greek writers mention Albion and leme as in-
habited ; and Pliny says, no doubt from the Phoenician annals,
which are quoted by Festus, that tlie Phoenicians traded with
those islands in the days of Midacritus, a thousand years before
the Christian era. But to begin the pagan history of Ireland
nearly 5000 years before that era, is absurd; and to make the
events of the Christian period differ, by four years, from the re-
gular course of that reckoning, is not excusable. This difference,
however, is easily adjusted, because it is uniform down to the
year 900, except in a very few instances, which are corrected
and restored to their true places in the notes.
" The grand object of the Four Masters is to give chronological
dates, and, with the exceptions above, nothing can be more ac-
curate. The years of foundations and destructions of churches
and castles, the obituaries of remarkable persons, the inaugura-
tions of kings, the battles of chiefs, the contests of clans, the ages
of bards, abbots, bishops, etc., are given with a meagre fideUty,
which leaves nothing to be wished for but some details of man-
ners, which are the grand desideratum in the Chronicles of the
British Islands" [p. 133].
With all that Doctor O'Conor has so judiciously said here, I
fully a^ce. A book, consisting of 1100 quarto pages, begin-
ning with the year of the world 2242, and ending with tiie year
of our Lord's Incarnation 1616, thus covering the immense space
of 4500 years of a nation's history, must be dry and meagre of de-
tails in some, if not in all, parts of it. And although the learned
compilers had at their disposal, or within their reach, an immense
mass of historic details, still the circumstances imder which
they wrote were so unfavourable, that they appear to have exer-
cised a sound discretion, and one consistent with the economy of
time and of their resources, when they left the details of our very
early history in the safe keeping of such ancient original records
as from remote ages preserved them, and collected as much as
they could make room for of the events of more modem times,
and particularly of the eventful times in which they lived them-
selves. This was natural ; and it must have appeared to them
that the national history, as written of old, and then still amply
OF THE ANCIENT ANNALS. 153
preserved, was in less danger of being quite lost or questioned lect.vii.
than that more modem history which approached more nearly ^^^^
to their own era, till at last it became conversant with facts of ahkalb o»
which they were themselves witnesses, and many of the actors iLirEwT
in which were personally known to them ; and so they thickened
die records as much, 1 believe, as they possibly could, in the
twelfth, thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth, and particularly in
the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
This last part of the Annals was evidently intended to be a
history ; but it is clear that the first, perhaps for the reason I
have just stated, was not intended to bo anything more than a
skeleton, to be at some future time clothed with flesh and blood
from the large stock of materials wliich might still remain, and
wliich in fact has remained to the successors of the Four Mas-
ters ; and the exact value of tbese materials in reference to a
complete history will be seen when, in a future lecture, we come
to deal with the historical tales and other detailed compositions
contsining the minute occurrences of life, and the lesser and
more unimportant but still most interesting facts of history in
the early ages of the country.
You have already heard, m the quotations firom Dr. 0*Conor,
the opinions of the learned but sceptical Pinkcrton on the an-
tiquity of our monarchy and the general authenticity of our
history ; let me now read for you the opinion of another Scotch-
man, in no way inferior to mm in general literary knowledge,
Jrofound research, and accurate discrimination. I mean Sir
amcs Mackintosh, who, having become acquainted with the
character of these Annals from Dr. O'Conor s very Inaccurate
Latin translation of the early part of them doAvn to 1170, ac-
cords his favourable opinion of them in the following words : —
" The Chronicles of Ireland, written in the Irish language,
from the second century to the landing of Henry Plantagenet,
have been recently published with the fullest evidence of their
genuineness. The Irish nation, though they are robbed of
their legends by this authentic publication, are yet by it enabled
to boast that they possess genuine history several centuries
more ancient than any other European nation possesses in its
present spoken language. They have exchanged their legen-
dary antiquity for historical fame. Indeed no other nation
possesses any monument of literature in its present spoken lan-
guage, wliich goes back within several centuries of tliese chro-
nicles".— History of England^ vol. i., chap. 2.
Moore, who was less profound as an historian, and, conse-
quently, more sceptical, remarks on this passage : " With the
exception of the mistake into which Sir James Mackintosh has
154 OF THE ANCIENT ANNALS.
LBCT. vn. here, rather unaccountably, been led, in supposing that, among
Of the ^^^ written Irish chronicles which have come down to us, there
ANjcAi-a o» are any so early as the second century, the tribute paid by him
MAiTsita. to the authenticity and liistorical importance of these docu-
ments appears to me in the highest degree deserved, and
comes with more autliority from a writer, whose command over
the wide domain of history enabled him fully to appreciate any
genuine addition to it". — History of Ireland^ vol. i., p. 168.
The poet, however, lived to doubt his own competence to
offer such a criticism on the clironicles of his native country.
The first volume of liis history was published in the year 1835,
and in the year 1839, during one of his last visits to the land of
his birth, he, in company with his old and attached friend, Dr.
Petrie, favoured me with quite an unexpected visit at the Royal
Irish Academy, then in Grafton Street. I was at that penod
employed on the ordnance survey of Ireland; and, at the time
of nis visit, happened to have before me, on my desk, the
Books of Ballymote and Lecain, the Leabhar Breac, the An-
nals of the Four Masters, and many other ancient books, for his-
torical research and reference. I had never before seen Moore,
and after a brief introduction and explanation of the nature of
nay occupation by Dr. Petrie, and seeing the formidable array
of so many dark and time-worn volmnes by which I was sur-
roimded, he looked a little disconcerted, but after a while
plucked up courage to open tlie Book of Ballymote, and ask
what it was. Dr. Petrie and myself then entered into a short
explanation of the history and character of the books then pre-
sent, as well as of ancient Graedhlic documents in general. Moore
listened with great attention, alternately scanning the books and
myself; and tnen asked me, in a senous tone, if I understood
them, and how I had learned to do so. Having satisfied him
upon these points, he turned to Dr. Petrie, and said : " Petrie,
these huge tomes could not have been written by fools or for
any foolish purpose. I never knew anything about them before,
and I had no nght to have undertaken the History of Ireland*'.
Tliree volumes of liis history had been before this time pub-
lished, and it is quite possible that it was the new light which
appeared to have broken in upon him on tliis occasion, that
deterred liim from putting his fourth and last voliune to press
until after several years ; it is believed he was only compelled
to do so at last by his publishers in 1846.
I may be permitted here to obser\'e, that what Sir James
Mackintosh and other great writers speak of so lightly, as the *' le-
gendary" history of Ireland, is capable of authentic elucidation
to an extent so far beyond what they believed or supposed them
OF THE ANCIENT ANNALS. 155
to be, as would both please and satisfy that distinguished lect.vh,
writer and philosopher himself, as well as all other candid ^^^^^
investigators. akmalsof
THE Four
MASTEBt.
Of the AsTNALS OF THE FouR MASTERS, no perfect copy of
the autograph is now known to exist, though the parts of them,
80 strangely scattered in different localities throughout Europe,
would make one perfect copy, and another nearly perfect.
To begin at home, the Royal Irish Academy holds, among its
other treasures of ancient Irish literature, a perfect original — I
might say, the original — autograph copy of the Second Part of
these Annals, from the year 1170, imperfect, to the year 1(516.
The library of Trinity College, Dublin, also contains a part
of an autograph copy, beginning with the year 1335, and end-
ing with the year 1603.
Of the part preceding the year 1171, there are also two diffe-
rent copies in existence, but imfortunately beyond the reach
of collation or useful examination. Of these, one — which, a
few years ago, and for some years previously, belonged to the
great library of the Dufe of Buckingham at Stowe — has passed
by sale into the collection of Lord Asnbumliam, where, witli the
other Irish manuscripts that accompanied it, it is very safely
prescr\'ed from exammation, lest an actual acquaintance with
their contents should, in the opinion of the very noble-minded
owner, decrease their value as mere matters of curiosity at some
future transfer or sale.
How unfortunate and fatal that this volume, as well as the
other Irish manuscripts wliich accompany it, and the most part
of which were but lent to the Stowe library, should have passed
from the inaccessible shelves of that once princely establishment
into another asylum equally secure and unapproachable to any
K:liolur of the *' mere Irish" !
At the time of the advertised sale of the Stowe library, in
1849, the British Museum made every effort to become the pur-
chaj^ers, with the consent and support of the Treasury, through
Sir Hubert Peel ; but the trustees delayed so long in determining
on what slioidd be done, that the sale took place privately, and
the whole collection was carried off and incarcerated in a man-
sion some seventy miles from London.
I'lic lute Sir Robert Inglis and Lord Brougham were, I be-
lieve, most anxious to have this great collection deposited in the
Britii-h iluseum ; but Mr. (now Lord) Macaulay, the Essayist,
having been among the Museimi Tnistecs who examined it, de-
clared that he saw nothing in the whole worth purchasing for
the Museum, but the correspondence of Lord Melville, a Scotch
nobleman, on the American war !
156 OF THB ANCXENT ANNALS.
LPCT. VII. The second original copy of this first part is, but owing only to
^ its distance from us, as inaccessible as the one in Ashbumham
ajtkals of House. It is in the Irish College of St. Isidore in Rome. The
THE Foil* discovery of this volume there, and of the important collection
of manuscripts, Gaedhlic and Latin, of which it forms a part, was
made by the late learned and lamented Dean Lyons, of Bel-
mullet, in the County of Mayo, in the years 1842 and 1843.
This learned priest, having occasion to spend some considerable
part of those years in Rome, was requested at his departure, by
some friends of Irish literature in Dublin, to examine, should time
permit him, the great literary repositories of the Eternal City,
and to bring, or send home, tracings of any ancient Graedhlic ma-
nuscripts which he might have the good fortune to light upon.
He accordingly, on the 1st of June, 1842, wrote home a letter
to the Rev Dr. Todd and to Dr. O'Donovan, apprising them
that he had discovered, in the College of St. Isidore, several an-
cient Graedhlic and Latin manuscripts, which formerly belonged
to Ireland and to Irishmen ; and on the 1st of July in the ensiung
year of 1843, he addressed another lettef to the same parties on
the same subject. These letters contained accurate descriptions
of the condition and extent of the Graedhlic MSS., together with
tracings from their contents, sufficient to enable me to identify
the cmef part of them.
Among these MSS. at St. Isidore's, there was found an auto-
graph of the first part of the Annals of the Four Masters, com-
mg down to the year 1169, with the "Approbations" and all the
prefatory matter. This is the oidy autograph of the first part now
known, save that formerly at Stowe ; and both being inaccessible
at the time of the pubUcation of the whole work a few years ago,
the learned and able editor, Dr. O'Donovan, was obliged to use
Dr. O'Conor's inaccurate version, only correcting it by modem
copies here, as may be seen in his introduction.
The novel and important discovery of this collection excited
so great a degree of mterest in Dubun at the time, that a sub-
scription for their purchase, should it be found practicable, was
fireely and warmly talked of.
Upon the return of Dr. Lyons to Ireland, Dr. Todd opened
a correspondence with him as to his views of the possibility of
the authorities in Rome consenting to the sale of these MSS.
Dr. Lyons's answer was encouraging, and in order to prepare
him for bringing the matter before the proper parties, he re-
Siested that 1 should draw up a short paper upon their contents,
e importance of having them here at home, and the intrinsic
value of the whole according to the rate at which Gaedhlic ma-
nuscripts were estimated and sold in Dublin at the time.
OF THB AVCIEKT ANVAL8. 157
This paper, or letter, was transmitted to Rome at tlie time by lect. vn.
Dr. Ljons ; but his own lamented deatli occurring shortly after, ^^^^
the correspondence through that channel was interrupted, and annau op
the fiunine having set in about the same time, the spirit of the Ili^Sm."
country was checked, objects of more immediate miportance
Jiresaed themselves on the minds of men, and tlic subject was
brgotten for a time. There are, however, in Dublin a lew spi-
*ritra men, who, within the last two years, have oflFered a hand-
some sum of money from their private purses for those manu-
scripts for public purposes ; but they seem not to have been able
to convey their proposal through an eligible channel, and so no
satisfactory result has followed their laudable endeavours.
I may perhaps be pardoned for adding here, tliat the short car
tilogue of the St. Isiaore manuscripts wtich I drew up for Dean
Lyons, and which he transmitted to Rome, was subsequently
published without acknowledgment, by the Rev. J. Donovan,
m the tldrd volume of his "Ancient and Modem Rome".
To resume. It will be remembered that in Micliael O'Clery's
address to Fergal O'Grara he pays him, along with many others,
the following compliment: —
" For every good that will result from this book, in giving
light to the people in general, it is to you that thanks should
be given, and there should exist no wonder or surprise, jealousy,
or en\'y at any good that you do, for you arc of the race of
Eber Mac Mileadft", etc., etc.
On this passage the editor. Dr. Donovan, comments some-
what unnecessarily, I think, in the following words : —
" 1£ O'Donnell were in the country at the time, he oufflit to
have felt great envy and jealousy tliat the Four Mastei-s slioiild
have committed this work, which treats of the O'Domiells more
than of any other family, to the world under the name and
patronage of any of the rival race of Oilioll Oluim, much less
to so petty a chieftain of that race as O'Gara. This will appear
obvious from the Contention of the Bards".
Nothing, however, appears more obvious from the Conten-
tion of the Bards, than (as I have already sho^vn and as is
proved by Annluan Mac -35gan's acknowledgment) tliat the
nortliem Bards were worsted in the contest ; and nothing has
been put forward to show O'Donnells suj^erior claims to the
patronage of a historical work, but that his own family figures
more conspicuously in it than any other of the nation. This
argument, however, on inquiry, will scarcely be foimd to hold
good, and before I pass on it may perhaps be worth while to
answer it at once by referring to some few statistics of family
names occurring in these Annals.
158 OF THE AlSClESr ANKALS.
uccT.vii. The name of O'Donnell of Donegall, I find, appears with
^^^^ Christian names 210 times, and imder the general name of
aksals op O'Donnell only 78 times, making an aggregate of 288 times.
IStmI* Now the O'Briens (the rival race of Ouioll Oluim), appear
with Christian names 233 times, and under the general name
of O'Briens 21 times, making an aggregate of 264 times in
every way ; so that, even as tlie annals stand, there is no great
difference in this respect. And it is certain that if the O'Clerys
had swelled their Annals with entries from Mac Grath's Wars
of Thomond, from the year 1272 to the year 1320, as they
have filled them, from the local history, with the achievements
of the O'Donnells from the year 1472 to the year 1600, the
names of the O'Briens would be found far to outniunber those
of the O'Donnells. Besides this, the O'Donnells had no pre-
tension to extreme jealousy with the race of CHlioll Oluiniy as the
former only became known as chiefs of Tirconnell, on the de-
cay or extmction of the more direct lines of Conall Gulban in
they year 1200, whereas the Mac Carthys represented the line
of Eoghan Mor, the eldest son of Oiliolt Oluim, from the year
1043 ; and the O'Briens represented Cormac Cas, the second
son of Oilioll Oluim, from the battle of Clontarf, in the year
1014. But what is somewhat singular, in reference to Dr.
O'Donovan's remark, and as shown oy these statistics, is, that
the O'Gara represents Ciarij another son of Oilioll Oluim^ in
their ancient principality of Luighni or Leyney, in SUgo, from
a period so far back as the year 932 ; that is, the name of the
O'Grara is older even than that of Mac Carthy by more than
100 years ; than that of O'Brien by about 80 years ; and than
that of O'Donnell by about 300 years.
As a small tribute of respect, then, fairly, I think, due to the
O'Gara family as the patrons of the splendid work of the
O'Clerys, it may be permitted me to insert here from these
Annals the succession of their chiefs, from the year 932 to the
year 1495, after which (and it is rather singular), they dis-
appear from the work. [See Appendix, No. LXIX.]
I have devoted the entire of the present lecture to a very
summary account of the greatest body of Annals in existence
relating to Irish History. The immense extent of the work
would indeed render it impossible for me to include in one
lecture, or even in two or three lectures, anything like an ade-
quate analysis of the vast mass and comprehensive scope of the
history contained in it. I have, therefore, confined myself to
some explanation of the nature and plan of the labours of the
Four Masters, that you may understand at least what it was
OF THE ANCIEKT ANNALS. 159
they undertook to do, and that you may know why It is that lect.vii.
this magnificent compilation has ever since been regarded by
true scholars, and doubtless will ever be looked up to, as of the aJ^naIb of
most certain and unimpeachable authoritv, and as affording a SI^Ra
safe and solid foundation for the labours oif future historians. It
ia fortunate, however, that the Annals of the Four Masters are
no longer like the other Annals, of which I have given you
some account, preserved only in the almost inaccessible recesses
of a few libraries of MSS. It is fortunate that you can now
consult for yourselves (in the pages of a beautifully printed
edition), those invaluable records, whose importance it has been
my object in this lecture shortly to explain to you, and which,
if you would acquire an accurate acquaintance with your
country's history, you must diligently study again and again.
Portions of these Annals had been published before the ap-
pearance of the great volumes to which I allude.
The Rev. Charles O'Conor, librarian to the late Duke of
Buckingham, printed, in 1826, an edition of what is called the
First Part of those Annals (that part, namely, which ends at
the year 1171, or about the period of the Norman Invasion). It
occupies the whole of the third volume of his Rerum Hibemi-
carum Scriptores^ a large quarto of 840 pages. It is printed
from the autograph text in the Stowc library, and the editor
has given the Irish text (but in Latin characters), as well as a
translation and copious notes in the Latin language. This edi-
tion is certainly valuable, but it is very inaccurate. I need not,
however, occupy your time with any detailed account of it, not
only because it has been since superseded by a work of real au-
thority, bpt because I have already discussed (and shall have
reason agtun to observe at some little length on) the literary ca-
pability and the historical knowledge of the reverend editor.
A translation of the Second Part of the Annals, that is,
from A.D. 1171 to the end of the work at ad. 1616, was pub-
lished in Dublin in 1846, by the late B. Geraghty, of Anglesea
Street- The original Irish is not given in this edition, but
the translation was made by Mr. Owen Connellan from a copy
transcribed some years before by him from the autograph in the
library of the Royal Irish Academy. This volume, though con-
taining only the translation, extends to 720 pp., large 4to, closely
printed in double columns, with notes by Dr. Mac Dermott.
I have mentioned both these publications only because it
woulibe improper to omit noticing the fact that such attempts
had been made to place the substance of the Annals in the hands
of the reading puolic at large. But I need not enter into any
criticism upon the labours of Mr. Connellan any more than those
160 OF THE ANCIENT ANNALS.
LBCT.Tii. of Dr. O'Conor. For the Annals of the Four Masters are now
0^^^ at last accessible to all, in a form the most perfect as regards
AMHAL8 0F typoinraphy, and the most copious and correct as regards
lunu? translation and annotation, that the anxious student of our
history can desire. I allude, of course, to the magnificent work
to wmch I have already more than once referred, edited by
Dr. John O'Donovan, and published to the world, in 1851,
by Mr. Gteorge Smith, of Grafton Street. It is to this edition
that in future every student must apply himself, if he desires to
acquire only reliable information ; it is, in the present state of
our knowledge, the standard edition of that work, which must
form the basis of all fruitful study of the history of Ireland ; and it
is in consequence of this, its peculiar character, that I feel boimd
to lay so strong an emphasis upon my reconunendation of Dr.
O'Donovan's Annals to your special, if not exclusive, attention.
Dr. O'Donovan's work is in seven large quarto volumes ; and
the immense extent of the O'Clerys' labours may be imagined
by those of my hearers who have not yet opened these splendid
books, when 1 inform them that the seven volumes contain no
less than 4,215 pages of closely printed matter. The text is
given in the Irish character, and is printed in the beautiful type
employed in the printing office of Trinity College, and tne
forms of which were carefully drawn from the earhest authori-
ties by the accurate and elegant hand of my respected friend.
Dr. Fetrie. The translation is executed witli extreme care.
The immense mass of notes contains a vast amount of informa-
tion, embracing every variety of topic — ^historical, topographical,
and genealogical — upon which tne text requires eluciaation,
addition, or correction ; and I may add, that of the accuracy
of the researches which have borne fruit in that information, I
can myself, in almost every instance, bear personal testimony.
There is but one thing to be regretted in respect of Dr. O'Don-
ovan's text, and that is the circumstance to which I have
already called your attention. In the absence of both of the
autograph MSS. of the First Part of the work (that is, before
A.D. 1171), one of which is kept safe from the eye of every
Irish scholar in the Stowe collection, now in the possession of
Lord Ashbumham, while the other still remains in the Library
of St. Isidore's, in Rome, the editor was obliged to take Dr.
O'Conor's inaccurate text, correcting it, as best he could, by
collation with two good copies which exist in Dublin. The
second part of the annals is printed from the autograph MS. in
the Royal Irish Academy, compared with another autograph
copy in Trinity College. The text of this part is, therefore,
absolutely free from errors.
OF THE ANCIENT ANNALS. 161
Thifl noble work, extending to so great a length, and occu- uecr.vn.
pied (notes as weU as text) with so many thousands of subjects, ^
personal and historical, had need of an Index as copious as axkals or
itsielf to complete its practical importance as a book of reference. SSmm.'
This great labour has been included in the plan of Dr. O'Do-
noTans publication, and the student will find appended to it
two complete Indexes, one to all the names of persons, the other
to all the names of places referred to throughout ihe entire.
So that, in the form m which the work appears, as well as in
the substantial contents of these splendid volumes, there is
absolutely nothing left to be desired.
Upon the leammg and well earned reputation of the editor.
Dr. O'Donovan, it would ill become me, for so many years his
Ultimate fellow labourer in the long untrodden path of Irish
historical inquiry, to enlarge. But I cannot pass from the
subject of this lecture without recording the grateful sense
which I am sure all of you (when you examine the mamiificent
volumes of which I have been speaking) must feel, as I do, of
the singular public spirit of Mr. George Smith, at whose sole
risk and expense this vast publication was undertaken and com-
pleted. There is no instance that I know of, in any country,
of a work so vast being undertaken, much less of any com-
pleted in a style so perfect and so beautiful, by the enterprise
of a private publisher. Mr. Smith's edition of the Annals was
brought out m a way worthy of a great national work, — nay,
worthy of it, had it been undertaken at the public cost of a
great, rich, and powerful people, as alone such works have
been undertaken in other countries. And the example of so
much spirit in an Irish publisher — the printing of such a book
in a city like Dublin, so long shorn of metropolitan wealth as
well as honours — cannot fail to redound abroad to the credit of
the whole country, as well as to that of our enterprising fellow-
citizen. As, then, the memory of the Four Masters themselves
will probably be long connected with the labours and name of
their annotator, Dr. O'Donovan, so also I would not have any of
you forget what is due to the publisher of the first complete edi-
tion of tlie Annals when you open it, as I hope every student of
this national University will often and anxiously do, to apply
vourselves to study the great events of your coimtry's history in
the time-honoured records collected by the O'Clerys.
£:■:■■.
LECTURE Vm.
Of the other Works of the Four Masters. The ** Succession of the Kings**.
The '* Book of InTa8ions\ O'Cleiy's Glossary.
In my last lecture I concluded the subject of the various
regular Annals which have come down to us. In connection
with the subject of the last and greatest of these invaluable
compilations, the Annals of the Four Masters, it became my
duty, in explaining how that noble work was undertaken, to
offer you some short accoimt of the 0X31erys, its principal
authors, and their learned associates. Before I pass, then, to
an examination of the various other sources from which the
student will have to draw the materials of the yet unwritten
History of Erinn, it will perhaps be convenient that I should
here conclude what I have to say to you upon the other histo-
rical works handed down to us by the Four Masters. These
works (alluded to in that preface of Colgan's which you heard
quoted at such length in the last lecture) are all to a great
extent parallel with that which last engaged our attention.
Their plan is not the same; and, though a great niunber of
facta are recorded in all the several series of the O'Clcrys'
writings, the details are rarely repeated; and each of these
books, contemporaneous in execution as they were, must be
studied as tlie necessary complement of tlie others of them. It
is much to be regretted, that none of them, as yet, has met
with the good fortune of the Annals, in being published in any
form to the world; and I am sure, when you have become
aware of tlieir extent and value, you will join with me in the
hope that tlie present generation may see these works also of
our great annalists brought out in a style worthy of the splendid
voliunes edited by Dr. O'Donovan.
The snccM The first of the historical books of the O'Clerys, referred to
KnroT™' ^y Colgan, to which I shall direct your attention, is that called
tlie Reim Rioghraidhe [pron: nearly, " Rem Ree-riah*^, or Suc-
cession OF THE Kings. And, as you are now acquainted with
the manner in which the masters approach their subjects, in
these serious historical compositions, perhaps the best course
OF THE WORKS OF THE FOUR MASTERS. 163
I can take to-day is to open at once the author's Preface to lkct. vm.
the Reim RioghratdJiiy of which the following ma^ be taken as ^^
a sufficiently accurate translation [see original m Appendix siok of tub
No. LXXJ :— ^^
" In nomine Dei- Amen.
" On the third day of the month of September, Anno
Christi 1644, this book was commenced to be written, in the
house of Conall, son of Niall, son of Rossa Mageoghegan, ofLios
MaighnSy in Cenel Fhiaehach (in Westmeath), one by whom are
prized and preserved the ancient monuments of our ancestors ;
one who is the industrious collecting Bee of everything that be-
longs to the honour and history of the descendants of Milesius
and oiLugaidhj son o£ Ith^ both lay and ecclesiastical, as far as
he could find them. And what is written.in this book is,
the Reim RioghraidhS (the Succession of the Kings), and the
history of the 3^ts of Erinn, which are now corrected and
amended by these persons following — ^viz-,- the Friar Michael
celery, Fer/easa O'Mulconry, and Cucoigcrichi O'Duigenan,
aU of them persons learned in the Irish laoguage. And it is
taken from the principal ancient Books of Erinn, in the Con-
vent of Athlone, as we have before stated [it does not appear
where] ; as well as from the historical poem, written by Gilla
Caomhain (yCuimin^ which begins {Kiri 6g wis na 7iaomh)
(Virgin Eire, Island of Saints), and another poem, written by
Aengus Mac an Ghohhann (Aengus Ceili 2?^, or the Culdce),
which begins, ^Naomhaheanchus naomh Inai FdiV (the sacred
history of the saints of Inia Fail), and another poem, which
begins * Athair chdigh chuimsigh nimhe' (Father of all. Ruler of
Heaven).
" This book contains also the Book of Rights, whicli was
originally ordered by Saint Benean, and is copied from a book
wluch was written by the aforesaid Conall [Mageoghegan] on
the 4th of August, 1636, from the Book of Lecain, which had been
lent to him by the Protestant Primate [Ussher], which Book of
Lecain was written a long time before that, by Adsim Afar O'Cuir-
n{n for Gilla ha Mar Mac Firbis, Ollamh of Vi-Fhiachrach,
Anno Domini 1418 ; and Morroch Riahhach OCoinlisg wrote
more of it, in the house of Rory O'Dowda, King of Hy-
Fiachrach of the Moy. The present book contains, besides,
the history of the cause why the Boromcan tribute was imposed
on the Lagcnians, and the person by wliom it was imposed;
and the history of the coming of the Delvians (Mac Cochlan)
into * Conn s Half' of Erinn, out of Munster. It contains, also,
the lustory of the cause why Feniua Farsaidh went to learn
11 B
164 OF THE W0BK8 OF THE FOUR MASTERS.
LKCT. vm. poetry to the Tower of Nimrod, in preference to any other
The SuccM- pl^^ 5 ^^^ ^^^ names of the various languages that were known
aioNovTHB at that time, and from which the Gaedhlic language was
**** brought away by Gaedhel, the son of Etheor^ from whom it
derives its name. And it contains an account of the death of
Conn of the hundred battles. It also contains the seven fatali-
ties of the monarchs of Erinn, and the fatalities of tlie pro-
vincial kings in like manner; and the poem which begins
Roileag laoch leithe Cuinn (the burial place of the heroes of
Conns Half) [of Erinn], which was completed, and finished,
and put into tms book, on the 25th day of September of that
same year before mentioned (1644), by the Friar Paul O'Colla,
of the order of Saint Francis, in the house of the aforesaid
Conall [Mageoghegan]. It hkewise contains the pedigrees of
the monarchs of Erinn, and the length of time that each
reigned ; and it contains the genealogies of the Irish saints as
they have been collected from the books of the old writers, set
down according to their descent, in alphabetical order ; [all] to
the glory of God, and the honour of tlie saints and of the
kingdom ; and to diffuse the knowledge and intelligence of the
things aforesaid, and of the authors who preserved the history
of Erinn, before and after the introduction of Christianity.
Finished in the Observantine Convent of Athlone, in the
Bishopric of Clonmacnois, 1630".
[It IS observable that the authors profess to include, in a single
book, not only the succession of the kings, but also the gene-
alogy of such of the saints of Erinn as descended from tnem,
and which Colgan treats as a separate work.]
The following is O'Clery's Dedication [see original in Appen-
dix, No. LXXL] :—
" To Torloch Mac Cochlain".
** After I, the poor Friar Michael O'Clery, had been four
years, at the command of my superior, engaged in collecting
and bringing together all that I could find of the history of the
saints of Ireland, and of the kings to whom their pedigrees are
carried up, it occurred to me that it would not be judicious to
put that collection into other languages, ^*^^ without the authority,
proof, and inspection of other historians. I also considered
that die aforesaid work could not be finished without expense.
But such was the poverty of the order to wliich I belong, on
account of their vow and the oppressions of the time, that I
was obliged to complain of it to gentlemen who were not bound
(M) It IB to be remembered that I am not transcribing from the autograph
OF THE W0EK8 OF THE FOUR MASTERS. 165
to poverty by vow. And, among those to whom I made my lbct. vm.
complaint, 1 found no one to relieve my anxiety towards
bringing this work to completion, but one person who was iioN owmt
wilting to assist me, to the promotion of the glory of God, the ^"*^
honour of the saints and the kingdom, and the good of his own
soul. And that one person is Torloch Mac Cochlain. [Here
follows the pedigree of Mac Cochlain.] And it was this Tor-
loch Mac Uochiain that forwarded this work, and that kept
U^ther the company that were engaged in completing it, along
with the private assistance given by the aforesaid convent every
day. On the 4th day of October, therefore, this book was com-
menced, and on the 4th day of November, it was finished, in
the convent of the friars before mentioned, in the fifth year of
the king Charles of England, 1630".
It is remarkable that we have not the autograph original of
any part of these two books, or rather this one book, now in
Ireland.
After this Dedication, or notice, follows, in the original, an
Address to the reader [see original in Appendix, No. LaXII.],
much of which is so characteristic of the simple enthusiasm of
the writer, and so pathetic in the appeal it contains to the ten-
derness of Gaedhbc patriotism, that I cannot omit to lay it
before you. " Strangers", says Michael O'Clery, " have taken
the principal books of Erinn into strange countries and among
unknown people". You have heard of many new instances
of tliis hard fate of our most ancient books since O'Clery's
time, and of the diilicultics and annoyances which the humble
followers of our great historians liave met with in their re-
searches, even in our own days, from the same cause. It is
remarkable enough, that of the three books of the O'Clerys
wliich Col^ran spoke of, we do not possess, to-day, the original
of any one in this country.
** Address to the reader.
** What true cliildren are there that would not feel pity and
distress, at seeing, or hearing of, their excellent mother and
nur5e being placed in a condition of indi^ity and cont(*inpt,
of dis«honour and contumely, without makmg a visit to her to
bring her solace and happiness, and to give her assistance and
relicl?
** Upon its having been observed by certain parties of the
natural order of Saint Francis, that the holiness and righteous-
ness ol' their mother and nurse — Erinn — had perceptibly dimi-
nishfvl. (or not having the lives, wonders, ana miracles of her
saints disseminated within her, nor yet made known in other
166 OF THE WORKS OF THE FOUR MASTERS.
LECT. vm. kingdoms ; the counsel thej adopted was, to send from them
The snccE»- ^^ Erinn a poor Friar Minor of their own, the Obserrantine
■low OF TM Order, Michael O'Clery (a chronicler by descent and education),
^^^^ in order to collect and bring to one place all the books of
authority in which he could discover anything that related to
the sanctity of her saints, with their pedigrees and genealogies.
" Upon the arrival of the aforesaid friar, he sought and
searched through every part of Erinn in which he had heard
there was a good or even a bad book [i.e. Graedhlic MS.] ; so
that he spent four full years in transcribing and procuring the
matters that related to the saints of Erinn. However, though
great his labour and his hardships, he was able to find but a
tew out of the many of them, because strangers had carried off
the principal books of Erinn into remote and unknown foreign
countries and nations, so that they have left her but an insigni-
ficant part of her books.
"And, after what the aforesaid fnar could find had been
collected to one place, what he thought of and decided to do
was this — viz., to bring together and assemble in one place,
three persons whom he shomd consider most befitting and most
suitable to finish the work which he had undertaken (with the
consent of his superiors), for the purpose of examining all the
collections that he had made. These were — Ferfedsa O'Mul-
conry, from Bally Mulconry, in the County of Roscommon;
Cucoigcrichi O'Clery, from Bally Clery, in the County of
Donegal; and CucoigcrichS O'Duigenann from Baile-CoilU'
foghair [now Castlefore], in the County of Leitrim. These
persons, then, came to one place ; and, having come, the four
of them decided to write the Roll of the monarchs of Erinn at
the beginning of the book. They determined on this for two
reasons. The first reason, because the pcdi^ees of the saints
could not have been brought to their origin, without having ihc
pedigrees of the early kings placed before them, because it was
from them they descended. The second reason, in order that,
the duly and devotion of the noble people to their saints, their
successors, and their churches, should be the greater, by their
having a knowledge of their relationship and friendship with
their blessed patrons, and of the descent of the saints from the
stem from which each branch of them sprung, and the number
of the saints of the same branch.
" And there is, indeed, a considerable section of the saints
t — of Erinn whose names may be found already entered in proper
" "^^' order in old genealogical books, without intermixture of descent,
the cme with the other of them, as they branch off and separate
from their original stems.
OV THB WOBKS OF THE FOUR MASTERS 167
" Whoever thou art, then, O reader! we leave it to thyself LEcr.vin.
to perceive that thou wilt find profit, sense, knowledge, and ^^ ,
brevity in this work. For the entire succession of the kings, nov of tub
with their pedigrees to their origin, will be found in it, in the ^^*"*
order in which they obtained the sovereignty in succession ;
together with the number of their years, the age of the world
at the end of the reign of each king of them, and the age of our
Lord Jesus fix)m His Incarnation to the death of each, down to
the death of Malachy the Great [in a.d. 10221 And the
saints are given according to their alphabetical order, and their
origin, as we have already said. Glory be unto God.
" Your loving friends.
Brother Michael O'Clery.
Ferfeasa O'Mulconry.
Cucoigcrichi O'Clcry.
Cucoigcrichi O'Duigenan".
The autograph of this valuable work is in the College of
St. Isidore at Rome. There is, however, a copj of it in the
Kbrary of Trinity College, Dublin, made by Maurice O'Gorman,
about the year 1760; and another copy in the Royal Irish Aca-
demy, made by Richard Tipper, in the year 1716 ; but neither
of them contains the Book of Rights, spoken of above. The
list of saints is confined to the saints mentioned in the poem
before referred to, which begins " The Sacred History of the
Suints of Inisfail" ; and is different from the Martyrology of
Doneirall, compiled by the same pious and learned fnar ana his
associates.
The plan of tliis book, as you will have already seen, was,
first, to give the succession of the Monarchs of Eriim, from
the remotest times down to the death of Turlogh O'Conor, in
A.D. 1156, under their respective years of the age of the world
and of our Lord, according to the chronology of the Septua-
glnt. And, second, to carry back to, and connect with, the
kings of this long line the generations of such of the primitive
and chief saints of Ireland as descended from them, down to
the eighth century.
This list of pedigrees of the saints extends only to the names of
those found in the poem already mentioned, wliich begins, "The
Sacred History of the Saints of Ink Fair. Nor are these given
promiscuously, but in classes ; such as all the saints that descend
lirom Canall Gidban, in one class ; all the saints that descend
from Eoglian^ his brother, in another class ; all the saints that
descend from Colla Uais, in another class ; all the saints that
descend from Oilioll Oluim^ in another class ; all the saints that
descend from Cathair Mdr, King of Leinster, in another class;
168 OF THE WORKS OF THE FOUR MASTER^.
LECT. vm. and so on, throughout the four provinces. Festival days, and
TheSuccEs- ^ ^^^ historical notes, are added to some of them.
8IOM0FTH* The poem from which this list of saints has been drawn is
^*°** ascribed, in the preface, to Aengus CeilS Di (or the Culdee) ;
but this must be a mistake, as the composition of this poem is
totally inferior in style, vigour, and purity of diction, to any
other piece or fragment of the metrical compositions of that
remarkable man that has come down to our time. It is remark-
able, however, that although Michael O'Clery in the preface
ascribes this poem to Aengus, yet, when we come to where it
commences m the book, we find Eochaidh O'Cleircein set
down as the author of it. This writer flourished in a.d. 1000,
or two himdred years later than Aengus. The poem certainly
belongs to this period, and appears to have been founded on
Aengus's prose tract on the pedigrees of the Irish saints ; and
whemer O'Cleiy fell into a mistake in ascribing it to Aengus,
or whether Maurice O'Gorman, the transcriber of the present
copy, committed a blimder, we have here now no means of
ascertaining.
The book in Trinity College, Dublin, is a small octavo, of
370 pages, in two volumes, and would make about 200 pages
of O'Donovan's Annals of the Four Masters.
The Book o» The Leobhar GabJidhj or " Book of Invasions" (or " Con-
iMYAwoK* quests"), — ^the third of those alluded to by Colgan, — is perhaps
the most important of the three. It contains an ample record
of those traditions of the successive early colonizations of Ire-
land, which, in the most ancient times, appear to have been re-
garded as true history, but which were not inserted at length in
tne Annals of Donegall. Upon the authenticity of these tradi-
tions, or ancient records (if, indeed, they have come down to us
in the form in which they really were believed two thousand
years a^o), this is not the place to enter into any discussion.
The object of the O'Clerys appears, however, to have been
simply to collect and put in order the statements they found in
the ancient books ; and, as before, I shall let the Preface and
Address of the author of the " Book of Invasions" explain that
object in his own words.
The following is the Dedication, prefixed to his Leabhar
Gabhdla [see onginal in Appendix, No. LXXIII.] : —
" I, the fiiar Michael O'Clery, have, by permission of my
superiors, imdertaken to purge of error, rectify, and transcribe
this old Chronicle called Leabhar Gabhdla, that it may be to
the glory of God, to the honoiu: of the saints and the kingdom
LECT. VIII.
OF THE WORKS OF THE FOUR MASTERS. 169
of Erinn, and to the welfare of my own soul. This under-
taking I could not accomplish without the assistance of other
chroniclers at some fixed abode. Upon communicating my in- uvj^^^s!*'
tcntion to thee, O ! Brien Roc Maguire, Lord of Enniskillen
[Inis Cethlionnly the first of the race of Odhar who received
that title (which thou didst from his Majesty Charles, King of
England, France, Scotland, and Ireland, on the 21st of January,
in uie year of our Lord Christ 1627, and the third year of tlie
king's reign), thou didst take in hand to assist me to commence
and conclude my undertaking, because thou didst deem it a pity
to leave in oblivion and imencouraged a work which would exalt
the honour of thine own ancestors, as well as of the saints, nobles,
and history of Erinn in general. After having, then, received
thine assistance, I myself, and the chroniclers whom, by the
permission of the Church, I selected as assistants, viz., Fearfeasa
O'Mulconry, Cucoigry O'Clery , Cucoigry O'Duigenan, and thine
own chief chronicler, Gillapatrick O'Luiniuy went, a fortnight
before Allhallow-tide, to the convent of Lisgoole, in the diocese
of Clogher, in Fermanagh, and we remained there together until
the following Christmas, by which time we had succeeded in
completing our imdertakmg, imder thy assistance, Lord Maguire.
" On the 22nd day of October, the corrections and comple-
tion of this Book of Invasions were commenced, and on the
22nd of December the transcription was completed in tlic con-
vent of the friars aforesaid, in the sixth year of the reign of
King Charles over England, France, Scotland, and Ireland, and
in the year of our Lord 1631.
''Thine affectionate friend, Brother Michael OClery".
The Preface, or Address to the Reader, follows [see original
in Appendix No. LXXIV.] : —
" It appeared to certain of the people, and to me, the poor
simple friar Michael O'Clcry from Tirconnell, one of the native
friars of the convent of Donegall, whose inheritance it is from
my ancestors to be a chronicler, that it would be a charity for
some one of the men of Erinn to purify, compile, and re-write
the ancient honoured Chronicle wliich is called the Book of In-
vasions, for these reasons. The first reason : My superiors hav-
ing charged me to collect the Lives and Genealogies of the
Saints of Erinn from all places in which I could find them
throughout Erinn, after having done this, I selected associate
chroniclers to adjust, purify, and write as much as I could find
of this history of the saints, as well as the succession of the mo-
narchs of Ennn, to whom the pedigrees of the saints are carried
up, as may be seen in the book in which they are written. After
that, it occurred to me that the work of which I have spoken
170 OF THE WORKS OF THE FOUR MASTERS.
LBCT. vm. was incomplete without correcting and writing the Book of In-
The Book ori' "^^^^^ iJieady mentioned, because it is the original fountain of
iKVAMONa. \ the history of the saints and kings of Erinn, of her nobles and
her people.
" Another reason too : I was aware that men, learned in Latin
and in English, had commenced to translate this Chronicle of
Erinn from the Gaedhlic into these languages that we have
spoken of, and that they had not so profound a knowledge of the
Gaedlilic as that they could put the hard and the soft parts of
the said book together without ignorance or error; and I felt
that the translation which they would make must (for want of a
^knowledge of the Graedhlic) become an eternal reproach and
disgrace to all Erinn, and particidarly so to her chroniclers. It
was for these reasons that I imdertook, with the permission of
my superiors, to purify and compile this book, and to collect for
it, from other books, all that was wanting to it in history and in
other learning, as much as we could, according to the space of
time which we had to write it.
" The chroniclers who were with us for this purpose, and for
purifying the book, were, Fearfeasa O'Mulconry, from the
County of Roscommon ; Cucoigry O'Clery, from Bally Clery, in
the County of Donegall ; Cucoigry O'Duigcnann, from Bally-
Coilltifoghair, in the County of Leitrim; and Giollapatrick
CyjLuinin, from Ard Ui Luinin, in the Coimty of Fermanagh.
*' It is right that you should know that it was ancient writers
of remote times, and commemorating elders of great age, that
preserved the history of Erinn in chronicles and books in suc-
cession, fix>m the period of the Deluge to the time of St. Patrick,
who came in the fourth year of the reign oiLaeghairi mac Neill^
monarch of Erinn, to plant religion and devotion in her ; when
he blessed Erinn, men and boys, women and girls, and built
numerous churches and towns throughout the land.
" Saint Patrick, after all this, invited unto him the most
illustrious authors of Erinn at that period, to preserve the chroni-
cles, synchronisms, and genealogies of every colony that had
taken possession of Erinn, down to that period. Those that
he invited unto him, at that time, were Kos ; Dubhthachy the
son of Ua Lughair; Ferghus, etc. These were the sustaining
pillars of the History of Erinn, in the time of Saint Patrick.
" St. Colum Cille, St. Finnen of Cluain lorard [Clonard],
and St. Comgall, of Beannchuir [Bangor, in the County Down],
and the other saints of Erinn, induced the authors of their time
to perpetuate and amplify the history and synchronisms exist-
ing in their day. It was so done at their request. The authors
of the period of these saints, as is manifest in the latter part of
OF THE WORKS OF THE FOUR MASTERS. 171
* Eochaidh OTlinn^s poem, were, Fiantain, the son qC Jjge^riaj lect. vm.
Tftan^ihe son o{Cairell,sono{3fuir0cUtq^hJSfuind!^4 " ' ~ ~~
Fiaiach; and Dalian ForgaillyXh^ iljustxaaua author' i^
" The liistories and synchronisms of Erimi were writ
tested in the presence of these illustrious saints, as is manifest in
the great boots which were named after the saints themselves,
and from their great churches ; for there was not an illustrious
church in Erinn that had not a great book of history named
from it, or from the saint who sanctified it. It would be easy,
too, to know, from the books which the saints wrote, and the
songs of praise which they composed in Gaedhlic, tliat they them-
selves, and their churches, were the centres of the true know-
ledge, and the archives and homes of the manuscripts of tlie,
authors of Erinn, in the olden times. ;
'* Sad e\dl ! short was tlie time until dispersion and decay^
overtook the churches of the saints, their relics, and their l^gisj
for there is not to be found of them now, but a small remn'ailt,
that has not been carried away into distant countries and foreign
nations ; carried away so that their fate is not known from that
time hither.
" The Books of Invasions which were present [e.^., which ^
we had by us], at the writing of these Conquests of Erinn,
were, the Book of Bally Mulconry, wliich Maurice, the son
of Faidin O'Mulconry, transcribed out of the Leahhar'na'
h-Uiilhrcj which was written at Cluainmicnoism Saint Giarana
time; the Book of Bally Clery, which was Avrittcn in the time
of Mchheachlainn iMor, the son of Domnall [king of Ireland,
wlio Ix.'gun his reign in the year 979] ; the Book of the O'Dui-
gf.'iianns, from Seanchua in Tircrill, and which is called the
B<x)k of Glenn-da-locha; and the Book of the Ua Chongliail;
together with other Books of Invasions and history, beside them.
" The sum of the matters to be found in the following book
is the taking of Erinn by [the Lady] Ceasair; the taking by
Farthohm; tlie taking by I^emedh; the taking by the Firbolgs;
the taking by the l^uatha JJc Dananii ; the taking by the sons
of M'deilh [or Miletius] ; and their succession down to the mo-
narch Melsneachlainn^ or'Malachy the Great [who died in 1022].
** We liave declined to speak of the Creators fii-st order, of
the created things, the heavens, the angels, time, and the great
uncreated mass out of whicli the four elements were foimed, by
the Divine will alone, in the six days work, with all the animals
that inhabit the land, the water, and the air; because it is to
divines that it belongs to speak of these things, and because we
have not deemed any of these things to be necessary to our work,
with God's help. It is with men and time only that we deem
172 OF THE WORKS OF THE FOUR MASTERS.
LECT. vm. it proper to begin our work^**\ that is to say, from the creation
The Book of ^^ *^^ ^* man, Adam, whose descendants, our ancestors, we
iHYAuoss. shall follow in the direct line, generation after generation, to
the conclusion of this undertaking, with the end of the reign
of Malachy the Great, son of Domnall, who was the last undis-
puted king of Erinn within herself; and we have proceeded,
m this work, upon the authority of the Gaedhlic chroniclers who
have preceded us ; and we have adopted the rule of computation
of the ages, as they have been foimd in the well- attested faitliful
archives of the Church of Christ. For it is foimded upon the
authority and faithfulness of the Holy Scriptures ; and we shall
show below how link by link this rule of computation fixes the
course of ages, in point and in perfection, from Adam to the
birth of Christ down, and down again to the departure of the
sovereignty from our nobles, as it was willed by God. We
give the computation of the Septuagint for the first four a^es
of the world, toother with the computation which the intelli-
gent and learned men who followed them applied to the ages
from the creation of the world till the birth of Christ, which
they divided into five parts — ^namely, from Adam to the Deluge,
2,242 years; from the Deluge to Abraham, 942 years; from
Abraham to David, 940 years ; from David to the Captivity, 485
years ; and from the Bondage to the Birth of Christ, 590 years.
"The reason that we have followed the authorities who
follow the Septuagint is, because they add the fifth age to their
ages, and, by so doing, they fill up the period of 5,199 years,
from the creation of Adam to the birth of Clirist. Among the
authors who follow the Septuagint, in the first four ages, are,
Eusebius, who, in his chronicle, computes from the creation of
Adam to the birth of Christ to be 5,199 years. Orosius, in
the first chapter of his first book, says, that there are from
Adam to Abraham 3,184 years ; from Abraham to the birth of
Christ, 2,015 years, which make up the same number. These
were two illustrious and wise Christian historians. Saint
Jerome said also, in his Epistle to Titus, that 6,000 years of
the world's age had not been then completed. Saint Augustine,
in the tenth epistle of liis twelfth book of the City of God, says,
that the time from the creation of man to that time counts six
thousand years. Both these are said to agree with the prece-
ding authorities in the same enumeration of 5,199 years from
Adam to the birth of Christ. Another authority for the same
fact is the Roman Martjrrology, which asserts that the full
(41) The custom of the compilers of the older Books of Invasions was alwajs
to commence with the Mosaic account of the creation. It is to tliis that
0*Clery alludes, in explaining his departure from this ancient usage of his
profession.
OF THE WORKS OF THE FOUR MASTERS. 173
amount of the ages from the creation of the world to the birth lect. vm.
of Christ was 5,199 years". Z~
' •' The Book of
lMVABI03i«.
The Preface ends here, and is followed by the certificates of
the assistant compilers of the work, with the approbations,
respectively, of Father Francis Mac Craith, Guardian of the
Convent of Lisgoole, where the work was compiled (dated the
i2nd day of December, 1631), and of Carbry Mac -ZEgan, of
Bally Mac -^gan, in the County of Tipperaiy (the 31st of
Aug:ust, 1631).
The original of this valuable book is now in the collection of
Lord Ashbumham, and there is a good copy of it in Trinity
College library HA. 1. 12.]. There is a fine paper copy of it
in the Royal Irisn Academy, made by Cucoigry O'Clery, evi-
dently for himself, but it wants the whole prefatory matter
[No. 33. 4.1. This book is a small quarto of 245 pages, closely
and beautinilly written, and equal to about 400 pages of O'Dono-
van*s Annals of the Four Masters.
Of the ancient " Books of Invasions", mentioned by O'Clery
as having been used in the compilation of this book, we know
of none at present existing but Leabhar-na-h-Uidhre, which
contains now but a small framnent of the Book of Invasions.
There arc, however, copies of the tract preserved in tlie Books
of Leinster and Lecain, and a slightly imperfect copy in the
Book of Ballymote.
The other Irish works compiled or transcribed by Brother ^^^ ^^^^^
Michael O'Clery, and of the existence of whicli we are aware, 2jcii^\°^
arc the following, now in the Biirgundian Library at Brussels : ociery.
1. A volume of Lives of Irish Saints, compiled and written
by him in the year 1628.
2. Another large volume of the Lives of the Irish Saints,
compiled and written in the year 1629.
3. A volume of Poems on the O'Donnells of Donegall. [These
three books I have never scen.]^"^
4. A volume containing many ancient and rare Irish Histo-
rical Poems, together with the important Tract kno\vn as tlic
Wars with the Danes. This volume was borrowed (^vith the libe-
ral sanction of the Belgian Government), a few years ago, by the
Rev. Dr. Todd, S.F.T.C.D., for whom I made a perfect cojnr of it.
5. The Skeleton Martyrology of Donegall [which I have
seen].
'«*^ Since the delivery of this lecture, tlie Brehon Law Commissioners borrowed
these three books, in the summer of 185G ; and I have read, and had several
extracts made from them.
174 OF THE WORKS OF THE FOUR MASTERS.
LBCT. vm. 6. The Perfect Martyrology of Donegall, full of important
The other ^^^^ ^'^^ additions. This volume was also borrowed by Dr.
Works of Todd, and of this too I made for him a perfect copy.
oci^. 7. A large volume containing, firstly, a collection of very cu-
rious and important ancient forms of prayer, and several reliffious
poems. It contains also a good copy of the Fdlire, or Festology
of Aengus CMle Di (or the Ciddee), as well as copies of the
Martyrologies of Tamfdacht [Tallaght] and of Marianus Gorman.
With the exception of the Festology or Martyrology of Aengus,
no part of the contents of this most important book was to be
found in Ireland, imtil this also was obtained for a short time
from the Belgian Government by the same distinguished gentle-
man, and I have made a copy of it for him.
And here, while on the one hand I feel bound to express the
strong and grateful sense every Irish archaBologist and historian
must feel of the enlightened liberality thus exhibited by the
Belgian Gt)vemment (affording so very marked a contrast to
the conduct of the English public authorities in such cases, as
well as to that of Enghsh private owners of manuscript works
of this kind), let me not omit to remark upon the example
which Dr. Todd's conduct suggests to all Irishmen, and parti-
cularly to those who are Catholics. For in this instance, as in-
deed m others too in which Dr. Todd was concerned, you have
an example of a Protestant gentleman, a clergyman of the Pro-
testant Church, and a Fellow of the Protestant University of
Dublin, casting away from him all the unworthy prejudices of
creed, caste, and position, with which, unfortimatcly, too many
of his class are filled to overflowing, and, like a true scholar and
a man of enlarged mind and understanding, endeavouring to
recover for liis native country as much of her long-lost and
widely dispersed ancient literary remains as he can ; and this
too, I may add, at an expense of time and money which few, if
any, in these very utilitarian times, are found disposed to incur.
To my excellent friend, Mr. Laurence Waldron, M.P., of
Ballybrack, in the County of Dublin, is due the first discovery
of the important collection of Irish MSS. at Brussels, about the
year 1844. He was the first that examined (at my request) the
Burgundian Library, and he brought me home tracings and de-
scriptions of great accuracy and of deep interest. These tracings
I placed in the hands of Dr. Todd, witn a request that he would
take an opportunity to make a more minute examination of the
MSS. Mr. Samuel Bindon, however, having heard of their
existence, and having occasion to spend some time at Brussels
in the j^ear 1846, made an examination of them, and afterwards
compiled a short catalogue of them, which he published on his
OF THB WORKS OF THE FOUR MASTERS. 175
return home, and which was read by the Rev. Dr. Todd before lect. vnr.
a meeting of the Royal Irish Acadeiny on the 10th of May, 1847. ^^^
Dr. Todd himself, and the Rev. Dr. Graves, F.T.C.D., both ccieryMss.
vifflted Brussels shortly afterwards, and each of them broueht ^ ^®***^°**
home yet more ample and accurate reports of those newly-dis-
covered literary treasures. Still, however, no competent person
has had time enough to make a detailed analysis of the collec-
tion. May I hope that it is reserved for the Catholic University
to accomplish an object so desirable and so peculiarly congenial
to a young institution which aims to be a truly national one ?
To return from this digression. Besides the above important of Michael
compilations of the learned and truly patriotic friar Michael Qi^iJJJjJg^
O'Ciery, he compiled in the Irish college in Louvain, and pub-
lished m that city in the year 1643, a glossary of ancient and
almost obsolete Irish words of great interest and value, not only
at that period, but even still. And, as no description of mine
could be as accurate or satisfactory as that of tlie author liimsclf,
I shall, as before, give you a literal translation of the title page,
and the valuable prefatory address to the Bishop of Elpliinn,
who belonged himself, it appears, to the same Franciscan Order.
The work is entitled :
" A new Vocabulary or Glossary, in which are explained some
part of the difficult words of the Gaedhlic, written in alphabe-
tical order, by the poor rude friar Michael O'Clcry, of the Order
of Saint Francis, in the CollcfT^c of the Irish friars at Louvain,
and printed by authority in the year 1G43'\ [Sec original in
Appendix No. LXXV.J
The Dedication is as follows [see same Arr.] : —
*' To my honoured lord and friend, Baothqiialach [Latinized
Boetius] Mac ^gan, Bishop of Ailjimi [Elphinn].
" Here is presented to you, my lord, a small gleaning of the
hard words of our native tongue, collected out of many of the
ancient books of our country, and explained according to the
und(?rstanding and glosses of the chief authors of our country
in the latter times, to whom the explanation of the ancient
Gaedhilg ])eculiarly belonged.
" I know not in our coimtry many to whom this gleaning
should be first offered before yourself. And it is not alone be-
cause that our [conventual] habit isthesame(areason which would
otherwise be sufficient to point our attention to you above all
others) , that has moved us to make you the patron of this book , but
along with that, and especially because of your own excellence,
and the hereditary attachment of yourfamdy to this profession.
And further that a man of your name and surname, Baothgluxlach
17C OF THR WORKS OF THE FOUR MASTERS.
LKc?r. VI lu Riiodli [Boetius the Red] Mac ^gan, is one of the chief autho-
3f MichMd rities whom we follow in the explanation of the words which
3-cierys are treated of in this book.
**" " We have not, however, desired more than to give a little
knowledge to those who are not well versed in their mother
ton^e, and to excite the more learned to supply such another
work as this, but on a better and larger scale".
After tliis Dedication follows tlie Preface, or Address to the
reader [Appendix, No. LXXVL] : —
'* Let the reader who desires to read this little work, know
four things : the first is, that we have not set down any word
of explanation or gloss of the hard words of our mother tongue,
but the words which we found with other persons, as explained
by the most competent and learned mastera in the knowledge
of the difficult words of the Graedhlic in our own days. Among
these, more particularly, were Boetius Roe [Ruadli] Mac -3£gan,
Toma O'Mulconry, Luahaidh O'Clery^ fma Maelseachlaimi 'the
moody' O'Mulconry. And though each of these was an accom-
C'" \ed adept, it is Boetius Roe that we have followed the most,
use it was from him we ourselves received, and we have
found written with others the explanations of the words of
which we treat. And, besides, because he was an illustrious
and accomplished scholar in this [the antiquarian] profession,
as is manifest in the character which the other scholar before
mentioned, Lughaidh O'Clery, gave of him after his death, as
may be found in these verses : —
" Aihairniy the father of learning,
Dalian Forgaill, the prime scholar,
To compare with him in intelligence would be unjust.
Nor Neidi^ the profound in just laws.
" Obscure history, the laws of the ancients,
The occult language of the poets ;
He, in a word, to our knowledge,
Had the power to explain and analyze, etc.
" We have known able professors of this science, and even m
the latter times, such as the late John O'Mulconry [of -ri rdchoill^
in the County of Clare], the chief teacher in history of those we
have already named, and indeed of all the men of Erinn Uke-
wise in his own time ; and Flann, the son of Cairbrey Mac
^gan [of Lower Ormond in Tipperary], who still lives; and
many more that we do not enumerate. But because we do not
happen to have at this side of the sea, where we aite in exile,
OF THE WORKS OF THE FOUR MASTERS. 177
the ancient books which tliey glossed, except a few, we could lect. vm.
not follow their explanation but to a small extent. ^^f Michael
" In the second place, be it known to you, O reader ! that J!',^J|^iJ,-
the difficult ancient books, to which the ancient authors put
glosses, and from which we have taken the following words,
with the fiirther explanation of the parties mentioned above,
who taught in these latter times, were : the Amhra^ [or Elegy] on
the death of Saint Colimi Cille; the Agallamh, or Dialogue of
the two Sages; the FelirS, or Festology of the Saints; the Mar-
tyrology of Marianus O'Gorman ; the Liber Hymnorum, or
Book of Hymns ; the Glossary of the (Tripartite) Life of Saint
Patrick ; an ancient Scripture on vellum ; and a certain old paper
book, in which many hard words were foimd, with their expla-
nations ; the glossary called Forus Focail (or, * The True Know-
ledge of Words') ; and the other glossary, called Deirhahiur don
Eoffna an Eigsi (or, * Poetry is the Sister of Wisdom'). And,
for the greater part of the l)ook from that out, we received the
explanation from the before-mentioned Boctius.
" Be it known to the reader, thirdly, that we have only de-
sired, when proposing to write this httlc work, to give but a
little light to the young and the ignorant, and to stimulate and
excite the professors and men of knowledge to produce a work
similar to this, but on a better and larger scale. And the reason
why we have not followed at length many of the various mean-
ings which poets and professors give to many of these words, is,
because that it is to the professors themselves it more particu-
larly belongs, and the people in general are not in as great need
iif it, as they are in need gf assistance to read and imdcrstand
the ancient books.
'* Fourthly. Be it known to the young people, and to the
ignorant, who desire to read the old books (which is not
dilficult to be learned of our country), that they [the old
writers] seldom care to write * the slender with the broad, and
the broad with the slender' [as required by an ancient ortho-
^.Taphical rule] ; and that they very rarely put the aspirate h
upon the consonants, as in the cases of 6, c, c?, /, etc., and also
that they seldom put the long dash [or accent] over the words
[or vowels]. Some of the consonants, too, are often written the
one for the other, such as c for ^, and t for d. The following
are a few specimens of words by which this will be understood :
cloff IS the same as cloc; agad is the same as agat; beag is the
same as beac; codlad is the same as cotlad; ard is the same as
art, etc. Very often, too, ae is put for ao; ai for aoi; and oi
for aoL As an example of this : aedh is often written for aodh;
and cael is the same as caol; and bad and boi are the same as
12
178 OF THE WORKS OF THE FOUR MASTERS.
•jcT,ytxi. bat. E is often written for a in tlic old books, such as dle^
which is the same as rfta, and cia the same as cie"".
This vaUiable preface closes with a few examples of con-
tractions, which are intelligible only to the eye [see Appendix,
No. LXXVIL]
These are all the works I know of by Michael O'Clery.
Of the writings of ConaiH O'Clery, brother of Fathers Ber-
't^« nardine and Michael, and who transcribed the chief part of the
If»<^and fair copy of the Annals of the Four Masters now in the lioyal
(^*^ Irish Academy, I have not been so fortunate as to discover any
trace beyond his part in that work.
In the beautiful handwriting of CuwigcrichS ^Cucoigry or
Peregrine) O'Clcry, we have, besides his part of tne Annals oi'
the Four Masters, a few specimens preserved in the library of
the Royal Irish Academy. We have: —
1. A copy (evidently made for his own use) of the Leabhar
Gabhdla, or Book of (Jonquests, already mentioned.
2. A copy of the topographical poems of O'Dugan and
OHuidhrin^ together with some other ancient historical poems.
3. A book of the genealogies and pedigrees of the great Irish
races, as also of the &eraldines. Butlers, etc.
In the volume in which these pieces are preser\'ed, the last
article is the Last Will and Testament of Cucoigry O'Clery
himself, written in Gaedhlic, in his usual beautiful hand, on a
small quarto page of paper, and dated at Cuirr-Jia-Heillte, in
the county of Mayo, the 8th of February, 16B4, which must
have been, I should think, some five or six years before his death.
The will begins in the usual way : ** In the name of the
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost" ; and after or-
dering that his body should be buried in the Monastery of
Buirgheis Umhaill, or in whatever other consecrated church his
friends might choose, he proceeds to bequeath the property
most dear to him of all that he had acquired in this world,
namely, his books, to his two sons, Dermait and John, to be
used by them as their necessities should require. And he di-
rected that the books should be equally at the service of the
children of his brother CairbrS^ with a charge that his sons and
his nephews should instruct their children in the acquaintance
and use of these books. [See the original of this will in the
Appendix, No. LXXVni.]
^ He appears to have had very little property besides to leave
his sons, and they do not seem to have much increased it. The
last recognized member of his descendants, the late John O'Clery ,
died quite a young man in Dublin about four years ago. This
OF THB WOBKS OF THS FOUB MASTKRS. 179
John was the son of John O^CleiVy who was many years gate- iMcr.vm.
clerk at the gas works in Great Brunswick Street in this city. ^^
To him the books that we have been speaking of did actually writings of
come down by lawfiil descent; and, having brought them to o^k!^
Dublin about the year 1817, they subsequently passed from
his hands into those of the late Edward O'Reilly, at the sale of
whose books they were fortunately purchased for the Library
of the Royal Irish Academy by Dr. retrie.
With his other literary accomplishments, hereditary and ac-
(^uiied, Cucoigry O'Cleiy appears to have been no mean adept
in the poetic art of his country. I have in my own possession
two poems written by him a short time before ms death for some
menibers of the great house of his ancient patrons, the O'Donnells
cl DonegalL [oee original in Appendix No. LXXIX.]
The mst of these is a poem of forty quatrains, addressed to
Torloch, the son of CaMharr [pron : " CAffar^ O'Donnell. It
is a philosophical and religious address on the vanities and the
fleetmg diodes and interests of the world. He condoles with
ODonnell upon the fidlen fortunes of his house, and the dispersion
of his &mily and people. He compliments him as having, after
the plantation of ulster, collected about him a body of his own
people, and having visited at their head (during the Cromwellian
wars) all parts of Ireland, gaining honour and emolument with
them wherever they went, during the space of fourteen years ;
and that then only he permitted them, when all hope of success
was past, to submit themselves to the English law, and so dis-
bonaed them at Port-Erne, on the borders of their own ancient
territory. He exhorts the aged chieftain and warrior, that as he
had been granted such a long life (being, at this time, over
seventy years of age), he should now dismiss from his mind
ambitious aspirations, and should rather turn it to devotion and
to penance tor his sins. He says, that he himself will be the
first of the two to be called bemre the Heavenly throne, and
that this is his last literary effort and gift bestowed upon him at
the close of his life.
The second poem is a poem of thirty-four quatrains, in .
answer to one addressed to him by Calbhach Ruadh [Roe]
O'Donnell. O'Donnell's poem appears to have contained a
request to O'Clcry to take up the history and ffenealories of
the Tirconnell race, as he was bound to do, he being the last
of their hereditary Seaiichaidlii. O'Donnell complains, too, of
his having been driven by the foreigners out of Mayo, where
his family had taken refiige, and forced to seek for a new home
in the neighbourhood of Crucichain, in the County Roscommon.
In O'Clery's poem the poet recommends his young friend
12 b
180 OF THE WORKS OF THE FOUR MASTERS.
LBCT. vni. O'Donnell to the attention of his own learned tutors, the O'Mul-
Qf th^j conrys and the O'Higgmses of the county Roscommon, who
O'cieryf. ynJl^ he assuTcs him, extend to him the literary homage due to
his own worth and to the well earned fame of his family.
Whatever may be the poetical value of these pieces of Cuco-
gry O'Clery, they certainly are not wanting in a clear apprecia-
tion of the shifting of the scenes in this imcertain world, and
the firmest religious conviction of the interference of an All-
guiding hand in their direction. As specimens of the writing
of one of our last literary scholars, they cannot fail to be in-
teresting.
I have now closed what I had prepared to say to you about the
O'Clerys. K any apology were necessary for my naving dwelt
80 long upon their labours and themselves, remember tliat I
have done so on the ground of theirs being the last and greatest
school of Irish historians, and not on accoimt of the peculiar
authority which, of itself, every record and assertion of such
careful and critical scholars has ever since been held to bear,
and must ever continue to bear with it.
LECTURE IX.
[DellTwed Julj 10, 1836.]
Of the chief existing Ancient Books. The Leabbarna h-UidhrS, The "Book
of Leinster^. The **Book of Ballymote''. The MS. commonly called
iiMbLeabkarBreae. The '*TeIlowBook of Z«catV. The "Book of Zecam^
Of the other Books and ancient MSS. in the Libraries of Trinity College,
Dublin ; the Royal Irish Academy ; and elsewhere. The " Book of las-
more**. The MSa called the Brehon Law MSS.
We have now disposed of the chief national Annals, and we
have noticed the other historical works of the last and greatest
of the annalists. But, though in some respects, undoubtedly,
the most important, the compositions we have been considering
form, after all, but a small portion of the immense mass of mate-
rials which exist in Irish manuscripts for the elucidation of our
history.
In the course of the present series of Lectures, it will be mv
dut^ to describe to you, — not indeed in the same detail witn
which I have thought it right to deal with the annalists, but so
as to make you understand, generally at least, their nature,
value, and extent, — ^thc vast collections of Historic Tracts
which our great MS. libraries fortunately possess ; and I
shall also have to bring under your notice some of the more
important of those pieces which have come down to us in the
fonn of systematic historical compositions, such as the "Wars of
the Danes", the "Boromean Tribute", etc.
But, before I do this, I desire to complete, in the first place,
that part of my design, in this preparatory course, which con-
sists of laying before you, at one view, the larger features of our
existing stock of materials for the elucidation of early Irish
hi^story. Accordingly, it is my intention, before passing to the
consideration of the mteresting pieces which record for us the
special details of local and personal history, to present to you
the outlines of the nature and contents of the great books them-
selves in which not only all these Tracts are preserved, but also the
immense nimiber of Genealogies in which the names and tribes
of our people are recorded from the earliest ages ; books, many
(^f which are themselves the sources from which the O'Clerys,
and other annalists before them, drew all their knowledge.
Fortunately, of these great books we have, as in the first
182 OF THE CHIEF EXISTING ANCIENT BOOKS.
LECT. IX. Lecture you have been shortly informed, many still remaining
Of the old ^ ^^» ^^ perfect preservation. And there Is not one of you to
Mss. still whom the originals themselves, notwithstanding the wear and
tear of centuries, may not easily become intelligible — so beau-
tifully was the scribe's work performed in early days in Ireland
— whenever you shall be disposed to devote but half the time
to the study of the noble old lan^age of Erinn, which you
devote to that of the great classic tongues of other ancient
people. A visit to the Library of the Koyal Lish Academy,
or of Trinity College, will, however, little serve to make you
aware of the vast extent of the treasures which lie in the dark-
written musty-looking old books you are shown there as curi-
osities, unless you shall provide yourselves with the key which
some acquaintance with their characters and language alone will
afford. In the short account, therefore, which I am about to
lay before you, of the great vellum books and MSS. In Dublin,
I shall add, in every case, some approximate calculation of their
length, by reference to the number of pages each book would
fill, if printed (the Irish text alone) in large quarto volumes,
such as those of O'Donovan's Annals of the Four Masters. And
when you have heard of what matter the contents of these books
consist, and reflect upon the length to which, if printed in full,
they would extend, 1 tliink you will agree with me that all that
I have said upon the value of our MS. treasures will, on better
acquaintance with them, be found to fall far short of the reality.
tiicLka- The first of these ancient books that merits notice, because it
""ij^^^BE. ^^ ^^^ oldest, Is that which is known by the name of Leabhar
NA H-UiDHRE, or the Book of the Dun Cow, to which 1 have
already shortly alluded in a former lecture. Of this book, so
often referred to in Michael O'Clery's Prefaces, we have now, un-
fortunately, but a fragment remaining — a fragment which consists,
however, of 138 folio pages, and is written on very old vellum.
The name and penod of writing the book of wliich it Is a
fragment, might, perhaps, be now lost for ever, if the curious
history of the book itself had not led to, and in some degree in-
deed necessitated, their preservation. AH that we know about
it is found in two entries, written at different periods. In a blank
part of the second column of the first page of folio 35. Of the
first of these curious entries, the following Is a literal translation
[See original in Appendix, No. LXXX.] : —
" Pray for Maelnmiri^ the son of Ceilechair, that is, the son of
the son of Conn-na-m-Bocht^ who wrote and collected this book
from various books. Pray for Donnell, the son of Murtoch, son
of Donnell, son of Tadhg [or Teig], son of Brian, son of An-
u
OF THE CHIEF EXISTING ANCIENT B00K8. 183
dreu, Bon of Brian Luighneachj son of Turloch M6r [or the lect. ix.
CrpeatI O'Conor. It was this Donnell that directed the renewal
of the name of the person who wrote this beautiful book, by Vuk^^l
Sigraidh (/Cuimin; and is it not as well for us to leave our «-^'''>«"»-
bleaaing with the owner of this book, as to send it to hinn by the
mouth of any other person ? And it is a week from this day to
Easter Saturday, and a week from yesterday to the Friday of
the Cracifixion ; and fthere will be] two Golden Fridays on
that Friday, that is, the Friday of the festival of the Blessed
Vii^n Mary and the Friday of the Crucifixion, and this is
greatly wondered at by some learned persons".
The following is the translation of the second entry, — same
page and column [see same App.] : —
** A prayer here for Aedfi Ruadh [Hugh the Red-haired], the
son of NulU Garbh O'Donnell, who forcibly recovered this
book from the people of Connacht, and the Leahhar Gearr [or
Short Book] along with it, after they had been away from us
from the time of Cathal off O'Conor to the time of Rory son of
Brian [O'Conor] ; and ten lords ruled over Carbury [or Sligo]
between them. And it was in the time of Conor, the son of
Hugh ODonnell, that they were taken to the west, and this is
the way in which they were so taken : The Short Book, in
ransom for O'Doherty, and Leabhar na h-Uidlire [that is, the
present book] in ransom of the son of O'Donnclls chief family
liistorian, who was captured by Cathal, and carried away as a
pledge ; and thus they [the books] were away from the Cenel
Comull [or O'Donnclls] from the time of Conor [O'Donnell] to
the [present] time of Hugh".
There is some mistake in tins last memorandum. Conor, the
son of Hugh O'Donnell, in whose time the books are stated here
to have been carried into Connaught, was slain by his brother
Niall in the year 1342, according to tlie Annals of the Four
Masters; and the capture of John O'Doherty by Cathal 6y
O'Conor, at the battle of Ballysliannon, took place in the year
1351>. The projKjr reading would, therefore, seem to be, that
Leahliar na h-Uulhre passed into Connacht first, before Conor
O'Donnell's death in 1342, and that the Leabhar Gearr, or
Short Book, was given in ransom for O'Doherty in 1359 ; Conor
O'Donnells reign covering both periods, as the writer does not
seem to recognize the reign of the fratricide Niall.
Tlie following passage from the Annals of the Four Masters
will make this last entry more intelligible, and show that it was
made in Doncgall in the year 1470 [tK?e original in Appendix,
No. LXXXI.J :—
" A.D. 1 470. The Castle of Sligo was taken, after a long
184 OF THE CHIEF EXISTING ANCIENT BOOKS.
ixcT, IX. sicffe, by O'Donnell, that is, Hugh the Red-haired, from Don-
lka ^® ' ^^^ ^^^ ^^ Eoffhan O'Conor. On this occasion he obtained
BHAu NA all ihat he demanded by way of reparation, besides receiving
H-UiDHiiu |^]j^j^ of submission and tribute from Lower Connacht. It was
on this occasion too that he recovered the book called Leahhar
Gearr [or the Short Book], and another, Leabhar na h-Uidhri^
as well as the chairs of DonneU 6g [O'Donnell], which had been
carried thither in the time of John, the son of Conor, son of
Hugh, son of Donnell 6g O'Donnell".
In reference to the first entry, it must have been made while
the book was in Connacht, and by Sigraidh OCuimin^ who
was, according to the Annals of the Foiur Masters, a learned
poet of Briefney, and died in the year 1347 ; and he must have
made the entry in the year 1345, as that was the only year at
this particular period in which Good Friday happened to fall
on the festival of the Annunciation, or the 25th of March. This
fact is further borne out by an entry in the Annals of the Four
Masters, which records that Conor O'Donnell, chief of Tircon-
nell, died in the year 1342, after a reign of nine years; and we
have seen from tne entry, that it was in his time that this book
must have been carried into Connacht. According to the same
Annals, Donnell, the son of Murtach O'Conor, died in the
year 1437, by whose direction OCuimin renewed the name of
the original writer, — which, even at this early period, seems to
have disappeared, several leaves of the book, and amongst others
that whicn contained this entry, having even then been lost.
Of the original compiler and wnter of the Leabhar na
h-UidhrS, I have been able to learn notliing more than the fol-
lowing brief and melancholy notice of his death in the Annals
of the Four Masters, at the year 1106 [see original in Appendix,
No. LXXXII.]:—
" Maelmuirij son of the son of Conn 7ia m-Bocht^ was killed
in the middle of the great stone church of Cluainmacnois, by a
party of robbers'*.
A memorandum, in the original hand, at the top of folio 45,
clearly identifies the writer of the book with the person whose
death is recorded in the passage just quoted from the Annals ;
it is partl)r in Latin and partly in Gaedhlic, as follows : —
" This is a trial of his pen here, by Maelmuiri^ son of the
son of Conn*' [see original in Appendix, No. LXXXIII.]
This Conn na m-Bocht, or " Conn of the Poor**, as he was
called from his devotion to their relief and care, was a lay reli-
gious of Clonmacnois, and the father and founder of a distin-
guished family of scholars, lay and ecclesiastical. He appears
to have been the founder and superior of a community of poor
OP THE CHIEF EXISTING ANCIENT BOOKS. 185
lay monks, of the Ceile Di (or "Culdce") order, in connexion lect. i».
with that great establishment; and he died in the year 1059. tj^^lb
The contents of the MS., as they stand now, are of a mixed bhab na
chaiacter, historical and romantic, andrelate to the ante-Christian, "•^'**"*^
as well as the Christian period. The book begins with a fragment
of the Book of Genesis, part of which was always prefixed to
the Book of Invasions (or ancient Colonizations) of Erinn, for
genealogical purposes; (and there is good reason to believe,
that a fiiU tract on this subject was contained in the book so
late as the year 1631, as Father Michael O'Clery quotes it in
his new compilation of the Book of Invasions made in that
year for Brian MacGuire).
This is followed by a fragment of the history of the Britons,
by Nennius, translated into Gaedhlic by Gilla Caomhain, the
poet and chronologist, who died a.d. 1072. (This tract was
published by the Irish Archaeological Society in 1848.)
The next important piece is the very ancient elegy, written
by the poet Dalian Fargaill, on the death of Saint Colum Cille,
in the year 592. It is remarkable that even at the early period
of the compilation of the Leabhar na h- Uidkr^, this celebrated
poem should have required a gloss to make it intelligible. The
gloss, which is as usual interlined, is not very copious, but it is
most important, both in a philological and historical point of
view, because of the many more ancient compositions quoted in
it for the explanation of words ; which compositions, therefore,
must then have been still in existence.
The elegy is followed by fragments of the ancient historic
tale of the Mesca Uladh, [or Inebriety of the Ultonians,] who,
in a fit of excitement, after a great feast at tlie royal palace of
Emania, made a sudden and furious march into Mimster, where
tlicy burned the palace of Teamhair Luachra^ in Kerry, then
the residence of Curoi Mac Daire, king of West Munster.
This tract abounds in curious notices of topography, as well as
in allusions to and descriptions of social habits and manners.
Next come fragments of Tain Bo Dartadha, and the Tain
BoFUJais ; both Cattle Spoils, arising out of the celebrated Cattle
Spoil of Cuailani. Next comes the story of the wanderings of
Maelduin's ship in the Atlantic, for three years and seven
months, in the eighth century. These are followed by imper-
fect copies of: the Tain Bo Chuailgne, or great cattle spoil of
Cnailgne; the Bruiahean Da Dearga^ and death of the monarch
Co noire Mor; a history of the great pagan cemeteries of
Erinn, and of the various old books from which this and other
pieces W(ne compiled; poems by Flann of Monasterboice and
oth^'rs; together with various other pieces of history and his-
186 OF THE CHIEF EXISTING ANCIENT BOOKS.
LECT. IX, toric romance, chiefly referring to the ante-Christian period, and
especially that of the Tuatha JDi Danann, This most valuable
MS. belongs to the Royal Irish Academy. If printed at length,
the text of it would make about 500 pages of the Annals of the
Four Masters.
The Book of The ncxt ancient book which I shall treat of is that at
LwKOTEB. pj^esent known under the name of the Book of Leinster.
It can be shown, from various internal evidences, that this
volume was either compiled or transcribed in the first half of
the twelfth century, by Finn Mac Grorman, Bishop of Kildare,
who died in the year 1160; and that it was compiled by order
of Aodh Mac Crimhthairm, the tutor of the notorious Dermod
Mac Murroch — that king of Leinster who first invited Earl
Strongbow and the Anglo-Normans into Ireland, in the year
1169. The book was evidently compiled for Dermod, under
the superintendence of liis tutor, by Mac Gorman, who had prob-
ably been a fellow-pupil of the king. In support of this asser-
tion, I need only transcribe the following entry, which occurs,
in the original hand, at the end of folio 202, page b. of the book
[see original in Appendix, No. LXXXIV.J : —
*' Benediction and health from Finn, the Bishop of Kildare,
to Aedh [Hugli] Mac Crimhthainn, the tutor of the chief king of
Leth Mogha Nuadat [or of Leinster and Munster], successor of
Colum, the son of Crimhthann, and chief historian of Leinster
in wisdom, intelligence, and the cultivation of books, know-
ledge, and learning. And I write the conclusion of this little
tale for thee, O acute A edh ! [Hugh] thou possessor of the spark-
ling intellect. May it be long before we are without thee. It is
my desire that thou shouldst be always with us. Let Mac
Lonan's book of poems be given to me, that I may undei-stand
the sense of the poems that are in it ; and farewell in Christ" ;
etc.
Tliis note must be received as sufficient e\4dence to bring the
date of this valuable manuscript within the period of a man's
life, whose death, as a Catholic bishop, happened in tlie year
1160, and who was, I bcUeve, consecrated to the ancient see of
Kildare in the year 1148, long before which period, of course,
he must have been employed to write out this book. Of the
Aedh Mac Crimhthainn for whom he wrote it, I have not been
able to ascertain anything more than what appears above ; but
he must have flourished early in the twelfth century to be the
tutor of Dermod Mac Murroch, who, in concert with O'Brien,
had led the men of Leinster against the Danes of Waterford,
so far back as the year 1137.
OF THE CHIEF EXISTING ANCIENT BOOKS. 187
That this book belonged either to Dermod Mac Murroch lect. ix.
himself, or to some person who had him warmly at heart, will ^^
appear plainly from the following memorandum, which is Luxmn. °*
written m a strange but ancient hand, in the top margin of
folio 200, page a. [see ori^nal in Appendix, No. LaXX v.] : —
" O Virgin Mary I it is a great deed that has been done in
Erinn this day, the kalends of August — viz., Dermod, the son
of Donnoch Mac Murroch, king of" Leinster, and of the Danes
[of Dublin], to have been banished over the sea eastwards by
the men of Erinn. Uch, uch, O Lord ! what shall I do ?"
The book consists, at present, of over four himdred pages of
large folio vellum ; but there are many leaves of the old pagin-
ation missing.
To give anything like a satisfactory analysis of this book,
would take at least one whole lecture. I cannot, therefore,
within my present limited space do more than glance at its
general character, and point, by name only, to a few of the
many important pieces preserved in it.
It begins as usual with a Book of Invasions of Erinn, but
without the Book of Genesis ; after which the succession of the
monarchs to the year 1169 ; and the succession and obituary of
the provincial and other minor kings, etc. Then follow speci-
mens of ancient versification, — poems on Tara, and an ancient
flan and explanation of the Teach Midhchuarta, or Banqueting
I all of that ancient royal city. (These poems and plan have
been published by Dr. Petrie, in liis paper on the history of
Tara, printed in the Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy
for 1839, vol. xviii.) After these come poems on the wars of the
Leinstermen, the Ulstermen, and tlie Munstermen, in great
numbers, many of them of the highest historic interest and
vahie; and some prose pieces and small poems on Leinster, of
great antiquity — some of them, as I believe, certainly written
by Dubhthach, the gi'cat antiquarian and poet, who was Saint
Patrick 8 first convert at Tara. After these a fine copy of the
history of the celebrated Battle of Ross na Riah, on the Boyne,
fought between the men of Leinster and Ulster at the begin-
ning of the Christian era. A copy of the Mesca Uladhj or In-
ebriety of the Ultonians, imperfect at the end, but which can be
made perfect by the fragment of it abeady mentioned in Leab-
har na h- Uidhri. A fine copy of the Origin of the Boromean
Tribute, and the battles that ensued down to its remission. A
fragment of the " Battle of Cennabraf, in Munster, with the de-
feat of Mac Con by (Hlioll Olulm, Mac Con s flight into Scotland,
his return afterwards with a large force of Scottish and British
188 OF THE CHIEF EXISTING ANCIENT BOOKS.
LECT. IX. adventurers, his landing in the bay of Galway, and the ensuing
The Book op ^^^^^ ^f Mogh MucTuimhS, fought between nim and his mater
leikotwl nal uncle, Art, the monarch of Erinn, in which battle the latter
was defeated and killed, as well as the seven sons of Oilioll
Oluim, A variety of curious and important short tracts re-
lating to Munster, are also to be found in the Book of Leinster,
besides this last one, up to the middle of the eighth century.
This volume Ukewise contains a small fragment of Cormacs
Glossary, copied, perhaps with many more of these pieces, from
the veritable Saltair of Cashel itself; also, a fragment, unfor-
tunately a very small one, (the first folio only), of the Wars of
the Danes and the Gaedliils (t. e. the Irish) ; a copy of the
Dinnsenchus, a celebrated ancient topographical tract, which
was compiled at Tara about the year 550; several ancient
poems on imiversal geography, chronology, history, and soforth ;
pedigrees and genealogies of the great Milesian tribes and fami-
lies, particularly those of Leinster ; and lastly, an ample list
of the early saints of Erinn, with their pedigrees and affinities,
and with copious references to the situations of their churches.
This is but an imperfect sketch of this invaluable MS., and
I think I may say with sorrow, that there is not in all Europe
any nation but this of ours that would not long since have made
a national literary fortune out of such a volume, had any other
country in Europe been fortunate enough to possess such an
heir-loom of history.
The volume forms, at present, part of the rich store of ancient
Irish literature preserved in the library of Trinity College, Dub-
lin ; and if printed at length, the Gaedhlic text of it would make
2000 pages of the Annals of the Four Masters.
B iLLrjwTB ^ The next book in order of antiquity, of which I shall treat,
is the well known Book of Ballymote.
This noble volume, though defective in a few places, still con-
sists of 251 leaves, or 502 pages of the largest folio vellum,
equal to about 2500 pages of the printed Annals of the Four
Masters.
It was written by different persons, but chiefly by Solomon
O'Droma and Manus O'Duigenann ; and we find it stated at
folio 62.b., that it was written at Ballymote (in the county of
Sligo) in the house of Tomaltach 6g Mac Donogh, Lord of Co-
rann in that county, at the time that Torlogh 6g^ the son of
Hugh O'Conor, was king of Connacht ; and Charles O'Conor
of Belanagar has written in it the date 1391, as the precise
vear in which this part of the book was written. This book,
like all our old books still existing, is but a compilation collected
OF THE CHIEF EXISTING ANCIENT BOOKS. 189
from various sources, and must, like them, be held to represent lect. ix.
to a great extent several older compilations.
It begins with an imperfect copy of the ancient Leahhar balltmotx'
Gabhdlay or Book of Invasions of Erinn, differing in a few de-
tails from other copies of the same tract. This is followed by
a series of ancient chronological, historical, and genealogical
pieces in prose and verse. Then follow the pedigrees of Irish
saints ; the history and pedigrees of all the great families of the
Milesian race, with the various minor tribes and families which
have branched off from them in the succession of ages ; so that
there scarcely exists an O' or a Mac at the present day who
may not find in this book the name of the particular remote
ancestor whose name he bears as a surname, as well as the time
at which he lived, what he was, and from what more ancient line
he again was descended. These genealogies may appear unim-
portant to ordinary readers ; but those who have essayed to illus-
trate any branch of the ancient history of this country, and who
could have availed themselves of them, have found in them the
most authentic, accurate, and important auxiliaries: in fact, a
history which has remained so long unwritten as that of ancient
Erinn, could never be satisfactorily compiled at all without them.
Of these genealogies I shall have more to say in a subsequent
lecture. [See post^ Lect. X.]
These family liistories are followed, in the Book of Ballymote,
by some accounts of Conor Mac Nessa, king of Ulster; of
Aithim^ \ke Satirist; the tragical death of the beautiful lady
Luaidet; the story of the adventures of the monarch Cormac
Mac Art in fairy-land ; some curious and valuable sketches of the
death of the monarch Crimhthann Mar; a tract on the accession
of Niall of the Nine Hostages to the monarchy, his wars, and the
death of his brother Fiachra, at Forraidh (in the present county
of Westmeath), on his return, mortally wounded, from the battle
of Caenraighe (Kcnry, in the present county of Limerick).
Some of these pieces are, doubtless, mixed up with mytholo-
pcal fable ; but as the main facts, as well as all the actors, are
real, and as to these mythological fables may be traced up many
of the cliaracteristic popular customs and superstitions still re-
maining among us, these pieces must be looked upon as materials
of no ordinary value by the historical and antiquarian investi-
gator. After these follow tracts, in prose and verse, on the
names, parentage, and husbands of the most remarkable women
in Irish history, down to the twefth century ; a tract on the
mothers of the Irish saints ; a tract on the origin of the names
and surnames of the most remarkable men in ancient Irish his-
tory ; and an ancient law tract on the rights, privileges, rewards,
190 OF THE CHIEF EXISTING ANCIENT BOOKS.
LECT. IX. and soforth, of the learned classes, such as the ecclesiastical or-
The Book of ^®"' ^^^ ordcis of pocts, teachcFs, judffes, etc. After this we have
balltmotb. the ancient translation into the Graeohlic of the history of the
Britons by Nennius, before alluded to as having been published
a few years ago by the Irish Archaeological Society ; an ancient
Grammar and Prosody, richly illustrated with specimens of an-
cient Irish versification ; a tract on the Ogham alphabets of the
ancient Irish, with illustrations (about to be published shortly by
the Archaeological Society, edited by my respected friend, the
Rev. Dr. Graves, F.T.C.D.); the book of reciprocal rights and
tributes of the monarch and provincial kings, and some minor
chiefs of ancient Ireland (a most important document, published
for the first time in 1847, by the Celtic Society) ; a tract on the
ancient history, cliiefs,and chieftaincies of CorcaLaoi, or O'Dris-
coll's country, in the county of Cork (published also by the
Celtic Society, in their Miscellany for 1849) ; a copy of the
IHnnsenchuSy or great topographical tract ; and a translation or
account in ancient Graedhlic, with a critical collation of various
texts, of the Argonautic expedition and the Trojan war.
The book ends with the adventures of Mneas after the des-
truction of Troj.
The Gaedhhc text of this great book, which belongs to the
Library of the Royal Irish Academy, would make about 2500
pages of the Annals of the Four Masters.
S*ira^ As I have, in a former lecture, given a free analysis of the
theLKABHAB MS. commonly called the Leabhar Breac, or Speckled Book,
^*^^ an ancient vellum MS. preserved in the same hbraiy, I have
only to add here that the Gaedlilic text of that most important
volume would make above 2000 pages of the Annals of the
Four Masters.
BooK^o^"*^ The next great book which merits our attention is that which
lboaik. has been lately discovered to be, in great part, the Leabhar
Buidhi Lecain, or Yellow Book of Lecain, one of the ponde-
rous compilations of the truly learned and industrious family of
the Mac Firbises of that ancient seat of learning. It is preserved
in the library of Tiinity College, Dublin, where it is classed
H. 2.16.
This volume, notwithstanding many losses, consists of about
500 pages of large quarto vellum, equal to about 2000 pages of
Gaedhhc text, printed like O'Donovan's Annals of the Four
Masters ; and, with the exception of a few small tracts in other
and somewhat later hands, it is all finely written by Donnoch
and Gilla ha Mac Firbis, in the year 18J)0.
OP THE CHIEF EXISTING ANCIENT BOOKS. 191
The Yellow Book of Lecain, in its original form, would ap- lect. ix,
pear to have been a collection of ancient historical pieces, civil ^^^ yellow
and ecclesiastical, in prose and verse. In its present condition, book of
it begins with a collection of family and political poems, relating
chiefly to the families of O'Kelly and O'Conor of Connacht,
and the O'Donnells of Donegall. This tract made no part of
the original book. These pieces are followed by some mo-
nastic rules in verse, and some poems on ancient Tara, with
another fine copy of the plan and explanation of its Teach
Midhchuarta^ or Banqueting Hall; the same which has been
published by Dr. Petrie in his Essay on the History and
Antiquities of Tara. After this an account of the creation,
with the formation and fall of man, translated evidently from
the Book of Genesis. This biblical piece is followed by the
Feast of Dun na n-Gedh and the battle of Magh Bath (two
important tracts published from this copy by the Irish Archaeo-
logical Society); then a most curious ana valuable account,
though a little tinged with fable, of the reign and death of Muir-
chertach Mac Erca, monarch of Ireland, at the palace of Cleitech,
on the banks of the River Bojue, in the year of our Lord 527 ;
an imperfect copy of the Tain Bo Chuailgni^ or great Cattle
Spoil of Cuailgn^, in Louth, with several of the minor cattle
spoils that grew out of it ; after which is a fine copy of the
Bruighean Da Dearga^ and death of the monarch Conaire Mor;
the talc of the wanderings of Maelduins ship (for more than
three years) in the Atlantic ; some most interesting^ tracts con-
cerning the banishment of an ancient tribe from East Meath,
and an account of the wanderings of some Irish ecclesiastics in
the Northern Ocean, where they found the exiles ; an abstract
of the battle of Dunbolg, in Wicklow, where the monarch, Aedh
Mac Ainmircj was slain, in the year 594; the battle oi Magh
Rath (in the present county of Down), in which Congal Claen,
frince of Ulidia, was slain, in the yeai* 634 (published by the
rish Archaeological Society) ; and the battle of A Imhain (now
Allen, in the present County of Kildare), where the monarch
Ferghal was killed, in the year 718. A variety of curious pieces
follow, relating to Conor Mac Nessa ; Curoi Mac DairS (pron.
nearly " Cooree Mac Darry") ; Labhraidh Loinaseach (" Lovra
Lingsha**), king of Lcinster ; Niall of the Nine Hostages, and his
poet Toma; together with many other valuable tracts and
scraps, which I can do no more than allude to at present; and
the volume ends with a fine copy (imperfect at the beginning)
of the law tract I have already mentioned, when speaking of
the Book of Ballymote. This volume would make about 2000
pages of the Annals of the Four Masters.
192 OF THE CHIEF EXISTING ANCIENT BOOKS.
LECT. IX. The next of these great books to which I would desire your at-
The Book of *®^^^^» ^^ ^^^ volume SO wcll known as the Book of Lec ain. This
lecaw, book was compiled in the year 1416, by Gilla Isa Mar Mac
Firbis ofLecain Mic Fhirbisigh, in the county of Sligo,one of the
great school of teachers of that celebrated locality, and the direct
ancestor of the learned Dubhaltach [or Duald] Mac Firbis, already
mentioned. This book, which belongs to the Ubrary of the
Royal Irish Academy, contains over 600 pages, equal to 2400
pages of the Gaedhhc text of tlie Annals of the Four Masters.
It IS beautifully and accurately written on vellum of small folio
size, chiefly in the hand of Gilla Isa Mac Firbis, though there
are some small parts of it written, respectively, in the hands of
Adam OCuimin (the historian of BreifnS, or Briefney) and
Morogh Riabkac uCuindlisS*^^
The first nine folios of the Book of Lecain were lost, imtil
discovered by me a few years ago bound up in a volume of the
Seabright Collection, in the library of Trinity College.
The Book of Lecain differs but little, in its arrangement and
general contents, from the Book of Ballymote. It contains two
copies of the Book of Invasions, an imperfect one at the begin-
ning, but a perfect one, with the Succession of the Kings,
and the tract on the Boromean Tribute, at the end. It contains
fine copies of the ancient historical, synchronological, chronolo-
gical, and genealogical poems already spoken of as comprised in
tne Book of Ballymote, as well as some that are not contained
in that volume. These are followed by the family history and
genealogies of the Milesians, with considerable and important
additions to those found in the Book of Ballymote. Among
the additions is a very valuable tract, in prose and verse, by
Mac Firbis himself, on the families and subdivisions of the ter-
ritory of Tir-Fiachrachy in the present county of Sligo ; a tract
which has been published by the Irish Archseological Society
under the title of " The Tribes and Customs of Hy-Fiachrach".
Of the chief The Other ancient vellum books of importance, preserved in
TnT^CD. ' the library of Trinity College, Dublin, may be described as
follows : —
1. A folio volume of ancient laws, of 120 pages, on vellum,
written about the year 1400 (classed E. 3. 5.) This forms part
of the collection shortly to be pubUshed by the Brehon Law
Commission, and would make about 400 pages of the Annals of
the Four Masters.
(48) And here I may perhaps be permitted to observe, that I believe the
families of Forbes and Candlish in Scotland, are the same as, and indeed
directly descended from, those of Mac Firbis and O'Cuindlis in Ireland.
OF THE CHIEF EXISTING ANCIENT BOOKS. 193
2. A small folio volume, of 430 pages, on vellum (classed H. lect. ix.
2. 7), consisting chiefly of Irish pedigrees; together with some ^^^^^
historical poems on tne O'Kellys and O'Maadens, and some veiium mss.
fraCTients of ancient historic tracts of great value, the titles of *°^*^'^*
which, however, are missing. It contains also some translations
from ancient Anglo-Saxon writers of romance, and a fragment
of an ancient translation of Giraldus Cambrensis' History of
the Conquest of Erinn. The handwriting appears to he of
the sixteenth century, and the contents of the volume would
make about 900 pages of the Annals of the Four Masters.
3. A large foho volume, of 238 pages (classed H. 2. 15),
Eart on vellum, part on paper, consisting of a fragment of Bre-
on laws, on vellum, transcribed about the year 1300; two
copies of Cormac s Glossary, on paper (one of them by Duald
Mac Firbis) ; another ancient Derivative Glossary, in tlie same
hand; and some fragments of the early history of Erinn, on vel-
lum. This volume would make about 500 pages of the Annals
of the Four Masters.
4. A large folio volume, of 400 pages (classed H. 2. 17),
part on paper, and part on vellum, consisting chiefly of frag-
ments of various old books or tracts, and, among others, a
fragment of a curious ancient medical treatise. This volume
likewise contains a fragment of the Tain D6 Chuailgni; and,
among merely literary talcs, it includes that of the Reign of
Saturn, an impeifect eastern story, as well as an account of the
Argonautic expedition (imperfect), and of the Destruction of
Troy (also imperfect). With this volume are bound up nine
Leaves belonging to the Book of Lecain, containing, amongst
other things, the " Dialogue of the Two Sages" ; the Royal
Precepts of King Cormac Mac Art ; a fragment of the Danish
Wars ; short biographical sketches of some of the Irish Saints ;
and many other interesting historic pieces. The Gacdhlic text
of this volume would make altogether about 1400 pages of the
Annals of the Four Masters.
5. A large vellum quarto (classed H. 3. 3), containing a fine,
but much decayed, copy of the Dinnseanchus. It would make
about 100 pages.
6. A small quarto volume, of 870 pages, on vellum, written
in the sixteenth century (classed H. 3. 17.). The contents, up
to the 617th page, consist of ancient laws; and from that to
the end the contents are of the most miscellaneous character.
They consist chiefly of short pieces, such as Bricrinn's Feast,
an ancient tale of the Ultonians (imperfect); an accomit of
the expulsion of the Deise, (Decies, or Deasys), from Bregia; a
list of the wonders of Erinn ; the tract on the ancient pagan
13
194 OF THE CHIEF EXISTING ANCIENT BOOKS.
LECT. IX. cemeteries of Erinn ; the account of the Division of Erinn
Of the chief ^^^^^^g ^^^ Aitheoch Tuatha (called by English writers the Atta-
▼«"«»» Msa cots) ; the discovery of Cashel, and story of the two Druids :
together with the genealogies of the O'Briens, and the Suc-
cession of the monarchs of Ireland of the line of Eber, In the
same volimie will be found, too, the curious account of the reve-
lation of the Crucifixion to Conor Mac Nessa, king of Ulster, by
his druid, on the day upon which it occurred, and of the death
of Conor in consequence ; the story of the elopement of Ere,
daughter of the king of Albain (or Scotland), with the Irish
prince Muiredhach^ grandson of Niall of the Nine Hostages ; a
tract on Omens, from the croaking of ravens, etc. ; the trans-
lation of the history of the Britons Dy Nennius ; the story of the
courtship o^Finn Mac Cumhaill (pron. " Finn Mac Coole") and
AilbhS (pron. " Alveh"), the daughter of king Cormac Mac Art ;
together with many other short but valuable pieces. This volume
would make 1700 pages of Gaedhlic text like those of the
Annals of the Four Mastera.
7. A small quarto volume, of 665 pages of vellum, and 194
piges paper, written in the sixteenth century (classed H. 3. 18).
The first 500 mges contain various tracts and fragments of
ancient laws. The remainder, to the end, consists of several
independent glossaries, and glosses of ancient poems and prose
tracts ; together with the ancient historical tales of Bruighean
Da Chogadh (pron. " Breean Ak Cugga") ; a story of Cathal
Mac Finghuinij king of Mimster in the middle of the eighth
centun''; stories of Konan Mac Aedha (pron. " Mac CEa", or
Mac Hugh), king of Leinster; and the story of the poetess
lAadairij of Kerry. This volume contains also the account of
the revolution of the Aitheach Tuatha [or Attacots], and the
murder by them of the kings and nobles of Erinn ; TundaVs
vision; poems on the O'Neills, and on the Mac Donnells of
Antrim ; John O'Mulchonroy's celebrated poem on Brian-wa-
Murtha O'Rourke ; together with a great number of short arti-
cles on a variety of historic subjects, bearing on all parts of
Erinn ; and some pedigrees of the chief families of Ulster,
Connacht, and Leinster. This volume would make about 1800
pages of the Annals of the Four Masters.
8. A small quarto volume, of 230 pages (classed H. 4. 22),
seventy of which contain fragments of ancient laws. The
remainder of the book contains a gi*eat variety of tracts and
poems, and among others a large and important tract on the
nrst settlement of the Milesians in Erinn ; a fragment of the
tale called Bricrinn s Feast ; several ancient poems on the fami-
lies of the O'Neills, the O'Driscolls, the Mac Renalds, etc.;
OF THE CHIEF EXISTING ANCIENT BOOKS. 195
together with various small poems and prose tracts of some lect. ix.
raiue. This volume appears to be made up of fragments of two
books. The writing of the first seventy pages seems to be of rciium mss.
the sixteenth century, but the remaining part appears to be at *" ^'^'^'
least a century older. The entire volume has suffered much
from neglect, and from exposure to smoke and damp. The
Gaedhlic text of it would make about 500 pages of the Annals
of the Four Masters.
To these books I may add (as being preserved in the same
library) the Annals of Ulster, and those of Loch CS, already
rken of, both on vellum, and the text of which would make
ut 900 pages of the Annals of the Four Masters.
Besides these vellum manuscripts of law and history, the Tri-
nity College library contains a large collection of paper MSS.
of great value, being transcripts of ancient vellimi books made
chiefly in the first half of the last century. To enumerate, and
even partially to analjrse, these paper MSS., would carry me far
beyond the hmits to which the present lecture must necessarily
be confined ; but among the most important of them I may men-
tion a volume written about the year 1690, by Owen O'Don-
nelly (an excellent Graedhlic scholar) ; some large volumes by
the O'Neachtans [John and Tadhg, or Teige] , between the years
1716 and 1740; a copy of the Wars of Thomond, made by
Andrew MacCurtin in 1716; and several large volumes trans-
cribed by Hugh O'Daly for Doctor Francis O'Sullivan of Tri-
nity College, m and about the year 1750, the originals of which
are not now known.
In this catalogue of books I have not particularised, nor in
some instances at all included, the large body of ecclesiastical
writings preserved in the Trinity College library, consisting of
ancient hves of Irish saints, and other religious pieces, in prose
and verse. Neither have I included, in my analyses of the col-
lection, the fac-simile copies made by myself, for the library, of
the Bo<3k of Lecain (on vellum), of the so called Leabhar JBreac
(on paper), of the Danish Wars, of Mac Firbis's glossaries, and
of a volume of ancient Irish deeds (on paper).
The library of the Royal Irish Academy, besides its fine of the mss
treasures of ancient vellum manuscripts, contains also a very SbilSr of
large number of important paper manuscripts; but as they**^®*^^^
amount to some himdrcds, it would be totally out of my power,
and beyond the scope of this lecture, to enumerate them, or to
give the most meagre analysis of their varied contents.^**^
(M> A Ibt of all the Gaedhlic MSS. in the libraries of the R. Irish Academj
and Trinity College, Dublin, will be found in the Appendix, No. LXXXVI.
13 b
196 OF THE CHIEF EXISTING ANCIENT BOOKS.
LBCT. IX. There are, however, a few among them to which 1 feci called
Th Book ^P^'* particularly to allude, although in tcims morc brief than,
or LisMoiiE. with more time and space, I should have been disposed to de-
vote to them.
The first of these volumes that I wish to bring under your
notice, is a fra^ncnt of the book well known as tlic Book of
LiSMOBE. This is a manuscript on paper of the largest folio size
and best quality. It is a fac-similc copy made by me from the
original, in the year 1839, for the Royal Irish Academy. Tliis
transcript is an exact copy, page for page, line for line, word for
word, and contraction for contraction, and was carefully and at-
tentively read over and collated with the original, by Dr. John
O'Donovan and myself And indeed I think I may safely eay
that I have recovered as much of the text of the original as it
was possible to bring out, without the application of acids or
otlier chemical preparations, which I was not at liberty to use.
Of the history of the original MS., which is finely written on
velliun of the largest size, we know nothing pre\4ous to the year
1814. In that year the late Duke of Devonshire commcneed
tlie work of repairing the ancient castle of Lismore in the coimty
of Waterford, his property ; and in the progress of the work, the
men having occasion to re-open a door-way that had been closed
up with masonry in tlie interior of the castle, they found a
wooden box enclosed in the centre of it, which, on being taken
out, was found to contain this MS., as well as a superb old cro-
zicr. The MS. had suffered much from damp, and the back,
front, and top margin had been gnawed in several places by rats
or mice ; but worse than that, it was said that the workmen by
whom the precious box was found, carried off several loose leaves,
and even whole staves of the book. Whether this be the case
or not, it is, I regret to say, true that the greater number of the
tracts contained in it are defective, and, as I believe, that whole
tracts have disappeared from it altogether since the time of its
discovery. The book was preserved for some time with great
care by the late Colonel Curry, the Duke of Devonshire's agent,
who, however, in 1815, lent it to Dennis OTlinn, a, professed,
but a very indifferent, Irish scholar, living then in Mallow Lane,
in the city of Cork. OTlinn boimd it m wooden boards, and
disfigured several parts of it, by writing on the MS. While in
OTlinn's hands it was copied, in the whole or in part, by Mi-
chael O'Longan, of Carngnavar, near Cork. It was OFliim
who gave it the name of " Book of Lismore**, merely because it
was found at that place. After having made such use of the book
as he thought proper, OTlinn returned it, bound, as I have already
stated, to Colonel Curry, some time between the yeai-s 1816 and
OF THE CHIEF EXISTING ANCIENT BOOKS. 197
1820; and so the venerable old relic remained unquestioned, lect. dl
and, I believe, unopened, until it was borrowed by the Royal ^^^^^
Irish Academy, to be copied for them by me, in the year 1839. of livhobk.
The facilities for close examination which the slow progress
of a fac-simile transcript aflPordcd me, enabled me to clearly dis-
cover this at least, that not only was the abstraction of portions
of the old book of recent date, but that the dishonest act had
been deliberately perpetrated by a skilful hand, and for a double
purpose. For it was not only that whole staves had been pil-
tered, but particular subjects were mutilated, so as to leave the
part that was returned to Lismore almost valueless without the
abstracted parts, the offending parties having first, of course^
copied all or the most part of the mutilated pieces.
After my transcript had been finished, and the old fragments
of the origmal returned to Lismore by the Academy, I insti-
tuted, on my own account, a close inquiry in Cork, with the
^dcw of discovering, if possible, whether any part of the Book
of Lismore still remained there. Some seven or eight years
passed over, however, without my gaining any information on
the subject, when I happened to meet by accident, in Dublin, a
literary gentleman from the town of Middleton, ten miles from
the city of Cork ; and as I never missed an opportunity of
prosecuting my inquiries, I lost no time in communicating to
aim my suspicions, and the circumstances on which they were
grounded, tnat part of the Book of Lismore must be still re-
maining in Cork. To my joy and surprise the gentleman told
me that he had certain knowledge of the fact of a large portion of
the original MS. being in the hands of some person in Cork ; that
he had seen it in the hands of another party, but that he did not
know the owner, nor how or when he became possessed of it.
In a short time after this the late Sir William Betham s col-
lection ol'MSS. passed, by purchase, into the library of the Royal
Iri^h Academy ; and as 1 knew that the greater part of this col-
lection had been obtained from Cork, I lost no time in examin-
ing them closely for any copies of pieces from the Book of Lis-
more. Nor was I disappointed ; for I foimd among the books
conies of the hves of Saint Brendan, Saint Ciaran of Clonmac-
nois, Saint Moclina of Balla in Mayo, and Saint Finnchu of
Briijobhann in the county of Cork ; besides several legends and
minor pieces ; all copied by Michael O'Longan from the Book
of Lismore, in the house of Denis Ban O'Flinn, in Cork, in
the year 1816. And not only does OXongan state, at the end
of one of these lives, that he copied these from the book which
Diijiis O'Flinn had borrowed from Lismore, but he gives the
weight of it, and the number of leaves or folios which the book
198 OF THE CHIEF EXISTING ANCIENT BOOKS.
ijcT. IX. in its integrity contained. As a further piece of presumptive
The Book e\adence of the Book of Lismore having been mutilated in Cork
or lhxork. about this time, allow me to read for you the following memo-
randum in pencil, in an unknown hand, which has come into
my possession : —
"Mr. Denis OTlyn of Mallow Lane, Cork, has brought a
book from Lismore lately, written on vellum about 900 years
ago, by Miles O'Kelly for Florence McCarthy ; it contains the
lives of some principal Irish Saints, with other historical facts
such as the wars of the Danes — 31st October, 1815".
To tliis I may add here the following extract of a letter
written by Mr. Joseph Long, of Cork, to the late William
Elliott Hudson, of Dublin, Esq., dated Feb. the 10th, 1848:
" Honoiured Sir, — I have taken the libert^p- of brining this
MS. to your honour. It contains various pieces copied firom
the Book of Lismore, and other old Irish MSo. They are pieces
which I believe you have not as yet in your collection. Its
contents arc ^Forbuis Drama Damhghoiri\ a historic legend,
describing the invasion of Munster by Cormac Mac Art, the
wonderful actions of the druids, druidish incantations, and
soforth; ^ Air an da Feai^uaighi^ a topography of the two
Fermoys, together with an account of its chieftains, tribes, or
families, and soforth ; * Scil Fiachna mic Reataich\ a legend of
Loch En in Connaught ; Riaghail do riahihibh, a rule for kings,
composed by Dubh Mac Ttvrtli ( ?) ; * Scil air Chairbre Cinn'Cait\
the murder of the royal chieftains of Erinn by their slaves, the
descendants of the Firbolgs, and soforth. — Book of Lismore".
With all these evidences before me of a part of the Book of
Lismore having been detained in Cork, in the year 1853 1 pre-
vailed on a friend of mine in that city to endeavour to ascer-
tain in whose hands it was, what might be the nature of its
contents, whether it would be sold, ana at what price. All tliis
my friend kindly performed. He procured me what purported
to be a catalogue of the contents of the Cork part of the Book
of Lismoie, and he ascertained that the fragment consisted of 66
folios, or 132 pages, and that it would be sold for fifty pounds.
I immediately offered, on the part of the Rev. Doctors Todd
and Graves, then the secretaries to the Royal Irish Academy,
die sum named for the book ; but some new conditions with
which I had no power to comply, were afterwards added, and
the negociation broke off at this point.
The book shortly after passed, by purchase, into the posses-
sion of Thomas Hewitt, Esq., of Summerhill House, near Cork ;
and in January, 1855, a memoir of it was read before the Cu-
OF THE CHIEF EXISTING ANCIENT BOOKS. 199
vierian Society of Cork, by John Windele, Esq., of Blair's Castle, lect. ix.
in which he makes the following statement: — ^^ ^^^
" The work, it was at first supposed, may have been a portion or LiaMoku
of the Book of Lismorc, so well Known to our Uterary antiqua-
rians, but it is now satisfactorily ascertained to have been tran-
scribed, in the latter half of the fifteenth century, for Fineen
McCarthy Rea^h, Lord of Carbery, and his wife Catherine, the
daughter of Thomas, eighth Earl of Desmond". " Unfortu-
nately", he adds, " the volume has suffered some mutilation by
the loss of several folios. The life of Finnchu and the Forhuia
are partly defective in consequence; but we possess amongst
our local MS. collections entire copies of these pieces'*.
To be sure, they have in Cork entire copies of these pieces ;
but they are copies, by Michael O'Longan, from the Book of
Lismore, before its mutilation among tlicm, or else copies made
firom his copies by his sons.
That Mr. Windele believed what he >vrote about the Cork
fragment, there can of course be no doubt ; still it is equally in-
dubitable that this same fragment is part and parcel of the Book
of Lismore, and that it became detached from it while in the
hands of Denis O'Flinn, of Cork, some time about the year 1816.
And it is, therefore, equally certain, that the book wliich Mr.
Hewitt purchased, perhaps as an original bond fide volume with
some slight losses, is nothmg more than a fragment, consisting of
about one-third part of the Book of Lismore, and that this part
was fraudulently abstracted in Cork at the time above indicated.
The two pieces which Mr. Windele particularizes as being de-
fective in the Cork part, are also defective in the Lismore part;
the Life of Saint Finchu wants but about one page in the latter,
while in Cork they cannot have more of it tlian one page or
ioYii) ; and of the Forbuis, something about the lirst half is at
Lismore, while no more than the second half can be in Cork.
And although I have never seen any part of the Cork fragment,
I feel bold enough to say, that, sliould both parts be brouglit to-
gether in presence of competent judges, they will be pronounced
to be parts of the same onginal volume, and that several of the
defects in either will be exactly supplied by the other.
My transcript of the Lismore fragment of this valuable book
consists of 131 folios, or 2G2 pages. The chief items of the
contents are: Ancient Lives of Saint Patrick, Saint Colum Cille,
Saint Brigid of Kildare, Saint Senan (of Scattcry Island, in
the Lower Shannon), Saint Finnen of Clonard, and Saint
Finnchu of Brigobhan^ in the county of Cork, all written in
(iaodhlic of great purity and antiquity ; the conquests of Char-
lemagne, translated from the celebrated romance of the middle
200 OF TUK CUIEF EXISTING ANCIENT BOOKS.
LECT. !x. ageS) ascribed to Turpin, Archbishop of Rheims ; the conversion
of the Pantheon at Kome into a Christian Church ; the story
ov LisMOHi. of Petronilla, the daughter of Saint Peter; the discovery of the
SybilUne oracle in a stone coflSn at Rome ; the History of the
liombards (imperfect) ; an account of Saint Gregory the Great ;
the heresy of the Empress Justina; of some modifications of cer-
tain minor ceremonies of the Mass ; an account of the successors
of Charlemagne ; of the correspondence between Archbishop
Laniranc and the clergy of Rome ; extracts from the Travels of
Marco Polo ; an account of the battles of the celebrated Ceal-
lachan, king of Cashel, with the Danes of Erinn, in the tenth
century ; of the battle of Crinna, between Cormac Mac Art, king
of Ireland, and the Ulstermen ; and of the siege of Drom Damh-
ahair^ [now called Knocklong, in the County of Limerick], by
king Cormac Mac Art, against the men of Munster. This last,
tliough a strictly historic tale in its leading facts, is full of wild
incident, in which Mogh Ruith^ the great Munster druid, and
Cithruadh, and Colptha, the druids of the monarch Connac, bear
a most conspicuous and curious part.
The last piece in the book is one of very great interest ; it is
in the form of a dialogue between Saint Patrick and the two
surviving warriors of the band of heroes led by the celebrated
Finn Mac Cvmhaill, Caoilti^ the son of Ronan, and Oidn [com-
monly written in English "Ossian''], tlie warrior-pout, son of
Finn himself. It describes the situation of several of the hills,
mountains, rivers, caverns, rills, etc., in Ireland, with the deriva-
tion of their names. It is much to be regretted that this very
curious tract is imperfect. But for these defects, we should
probably have found in it notices of almost every monument of
note in ancient Ireland; and, even in its mutilated state, it
cannot but be regarded as preserving many of the most ancient
traditions to which we can now have access, traditions which
were committed to writing at a period when the ancient customs
of the people were imbroken and undisturbed.
I regret that space does not allow me to analyse a few more
of the important paper books in the Academy's library ; but I
think I have already done enough to enable you to form some
intelligible general estimate of the value and extent of tlie old
Gtiedhlic books in Dublin ; and I shall only add, that the paper
books in Trinity College and the Academy are above 600 in
number, and may be estimated to contain about 30,000 pages
of Gaedhlic text, if printed at length in the form to which I
have so often referred as a specimen, mat of 0'Donovan*s Annals.
There is, however, one collection (rather, I may say, one
class of MS. monimionts of Irish history) which I caimot pass bj
OF THE CHIEF EXISTING ANCIENT BOORS. 201
without at least alluding to it, though it would be, perhaps, im- ^bcx.
proper for me at the present moment to enter upon any detmled ~^
account of it : I mean tlie great body of the laws of Ancient Law- £:
Erinn, commonly called by the English the " Brchon Laws".
This collection is so immense in extent, and the subjects dealt
with throughout the whole of it, in the utmost detail, are so
niunerous, and so iiilly illustrated by exact definitions and
minute descriptions, that, to enable us to fill up the outline sup-
plied by the annals and genealogies, these books of laws alone
would almost be found sufficient in competent hands. Indeed if
it were pennitted me to enlarge upon dieir contents, even to the
extent to which I have spoken upon the subject of the various
annals 1 have described to you, I should be forced to devote many
lectures to this subject alone. But tliese ancient laws, as you are
all aware, are now, and have been for the last three years, in
progress of transcription and preparation lor publication, imder
the direction of a Commission of Irish noblemen and gentlemen,
appointed by royal warrant ; and it would not be for me to an-
ticipate their regular publication.
The quantity of transcript already made (and therc is still a
part to be made), amounts to over Jive thousand close quarto
pagc»s, which, on average, would be equal to near 8000 pages
of the text of O'Donovan's Annals. This quantity, of course,
contains many duplicate pieces ; and it will rest with the Com-
missioners whether to publish the whole mass, or only a fair and
full text, compiled from a collation of all the duplicate copies.
Any one who has examined the body of Wdsh Laws, now
some years before the world, will at once be able to fonn a fair
opinion of the interest and value, in a historical and social point
of view, of this far larger — this immense and hitherto unex-
plored mass of legal institutes. And these were the laws and in-
stitutes which regulated the political and social system of a
people the most remarkable in Europe, from a period almost
lost in the dark mazes of antiquity, down to within about two
lumdred years, or seven generations, of our own time, and whose
spirit and traditions, I may add, influence the feelings and
actions of the native Irish even to this day ! To these laws may
we, indeed, justly apply the expressive remark of the poet
Moore on the old MSS. in the Royal Irish Academy, that they
" were not written by a foolish people, nor for any foolisn
purpose''. Into the particulars and arrangement of this mass
ol' laws I shall not enter here, since they are, as I have
already stated, in the hands of a Commission on whose preroga-
tives I have no disposition to trench. I may, however, be per-
mitted to observe tnat, copious though the records in wliich tlie
202 OF THE CHIEF EXISTING ANCIE17T BOOKS.
LBCT. IX. actions and everyday life of our remote ancestors have come
The"Brehon ^^^'^ *^ ^» tHrouffh the various documents of which I have
LawMssu been speaking, still, without these laws, our history would
be necessarily barren, de6cient, and uncertain in one of its most
interesting and important essentials. For what can be more
essential for the historian's purpose than to have the means of
seeing clearly what the laws and customs were precisely, which
governed and regulated the general and relative action of tlie
monarch and tlie provincial kings; of the provincial kings
and the hereditary princes and chiefs; of these in turn, and
of what may be called the hereditary proprietors, the Flaiths
[pronounced "flahs"], or landlords; and below these again, of
their farmers, and tenants, of all grades and conditions, native
and strantjer ; — and what is even more interesting, if possible,
the conditions on which these various parties held their lands,
and the local customs which regulated their agrarian and social
policy; as well as in general the sumptuary and economical
laws, and the several customs, which distinguished all these
classes one from another, compliance with which was abso-
lutely necessary to maintain them in their proper ranks and
respective privileges? There are thousands of allusions to the
men and women of those days, as well as to various circum-
stances, manners, customs, and habits, to be met with in our
historic writings, otherwise inexplicable, which find a clear
and natural solution in these venerable institutes. And there
are besides, too, a vast number of facts, personal and historical,
recorded in the course of the laws (often stated by the com-
mentator or scribe as examples or precedents of the appUcation
of the particular law under discussion), wliich must Tbe care-
fully gleaned from them, before that History which is yet to
be framed out of the materials I have described to you, can
ever be satisfactorily completed.
These things will become accessible to all when the labours of
the Commission are concluded, when the immense and mami-
ficent work whicli the Commission is charged to publish shall
be (a few years hence) arranged, indexed, and prmted. And
perhaps this may be but the second great step in these times —
Mr. George Smith s publication of the Annals having been the
first — towards the vindication of the ancient honour of the noble
race of Erinn. Much more, both in ecclesiastical and secular
history, remains to be done. Is the next step after these re-
served to be taken under the auspices of a great National Insti-
tution, such as one may surely hope this, the Catholic Univer-
sity of Ireland, is destined to become ?
LECTURE X.
[Delhrered Maroh 6, 1836.]
The Books of Genealogies and Pedigrees.
Is the present Lecture I propose to finish this part of our Intro-
ductory course on the existing MS. materials of ancient Irish
History, by giving you some account of the great Records of
the Genealogies and Pedigrees of the GaeiliUc race, foimd
in the earliest and most reliable of the books I have described
to you.
In all civilized nations, where the possession of property or
the governing power was, from whatever cause, vested in any one
individual, witli the right of transmission to posterity through
his legitimate descendants, dii-ect or collateral, it follows, as a
mere matter of course, that all persons living subject to such a le-
gal arrangement must have taken good care to preserve accurate
evidences of their descent and identity, — accurate evidence such
as might sustain their claims to the succession, whether of pro-
perty or dignity, territory or emolujncnts, whenever any dispute
upon such subjects should arise. And the natural necessity of
{)reser\'^ing genealogies and pedigrees being thus simply estab-
ished, it must be clear that the important duty of their preser-
vation could not be left to the care of irresponsible persons alone ;
and that, therefore, while every branch of the family kept a
E roper record of its own descent (as well as of all the other
ranches in relation to its own), some qualified persons must at
all times have been set apart for the express pui-pose of keeping
a public record of all the descending branches of the original
tree. Such records must have been kept, in order tliat, when-
ever a reference to records was found necessary, no in(li\4dual
representative should be able to advance his owti claims upon
any mere private proofs within his own private power, nor on
any authority save such as might be found to accord with that
of a responsible public officer.
And such precautions, we find, were effectually taken under
the ancient customs and laws (>f Erinn.
To obviate all difiicultios in respect of the right of succession
to the supreme rule, tlierefore, wo find that the monarch of
204 OF THB BOOKS OF OENEALOOIES AND PEDIGREES.
LBCT. Z.
Erlnn had always an officer of high distinction attached to his
offldai court, whose office it was to keep, from generation to genera-
recoros of tion, a written record, or genealogical history, of all the descend-
ai^iea.*^ ing branches of the royal family. And the same officer was
obliged to keep true record not only of these, but of the families
of all the provincial kin^, and of all the principal territorial chiefs
in each province, in order that, in case of a dispute among them
and a final appeal to the court of the cliief king, he nii^ht be in
a position to decide such a dispute by tlie solemn antliority of
a sure and impartial public record.
This public officer, according to law, could only be elected
from the order of Ollamlis; and the Ollamh may be described
as a doctor, or man who had arrived at the highest degree of liis-
torical learning and of general literary attainments under the an-
cient Gaedlilic system of education. Every Ollamh should also
(according to the laws of the country, now popularly called the
** Brehon Laws") be an adept in regal synchronisms, sliould know
the boundaries of all the provinces and chieftaincies, and should
be able to trace the genealogies of all the tribes of Erinn up to
Adam. An Ollarnh should also, according to the same law,
be civil of tongue, unstained by crime, and pure in morals.
The officer 1 have thus spoken of should be, then, an Ollanih
thus qualified ; and he was privileged and bound to make perio-
dical visits to the provincial courts, and to the mansions of all
the chiefs throughout the land ; to inspect their books of family
history and genealogies ; to enter the names and number of the
leading or eldest branches of each family in his own book ; and,
on liis return to Tara (or wherever the monarch might happen
to hold liis residence), to write these matters into what was of old
called the Monarch's Book, but wliich, in more modem times,
seems to have been designated the Saltair of Tara.
And not only had the Monarch his Ollamh for these important
state purposes, but every pro\'incial king, and even every smaller
territorial Chief, had his own Ollamh, or Seanchaidhi [pron.
"shanacliy"= historian], for the provincial and other territorial
records ; and in obedience to an ancient law (estabUshed long
before the introduction of Christianity in the fifth century), all
the pro\'iiicial records, and those of the various clann chief-
tains, were returnable every third year to a great convocation
or feast at Tara, where they were solemnly compared with
each other, and with the great Book or Saltair of the monarch,
and purified and corrected where or whenever they required it.
As a very sufficient authority for the existence of this great
Monarchical Book, in tho third century of the Christian era,
I may refer you, among many others, to the poem by Cinaeth
OF THB BOOKS OF GENEALOGIES AND PEDIGREES. 205
[or KennethJ O'Hardgan, on Tara, and on King Comiac Mac lect. x.
Airt^ of which I have spoken in a former lecture.
It has long been the fashion among English writers, and credibility
those who ignorantly follow them in Ireland, to sneer at the ?iq\S?y"!If
vciy idea of any nation, or any families of a nation, being able ^o |ei"*^
to preserve their genealogies and pedigrees for one, two, or
three thousand years ; and as for the suggestion, that an Irish-
man, or a Welshman, of the year of oiu- Lord 1850, should be
able, with any conceivable probability or even possibility, to
trace his generations up to Noah, it is set down as much worse
than absurd; it is contemptuously termed an " Irish pedigree",
or a "Welsh pedigree", and even the very name of it is deemed,
as a matter of course, a subject fit only for ridicule. Let us,
however, look a little into the question, and consider for a mo-
ment the justice of this scepticism.
You are all aware that the original genealogies and pedigrees
of the human race (and, indeed, the verj' fonn in ^vliich our
own ancient genealories and pedigrees were recorded), are to
be found in the Holy Bible ; as m Genesis, chapter x., verses 1 to
5, beginning : " These are the generations of the sons of Noe (or
Noali) : Sem, Cham, and Japheth ; and unto them sons were
bom after the flood". N<nv tliis Scripture record goes on : —
2. " The sons of Japheth [were] ; Gomer, and Magog, and
Madai, and Javan, and Thubal, and. Mosoch, and Thiras.
3. " And the sons of Gomer [were] ; Ascencz, and Riphath,
and Thogorma.
4. " And the sons of Javan [were] ; Ehsa, and Tharsis,
Cetthim, and Dodanim.
5. " By these were divided the islands of the Gentiles in
their lands ; every one according to his tongue, and their fami-
lies in their nations", etc.
It is cimous that the sons of Magog, the second son of
Japheth, are not enumerated in this genealo^ ; and yet it is
to this remote ancestor that all the ancient colonists of*^ Ireland
carry up their pedigrees, as recorded here long before Christi-
anity and Christian books found their way into the countr\'.
Nor are the Gaedhils the only peoi)le said to have descended
from Magog; for I may remark, in passing, that the Bactrians,
the Parthians, and others, also claimed descent from him.
I shall not, however, follow to-day the sulyect of the verifi-
cation of the ancient descent of the royal races of Erinn ; and I
have only thrown out so much by way of hinting to you, that,
notwithstanding the sneers to which I have alluded, still a great
<leal of serious study may be required before any rational con-
206 OF THE BOOKS OF GENEALOGIES AND PEDIGREES.
LECT. r. elusion can be arrived at with certainty in relation to it. I have
At 1 hi ^^^y to-day to do with the plan and mediod followed by our
toricai ac- anccstors, in recording and preserving the Grenealogies of the
^Mtoi^^ Irish nation, as these have actually been handed dovm to iis
from the days of our early kings. I desire to deal with them
simply as one branch of those materials for our history, of
which I have described to you so many, as having come down
to us in an authentic form. And whatever may be the opinions
of modem commentators (all of them very ill informed on the
subject) as to the truth of the more remote genealogies before
the arrival of the GacdhUc colony in Erinn, I think I have given
you the most solid reason to trust the records of the Gacdhlic
genealogies from that or at least from a vciy remote time down-
wards, made and preserved, as we know they were, with the care
prescribed by the laws to which I have just called your attention.
I have shown in a fonner lecture, on authority that cannot well
be questioned, that the Pedigrees of the Gaedlilic nation were
collected and written into a single book (which was called the
Cin, or Book, o£ Dromsneachi) by the son o(Duach Galach^ king
of Connacht, — and an OUarnJi in history, in genealogies, etc.,
— shortly before the arrival of Saint Patrick in Ireland, which
happened in the year 432. It follows necessarily that those pe-
digrees and genealogies must have been already in existence, —
doubtless in the various tribe-books ; and it is more than pro-
bable that their leading portions had before then been entered,
in the manner and under the law I have already explained, in
the great Book of Tara.
Without going farther back, then, than this Book of Drom-
sneachty wliich is so often quoted in our ancient MSS., it will
be plain that succxieding Ollamlia and genealogists had before
them a plan and mode of proceeding with their work, cither
founded on still more remote precedents, or, at all events,
adopted so long ago as the earlier portion of the fifth century,
by the author of tnat celebrated b<x)k.
Nothing coidd be more simple than the plan of keeping local
Pedigrees, where, as was the case in Ireland, each kingdom,
province, and principality appointed a fully qualified officer for
thepurpose.
Every free-bom man of the tribe was, according to the law
of the country, entitled by blood, should it come to his turn, to
succeed to the chieftjuncy ; and every principal family kept its
own pedigree as a check on the officer of the tribe or provmce,
and as an authority for its own claim, should the occasion arise.
As the Milesians were the last of the ancient colonists, and
OF THB BOOKS OF GENEALOGIES AND PEDIGREES. 207
had subdued the races previously existing in Ireland, it is their i^ect. x.
genealogies only, with some very few exceptions, that have jhe Muesian
been thus carried down to the later times. GeneaiogiM.
The genealogical tree then begins with the brothers Eber
and Eremon, the two surviving leaders of the Milesian expedi-
tion ; and, after tracing their ancestors so far back as to Magog,
the son of Japheth, the earliest genealogies give us the manner
of the death of each of these sons of Milesius, and the number
and names of their sons again, respectively.
From Eber, according to all the genealogies, descend all the The unes of
families of the south of Ireland, represented at present by the EremS*
race of Oilioll Oluim: as the Mac Carthys, the O'Briens, and
their various branches. From Eremon, on the other hand,
descend the great races of Connacht and Leinster, represented
by the O'Conors, the Mac Murrochs, etc., as well as the great
races of Ulster, also, from the fourth century down, represented
by the O'Donnells, the O'Neills, etc.
Besides these two chief races, the records relate the descent The iiian
of two others of great historical importance. From Emer, the iS?^"***"
son of Ir (who was the brother of Eber and Eremon), descend
the races of Uladh, or Ulidia [an ancient district consisting
nearly of the present coimtics of Down and Antrim], now re-
presented by the family of Magenis of Down ; and from Lu-
gaidh, the son of Ith, tlieir cousin, who settled in the west of
the present county of Cork, descended the races of that district,
represented in chief by the family of O'DriscoU. [This latter
race of Gaedhils is minutely traced in the Miscellany of the
Cchic Society, published in 1849.]
To these four, — or rather, indeed, with very few exceptions,
to the two brothers, Eber and Eremon, — all the great hncs of
the Milesian family, all the great chieftain lines of ancient Erinn,
are traced up. It is not, however, to be expected that any re-
cord of the genealogies of the people in general, in those remote
age*?, could possibly have come down to our times. It is only
in the succession of the monarchs, of the provincial kings and
chieftains, and in the lines of saints and other remarkable persons,
that we invariably find tlie new king or personage traced back
through all the generations, either to his remote ancestor,
Eber, Eremon, Ir, or Itli, or at all events, to some person whose
pedigree has been in some previous part of the great genealogical
records already traced up to these sources.
The first great starting point in the Eremonian lines of pedi-
grees, and from which the great families of Connacht and Lein-
ster branch off', is to be found in Ugaini Mor, who flourished.
208 OF THE BOOKS OF GENEALOGIES AND PEDIGREES.
LECT. X. according to oiir annals, more than 500 years before the Incar-
Tbe Ere- "^^ion of oui Lord. From his elder son Vohhtluich (pron. nearly
monun " Cdv-a", now " Coffev"), descend all the families of Connacht, as
cSSJwJjEir. well as the O'Donnells, the O'Neills, and others, of Ulster ; and
from his second son, LaegliairS (pron. nearly " Lea-ry"), de-
scend the chief families of Leinster.
Again, in the second century of the Christian era a great di-
vision of families took place in Leinster, that, namely, of the
sons of the monai-ch Cathair Mor (pron. " Ca-hir more''), who
divided his hereditary kingdom of Leinster among his sons, to
some one of whom all the later Leinster families trace up their
pedigrees.
The D«ica»- In the next, the tliird century, again, a great division of tcr-
E^haulltto ritories took place in Munster between Fiachn Muilleathan^ the
of Munstcr. gon of E6glian Mor the elder, and Cormac Cas, the younger son
of Oilioll Oluimj the king of that province; Eoghan's son
taking South Munster, and his imcle Connac Cas, North Mun-
ster, or Thomond ; and it is to one or the other of these two
personages that all the great Munstcr fiunilies of the line of
Eber trace up their pedigrees.
Again, in the fourth century a great division of families
and of territory took place in Connacht and Ulster, between
the three sons of the monarch Eochaidh Muighnheadlioin^ —
Brian, Fiachra^ and Niall, afterwards called Niall of the Nine
Hostages. The two elder sons were settled in Connacht ; and
from them descend the chief families of that province, north
and south, excepting the O'Kellys, the Mac Rannalls, and some
others. The younger son, Niall, succeeded to the monarchy :
and this Niall had seven sons, among whom he divided the
territories of Meath and Ulster, the district comprising the pre-
sent counties of Antrim and Down excepted ; and it is to these
sons that all the great families of these territories trace up
their pedigrees.
Having so far placed before you, with much more brevity
than I could wisn, the remote leading points at which the
great families of Ireland are recorded to have separated, I shall
now proceed to show you how the genealogies have been
arranged, and, with their still continued separations, carried
down in some instances even to our times ; and as a Muster-
man and Dalcassian, not, I trust, unreasonably attached to my
race, I shall take my example from the really great line of the
O'Brien. As, however, it would be tedious, as well as unne-
cessary, for the purpose of a mere example, to carry the line
down for you all the way from Eber, the son of Milesius liim-
self, I shall begin with Oilioll Oluim^ King of Munster, who
OF THE BOOKS OF GENEALOGIES AND PEDIGREES. 209
died, according to our annals, in the year of our Lord 234. I lect. x.
shall adopt the very form and plan of the old genealogies I~. '
themselves, in the abridged account I am about to give you; theO'^Siw,
because I wish thus practically to make you acquainted with Mnnitop'
the mode in which the family pedigrees were recorded by the ^Jjjjy* *^^*"
OUamhs of old, and because, also, you will thus best under- ouum.
stand the importance of the class ot MSS. which we are now
considering, m the study of the true history of the country.
Oilioll Oluim had several sons, seven of whom were killed in
the celebrated battle of Magh MucruimhS, in the coun^ of
Galway ; and among them Edghan^ or Eugene, the eldest, m>m
whom (through his son again, Fiacha muilleathain) descend
what is called by old writers the "Eugenian" line, to which
belong the Mac Carthvs, the O'Callachans, the O'Sullivans, the
O'Keeffes, and so fortn.
Cian was another of the sons of Oilioll Oluim killed in this
battle ; he left a son Tadhg [a name now known as Teige or
Thaddeus], fk)m whom descend the O'Carrolls of Ely O'CarroU,
the O'Reardons, the O'Haras, the O'Garas, etc., as well as seve-
ral families of East Meath.
Cormac Cas, the second son of Oilioll Oluim^ was the only
one of his children who survived the great battle of Magh
Alucruimhi, and between him and Fiacha (the son of the eldest
son, Eugene), the old king divided liis territory into North
and South Munster, giving to Fiacha the south, and to Cormac
the north part. (This north part, I should observe, did not then
comprehend the present county of Clare, that territory being at
the time in the occupation of a tribe of the old Firbolg race.)
Cormac Cas (whose wife was the daughter of the celebrated
!)oet Oisin, or Ossian, son of the great warrior Finn Mac Cum-
mill, or Mac Coole) had a son Mogh Corby who had a son
Fer Corby who had a son Aengus, called Tirech, or the wan-
derer, who had a son called Lnghaidh Meann (pron : ** Loo-y
Menn"). It was this Lughaidh Meann that first wrested the
E resent county of Clare from the Firbolgs, and attached it to
is patrimony ; and the whole inheritance has been ever since
denominated Txmdh Mhumhainy or North Munster, a name in
modem times Anglicized into Thomond.
Lughaidh Meann had a son Conall, called Conall Eachluaith,
or Conall of the Fleet Steeds ; who had a son Cas. This Cas
(from whom the Dalcassians derive their distinctive name) had
twelve sons, namely, Blod, Caisin, Lughaidh, Seadna, Aengus
Cinnathrachy Carthainn, Cainioch, Aengus Cinnaitin, Aedh,
Nae, Iioisgenn, and Dealbaeth,
Blod, the eldest son of Cas, is the great stem of the Dalcas-
14
210 OF THE BOOKS OF GENEALOGIES AND PEDIGREES.
LECT. X. sian race, directly represented by the O'Brians. From Caisin^
of ^® second son of Cas, descend the Siol Aodha, represented by
theOBrieni, the Mac Namaxas, the O'Gradys, the Mac Flannchadhas (now
MwisS?' called Clanchys), and the O'Caisins, etc. From Lughaidh^ the
cifl^a, from \}^^ gon of Cas, descend the Muintir Dobharchon (now re-
oiuim. presented by the OXiddys of Clare). From Sedna (pron:
" Shedna") the fourth son of Cas, descend the Cinel Sedna (not,
I believe, now represented). From Aengus Cinnathrach, the
fifth son, descend the O'Deas. From Aengus Cinnaitin, the
sixth son, descend the O'Quinns (a family who may now be
considered to be represented by the Earl of Dunraven), and the
CNechtanns. From Aedh (or Hugh), the seventh son of Cas,
descend the O'Heas. From Dealbeath, the eighth son of Cas,
descend the Mac Cochlanns of Dealbhna, or Delvin (in the
county of Westmeath), the O'Scullys, etc. The descendants
of the other sons are not now to be distinguished.
It is curious to observe, in this recital, at how early a period
the ancestors of those various Dalcassian families separated from
each other But to return to the progenitor of the O'Briens.
Blod, the eldest son of Cas, had two sons: Cairthinn Finn,
and Brenan Ban. From this Brenan Ban, the second son, de-
scend the O'Hurlys and the O'Malonys.
Cairthinn Finn, the eldest son of Blod, had two sons,
Eochaidh, c>alled Bailldearg (or "of the Red Mole"), and
Aengus. From Aengus, the yoimger son, descend, among
others, the families ot O* ComhraidhS (now called Curry); the
O'Cormacans (now called Mac Cormacks); OSeamain, now
Sexton ; ORiada, now Reidy , etc.
Eochaidh Bailldearg, the eldest son of Cairthinn Finn, was
bom during the time that St. Patrick was on his first mission in
Munster, and received baptism and benediction at the hands of
the great apostle himself. This Eochaidh Bailldearg had a son
Conall, who had a son Aedh Caemh, or Hugh the Uomely.
Aedh Caemh, the son of Conall, had two sons, Cathal (pron :
** Cahal") and Congal. From Congal, the younger son, descend
the O'Neills of Clare, and the Gn-Eoghans, or Owens. Cathal,
the elder son of Aedh Caemh, had two sons, Torloch and
Ailgenan, It is from this Ailgenan that the O'Mearas descend.
Torloch, the elder son of Cathal, had a son, Mathgliamhain,
or Mahon ; who had a son. Core ; who had a son Lachtna (the
ruins of whose ancient palace of Grianan Lachtna, situated
about a mile north of Killaloe, I was, by means of the records
of these ancient pedigrees, first enabled to identify, in the year
1840, during the investigations of the Ordnance survey).
Lachtna, the son of Core, had a valiant son, Loredn (a name
OF THE BOOKS OF GENEALOGIES AND PEDIGREES. 211
nowAnglicified" Lawrence"). LorcdnhBd three aonSyCinneidigh user, x.
or Kennedy; Casgrach; and Bran. From Coagrach^ the second ^^^^^ ^
son, descend the O'Lorcans, or Larkins ; the O'Sheehans ; the the OBri^na,
OCnaimhins (now Bowcns); the O'Hogans; the O'Flahertys; j?iSiIt«r'
the O'Gloiams; the O'Aingidys; and the O'Maines. From^^**^
Bran, the third son, descend the Sliocht Branfinn^ in Dufferin oiuim,
in Wexford, a clann who subsequently took, and still retain, the
name of O'Brien.
Cwneidigh^ or Kennedy, the eldest son of Lorcdn, had twelve
sons, four only of whom left issue — namely, Mfjion, Brian,
Donnchuan (or Doncan), and Echtighem.
From Mahon, the eldest son of Kennedy, descend the
O^Bolands, the O'Caseys, the O'Siodhachans, the Mac Iniiys,
the O'Connallys, and tlie OTuomys, in the county of Limerick,
From the great Brian Boroimhi^ the second son of Kennedy,
descend the O'Briens and the Mac Mahons of Clare.
Donndiuan^ third son of Kennedy, had five sons — namely, two
of the name of Kennedy, Riagan^ JLongargan^ and Ceileachair,
From one of the two Kennedys descend the family of OConr
mn^(nowGunning),and from tne other the family of O'Kcnnedy.
From Riagan descend the O'Riagans, or O'Regans, of Clare
and Limerick. From Longargan descend the O'Longergans,
or Lonergans ; and from Ceileachair, the fifth son, descend the
O'Ceileachairs, or Kellehers.
Brian Boroim/iS, the second son of Kennedy, had six sons :
Murcliodh, or Moroch, killed at the battle of Clontarf; TadJig;
DonnchadJi, or Donoch; Donihnall^ or Donnall; Conor; and
Flann ; — but two of them only left issue, namely TadJig, the
eldest afler Moroch, and Donoch. From Tadha descend the
great family of the O'Briens of Thomond; and from Donoch,
the O'Briens of Cttafiach and Eatharlagh^ in the present
counties of Limerick and Tipperary.
Tadhoy the eldest surviving son of Brian BoroimhS, afler the
battle of Clontarf, had a son, Torloch. Torloch had two sons,
Muirdieartachy or Mortogh, and Diarmaid^ or Dcrmod.
Mortoch, from whom descend the Mac Mahons of Clare,
assimied the monarchy of Ireland, and died in the year 1119;
and the Book of Leinster brings down the genealogies of the race
of Eber to these two brothers of the Dalcassian line, and to their
co-descendants, the brothers Cormac and Tadhg Mac Carthy
of the Eugenian line, both of whose names are inscribed on
that beautiful bronze shrine of Saint Lachtin's arm, which was
cxliibited in the great Dublin Exhibition in 1853, and of which
some account will be found in the Proceedings of the Royal
Irish Academy (vol. v., page 461). This Cormac Mac Carthy
14 B
212 OF THE BOOKS OF GENEALOGIES AND PEDIGREES.
LECT. X. died in the year 1138, (And I may here observe, that by a
general rule, from which, so far as I have known, there is never
ttwJaSauf any deviation, the termination of these lines of genealogies in
Mwwto?' ancient Irish manuscript books marks the date of the compila-
^OM, from tion of such books. But to return :)
OMm, Dermod, the second son of Torloch, and brother of Mortoch,
and from whom descend the O'Brians, had a son, Torloch.
This Torloch had a son, Donnall Mor O'Brian, who was king of
Munster at the period of the Anglo-Norman invasion in 1172.
Donnall -Jfornad a son, Donoch (Donnchadh) Cairbrech, who
had a son Conor of Siubhdainech, who erected the great Abbey
of Corcamroe, in which he was buried in the year 1260.
Conor of Siubhdainech (that is, Conor of the wood of Siubh-
dainechy in Burren, where ne was killed in battle by the O'Loch-
lainnsy in the above year) had two sons, Tadhg CaeluisgS, and
Brian Riuidh^ or Roe, the ancestor of the O'Brians of Arra, in
Tipneraiy.
Tadhg y the eldest son of Conor, had a son Torloch, the great
hero of the wars of Thomond ; who had a son, Murtoch ; who
had a son, Mahon ; who had two sons, Brian and Conor ; from
the latter of whom descend the O'Brians of Carraig Og-ConaUl
(now called " Corrig-a-gunnell"), near Limerick.
Brian, the elder son of Mahon, and who was styled Brian of
the battle of Nenagh, died in the year 1399.
The Book of Ballymote, which was compiled in the year
1391, and the Book of Lecan, which was compiled in the year
1416, hnng down the O'Brian pedigree, as weU as all other
pedigrees, to this Brian of the battle of Nenagh, who died in
1399, from where the Book of Leinster stop (uiat is, from the
year 1119); and Dubhaltach Mae Firbisign, of whose book we
shall presently speak, continues the lines frx>m 1399 down to
his own time in 1664, as follows: —
Brian of the battle of Nenach had a son, Torloch ; who had a
son, Tadhg^ of Camhad ; who liad a son, Torloch ; who had two
sons, Conor and Murchadh, or Moroch, of whom the last-named
became the first Earl of Thomond and Baron of Inchiquin.
Conor had a son, Donnchadh, or Donoch ; who had a son,
Conor ; who had a son Donoch ; who had a son, Brian ; who had
a son, Henry, seventh Earl of Thomond, living in the year 1646,
at which date Mac Firbis stops ; and from that period the line is,
of course, preserved in many public documents, as well as in local
Irish records, to the late Marquis of Thomond, who died in 1855.
You have heard (in a general way, indeed, for our time
allowed of no other) the evidences upon which such a pedigree
OF THE BOOKS OF GENEAL0GIS8 AND PEBIGBSES. 21 8
as I have thus traced for you, may claim credence. You have lect, x.
heard in what manner the records from which I have derived
it were kept — ^legal records, whose authenticity, so far at least, I
think, it will be m vsdn for the most sceptical critic to call in
question, when he has properly examinea and studied them.
And if ancient pedigree in an imbroken line be indeed so
honourable as modem fashion seems to insist it is, then here is a
line of pedigree and genealogy that would do honour to the
most di^iifi^ crowned head in the world
Of the Dalcassian line we find that Cormac Cas, the founder, oeneaiogy of
was king of Munster about the year of our Lord 260; Aengus SSi?^?*"
Tireachy about the year 290 ; Conall of the Swift Steeds, in 366 ; J^^^
Cairtliinn Finn^ in 439 ; Aedh Caemh^ from 571 to his death in g^^®,
601; Lorcdn, in 910; Cinneidigh, or Kennedy, the father of ^***
Brian Boroimhi^ in 954 ; and Brian himself, nom 975 to the
year 1002, when he became monarch of all Erinn, and as
such reigned till his death, at the battle of Clontarf, in 1014.
The succession to the kingship of Munster was alternate be-
tween the Eugenians and the Daicassians ; but the former being
the most powerful in numbers and in extent of territory, mo-
nopolized the provincial rule as far as they were able. The
line of the Daicassians were, however, always kings or chiefs
of Thomond in succession, and kings of the province as often
as they had stren^h enough to assert their alternate ri^ht ; and
it is a fact beyond dispute that the kindred of the late Marquis
of Thomond hold lands at the present day which have de-
scended to them, through an unbroken line of ancestry, for
1600 years. Now the Daicassians, whose genealogical line I
have only presented to you as an example, were but one out of
about forty different great tribes of the line of Eber, which ex-
isted in M!unster in the sixth and seventh centuries ; all and each
of whom held separate and peculiar territories of their own, which
were again subdivided; and in these territories every man of
the tribe, who could prove his relationship, had a legal share.
And as the law and the custom were the same throughout all
Erinn, it follows almost as a matter of necessity that the gene-
alo^es and pedigrees — the only proofs of title to the tribe-
lands — must nave been kept with all the jealous care and accu-
racy we have ascribed to the compilation of records practically
so miportant.
A most curious feature in our ancient national records, in
connexion with these genealogies, is the information they con-
tain concerning the manner and time at which several of the
ancient independent tribes and families lost their inheritance and
214 OF THE BOOKS OF GENEALOGIES AND PEDIGREES.
ucT. X. independence, becoming sometimes mere rent-payers, some-
, _, times servitors in the free lands of their fathers, and at other
Importance . ' ^^ • ^ • * ^
of the Gene- tmies scttung as Strangers m other tcmtories and provinces.
ttwlSdwt' The laws imder which such changes could take place, will of
^'^ course be explained when the work of the Brehon Law Com-
mission is completed. Historic facts, illustrative nf many of
them, are recorded in the genealogical tracts, which in this re-
spect also will be found to contain many important items of
historical information not entered in any of the annals.
Famiij Previous to the time of the monarch Brian Boroimhi (about
SISJSimS* the year 1000), there was no general system of family names in
iSSS* ^^' E^^^ » b^^ every man took the name either of his father or liis
grandfather for a surname. Brian, however, established a new
and most convenient arrangement, namely, that families in fu-
ture should take permanent names, either those of their imme-
diate fathers, or of any person more remote in their line of
pedigree. And thus Muireadhach^ the son of Carthach, took
the surname of Mac Cartliaigh (now Mac Carthy); "J/ac"
being the Gaedhlic for "son". Toirdhealbhaghj or Turloch, the
grandson of Brian himself, took the surname of O'Brian, or the
grandson of Brian, "0" being the Graedhlic for "grandson";
Cathbharvj the grandson of Donnell, took the name of O'Donncll ;
Donnell, the grandson of Niall Glundubh, took the surname
of O'Neill ; Tadgh, or Teige, the grandson of Conor, took the
name of O'Conor (of Connacht); Donoch, the son o£MurcIiadh,
or Muroch, took the surname of Mac Muroch of Leinster;
and so as to all the other families throughout the kingdom.
Distinction The genealogists always made a distinction between a genea-
cSwS^J logy and a pedigree. A Genealogy, according to them, em-
pldHm'e ^"^®^ *^® descent of a family and its relation to all the other
families that descended from the same remote parent-stock, and
who took a distinct tribe name, such as, for instance, the Dal-
cassians. A Pedigree meant only the running up of the line of
descent of any one of those famihes, tlirough its various genera-
tions, to the mdividual from whom the name was derived, such
as the line of O'Brien, MacNamara, O'Quinn, etc., traced up
again to a more remote ancestor, such as Oilioll Oluim, without
any reference to relationship with the other families descended
from the same remote progenitor. I have given you an ex-
ample of a Genealogy, — that of the race of Oilioll Oluim. Now,
the principal races are all traced in the same way in the great
books of Genealogies. The Pedigrees of the different families
are afterwards entered, beginning with the individual living at
le
yoi
OF THE BOOKS OF GENEALOGIES AND PEDIGREES. 215
the time of the record, and tracing his descent backwards (from uct. x.
son to father) up to that ancestor, whoever he was, from whom ^
the name of the family was taken, and who had been abeady Geneaicmieli
recorded in one of the genealogies as the ancestor of the family. £,^51
All the Grenealogics, as a general rule, ^e made to begin, as
ou have already heard, from the beginning of the world, or at
[east, from Noah ; and you are aware, from what I have told
ou in relation to O'Clery's " Succession of the Kings", how the
ine of MiUdhj or Milesius, was traced. The great genealogical
tracts then take up each province separately, and deal with all
its tribes, one after anotiier, just as the Dalcassians are dealt
with in tiie example I have to-day given you.
The Book of Leinster is, as you Itnow, the second oldest of
our existing historical MSS., the genealogical tracts in that
book having been written into it, I may assert, about a.d. 1130.
This tract comprises sixty closely- written pages of that cele-
brated MS. TTie Book of Ballymote (a.d. 1391) contains the
same tracts, enlarged and continued. The same tracts again occur,
with still further additions and continuations, in the Book of
Lecain (a.d. 1416) ; and among the additions in the last named
book, will be found a genealogy of the TuatJia Di Danantiy
the race anterior to the Slilesians. I need hardly observe that,
at the time those various books were compiled, these tracts were
regarded as of the highest authority, as they have been ever
since among Irish scholars and historical students; and it is
more than probable that that in the Book of Leinster was copied
from the Saltair of Cashcl and other cotemporaneous books.
But the fullest and most perfect of all is the immense Book mm FirM«*
of Grenealogics, compiled in the years 1650 to 1666 (by being g^^o^,,,.^
copied from a great number of now lost local records), by that
Dubhaltach Mac Firbisigh, or Duald Mac Firbis, whose cha-
racter and works (including the present volume), as well as
whose tragical death, I have already described to you in a
former lecture.
According to the plan I have observed in reference to the
O'Clerys, I propose to make you acquainted with Mac Firbis
himself, as well as with his book, and the reason, as well as the
plan, of its compilation, by reading for you, in translation, as
much of his introduction as the remainder of our time may
permit to day. And, I do so the more readily, because no part
of it has yet been given to the world, and it contains an immense
quantity of suggestion, of criticism, and of positive information,
which 1 am particularly well pleased to be able to lay before
you, upon tne foundation of so venerable and learned an
authority. [See the original of this Introduction in the Ap-
pendix, No. LXXXVIIJ
216 * OF THE BOOKS OF GENEALOGIES AND PEDIGREES.
LECT. vn. Mac Firbis begins with the title of his book, which is expla-
_ ^. . natory of its contents, as the title pa£[es of books in the seven-
Mao rirbu* ^ Y . 11 ^^
Book of teenth century generally were : —
^^"••*'*''*^ " The kindred and genealogical branches of every colony
that took possession of Erinn from the present time back up
to Adam (the Fomorians, the Lochlanns, and the Sax-Normans
excepted, only as far as ihey are connected with the history of
our country), together with the genealogies of the saints, and the
succession of the kings of Ireland. And, lastly, a table of con-
tents, in which are arranged, in alphabetical order, the sur-
names and the noted places which are mentioned in this book ;
which was compiled by Dublialtach Mac Firlnsigh of Lecain^
in the year 1650".
The author then continues : —
" Although the above is the more usual manner of giving
titles (to books) in these times, yet we sliall not depart from the
paths of our ancestors, the old pleasant Irish custom, for it is the
plainest, as follows : —
" The place, time, author, and cause of writing this book,
are : Its place is the College of Saint Nicholas, in Gtdway ; its
time is the time of the refigious war between the Catholics of
Ireland and the heretics of Ireland, Scotland, and England, and,
particularly, the year of the age of Christ, 1650. The author
of it is Dubhaltach^ the son of Gilla Isa Mor Mac Firhidghy
historian, etc., of Lecain Mic Firbisighj in Tireragh of the
Moy ; and the cause of writing the same book is to magnify
the glory of God, and to give knowledge to all men in general.
"It may happen that some one may be surprised at this
work, because oi the copiousness of the pedigrees that appear
in it, and of the himdreos of families that are counted in it, up
to Adam, in the order of their relation to one another. Because
I myself hear people saying that the pedigrees of the Gaedliils
cannot be brought thus to their origin. Whatever is their
reason for sayinff this, we might give it an answer, if we thought
it worth while, but that is not our present object, but to show
the truth, on the authority of ancient writings, of learned elders,
old saints, and the highest seonachics or mstorians of Erinn,
fix)m the beginning of time to this day. This is a thing of
which there can be no doubt; for it is a common and true say-
ing, in the ancient and pure (Jaedlilic Books of Erinn, showing
the classes who preserved their history. Thus do they say : If
there be any one who shall ask who preser\'ed the history
[Seanchtis], let him know that they were very ancient and
ong lived old men, recording elders of great age, whom God
permitted to preserve and hand down the history of Erinn, in
OF THE BOOKS OF GENEALOGIES AND PEDIGREES. 217
books, in succession, one after another, from the Deluffe to the ucr. x.
time of Saint Patrick (who came in the fourth year of Laegh- ^^^ ^^^'
airi Mao Neilt), and Colum Cille, and Comhgall of Benn-chair B^k J
pBanffor], and Finnen of Clonard, and the other saints of Erinn ; ^^•^^•»-
which [histoiy] was written on their knees, in books, and which
[history] is now on the altars of the saints, in their houses of
writings [libraries], in the hands of sages and historians, from
that time for ever.
" So far doth the foreffoing say, but it is more at large in the
Leabhar Gabhala; and that is a book that ought to be sufficient
to confirm this fact. Besides that, here, in particular, are the
names of the authors of the history and the otherpoetry [literary
productions] of Erinn, who came with the difierent colonists,
taken on the authority of very ancient writings, which set them
down thus : —
^^ Bacorhladhra was the first teacher of Erinn, and Ollanih
to Partholan.
" Figma, the poet and historian of the Clanna-Nemheidh,
^^Fathach^ the poet of the Firbolgs, who related history,
poetiy, and stories to them.
" Cairbrij Aoiy and -Edan, were the poets of the Tuatha D6
Danann, for history, poems, and stories. And besides that,
the greater part of the nobles (or liigher classes) of the Tuatha
Di Danann were full of learning and of druidism.
" The Gaedhils, too, were not a people tliat were without
preservers of their history in all parts through which they passed :
because Fenias Farsaidh, their ancestor, was a prime author in
all the languages ; and it is not to be wondered at that he should
know his own history. So it was with Nel, the son of Fenias,
in Egypt, [who was invited by Pharoah] . So Catcher ^ the druid,
in Scythia and in Getulia, and between them (Egypt and Ge-
♦ulia), where he foretold that they would come to Erinn. So Mi-
:i*^ius of Spain, who was named Golam, after going out of Spain
V. \o Scytlua, and from tliat to Egypt, and pailies of his people
i»-.»med the chief arts in it (Egypt) : that is, Seudga, Suirg4, and
&Jjairci, in the arts; ilantdn, Fabnan, Catcher ^ in druidism;
lliitje more of them were just judging judges, that is, Gostin^
A rnergin,QJid Donn; Amergin Glunaealthe son ofNiul, Cacham^
ai .d Cir the son of Cw, were the three poets of the Milesians ;
Ainergin and Cacham were poets, brehons, historians, and
j^^ry-tellers ; Ctr, the son of Cw, was a poet and a story-teller
[but not a historian] ; Onna was the musician and harper of
the Milesians, as given in the I3ook of Invasions, in the poem
beginning, *The two sons o( Mileadh [Milesius], of honourable
arts'
LECT. Z.
218 OF THE BOOKS OF GENEALOGIES AND PEDIGREES.
" The sons of Uaaini M6r were, some of them, foil of learn-
pirti-. "^S» ^ ^ evident from BoighnS Bosgadach, the son of Ugainij
B^k of who was the autlior of many ancient law maxims.
GenMiogies. u Qllamh Fodhla, the king of Erinn, who was so called from
the extent of his Ollamh learning; for Eochaidh was his first
name. It was he that made the first Feia of Tara, which was
the great convocation of the men of Erinn, and which was con-
tinued by the kings of Erinn from that down, every third year,
to preserve the laws and rules, and to purify the history of
Erinn, and to write it in the Saltair [or psalter] of Tara, that
is, the Book of the Ard Righ [chief king or monarch] of Erinn.
" Would not this alone be suJBScient to preserve the history of
any kingdom, no matter how extensive ? But it is not that they
were trusting to this alone; for it is not recorded that there
came any race into Ireland, who had not learned men to pre-
serve their history.
" At one time, in the time of Conor Mac Nessa, there were
1200 poets in one company ; another time 1000 ; another time
700, as was the case in the time of Aedh Mac Ainmiri [Hugh,
the son of Ainmiri] and Colum CilU; and besides, in every
time, between these periods, Erinn always thought that she had
more of learned men m her than she wanted ; so that, from their
numbers and their pressure |^that is, the tax their support made
necessary upon the people], it was attempted to banish them out
of Erinn on three different occasions, imtil they were detained by
the Ultonians for hospitality sake. This is evident in the Amhra
Cholum Chilli y who [Colum Ctllf\ was the last that kept them
in Ireland ; and Colum Cilli distributed a poet to every territory,
and a poet to every king, in order to lighten the burden on the
people in general ; so that there were people in their following
[that is, keeping up the succession of the ancient professors of
poetry], contemporary with every generation, to preserve the his-
tory and events of the country at this time. Ilot these alone,
but the kings and saints, and churches of Erinn, as I have already
stated, preserved the history in like manner.
^^ Ferceirtniy the poet; Seancfia, the son otAilell; Neidi^ the
son otAdhna; and Adhna himself, the son of Uither; Morann,
son of Moon; Athaimey the poet; Cormac Ua Cuinn [grandson
of Conn], Chief King of Erinn ; Cormac Mac Cuilennain, King
of Munster; Flann Mainistreach; Eochaidh OTlinn; Gilla
na Naemh O'Duinn, etc. Why should I be enumerating them,
for they cannot be coimted without writing a large book of their
names, and not to give but the titles of the tracts, alone, which
they wrote, as we have done before now. However, these men
preserved the history until latter times, say about 500 or 600
OF THE BOOKS OF GENKALOGIES AND PEDIGREES. 219
years ago, that is, to the time of Brian Boroimhi, About that lect. x.
time was settled the greater number of the family names of jj^^^^^j^,
Erinn ; and certain families chose or were ordered to be pro- Book of
fessoTS of history and other arts at that time, some of them be- °*°****^**
fore, and some after that time. So that they remain in the
countries of Erinn, with the chiefs all round, for the purpose of
writing their genealogies, and history, and annals ; and to com-
pose noble poems on these histories, also ; and also to preserve
and to teach every instruction that is difficult or obscure in
Gaedhlic, that is, to teach the reading of the ancient writings.
" Here follow the names of a nimiber of these historians,
and the territories, and the noble families for whom they
speak in those latter times. The O'Mulchonries, with the
Siol Murwy (O'Connors) roimd Cruachain ; another portion of
them in Tnomond ; another portion in Leinster ; and another
portion of them in Annally (Longford, OTerrall*s coimtry).
The Clann Firbiaigh^ in Lower Connacht, and in Ibh Fiachrach
Moy; and in Ibh AmJialghaidh; and in Cearra (county Sligo),
and /6A Fiachrach Aidhnd, and in Eacht^a; and with the race
of Colla Uais (the Mac Donnells of Antrim) ; the O'Duigenans,
with the Clann Maolruanaidh (Mac Dermotts, Mac Donachs,
etc.^ ; and with the Conmaicne Maigh rein. The O'Cumlns,
with the O'Ruarcs, etc.; the O'Diigans, with the O'Kellys of
Ibh Main^; the O'Clerys and the O'Cananns, with the Cinel
Conaill in Donegall ; the OXuinins, in Fermanagh ; the O'Cler-
cins, with the Cinel Eoghain (Tyrone) ; the O'Duinins, chiefly
in Munster, f. «., with the race o{ Foghan Mor (the McCarthys,
etc.") ; the Mac an Ghobhan (a name now Anglicised " Smith"),
with the 0*Kennedys of Onnond; the O'Riordans, with the
O'Carrolls and others, of Ely ; the Mac Curtins and Mac Bro-
dies, in Thomond; the Mac-Gilh-Kellys, in west Connacht,
with the OTlaherties, etc. And so there were other families in
Ireland of the same profession ; and it was obligatory on every
one of them who followed it, to purify the profession [i.e., to
drive out of it every improprietyj.
" Along with these, the Judges of Banbha used to be in
like manner preserving tlie history ; for a man could not be a
Judge without being an historian ; and he is not an historian
without being a Judge in the Brethibh Nimhedhy that is the
last Books of the works fstudy] of the Seanchaidhe [Seanchies]
or historians, and of the Judges themselves
" According to these truthful words, we believe that hence-
forth no wise person will be found who will not acknowledge
that it is feasible to bring the geneaWies of the Gaedhils to
their origin, to Noah and to Adwn ; and if he does not believe
220 OF THE BOOKS OF GENBALOGIES AND PEDIGREES.
ucT. X. that, may he not believe that he himself is the son of his own
Mm Rrbia' ^*^^^- ^^^ there is no error in the genealogical history, but
Book of as it was left from father to son in succession, one after another.
"Surely every one believes the Divine Scriptures, which give
a similar genealogy to the men of the world, from Adam down
to Noah ; and the genealogy of Christ and of the holy fathers^
as may be seen in the Church [writing]. Let him believe
this, or let him deny God. And if he docs believe this, why
should he not believe anotlier history, of which there has been
truthful preservation, like the history of Erinn ? I say truthful
preservation, for it is not only that they [the preservers of it]
were very numerous, as we said, preserving the same, but
there was an order and a law with them and upon them, out of
which they could not, without great injury, tell lies or false-
hoods, as may be seen in the Books of Fenechas [Law] of
Fodhla [Erinnl, and in the degrees of the poets themselves,
their order, ana their laws. For there was not in Erinn Timtil
the country was confounded) a laity [of a territory] , nor a clergy
of a church, on whom there was not some particular order [lay
or ecclesiastical], which are called Gradha [or Degrees]. And
it was obligatory on them to maintain the laws of these degrees,
under the pain or penalty of fine, and the loss of their dignity
[and privileges], as we have written in our Fenechas [Law]
vocabulary, which speaks at length of these laws, and of the
laws of the Gaedhils m general.
" The historians of Erinn, in the ancient times, will scarcely
be distinguished from the Feinighy [or story-tellers,] and those
who are called Aoa ddna [or poets] at this day; for it was at
one school often that they were educated, all the learned of Erinn.
And the way that they were divided was into seven degrees :
OUamhy Anrad, Cli, Canaj Bos, Macfuirmid, Foclog, were the
names of the seven degrees, like the ecclesiastical degrees, such
as priest, deacon, subnieacon, etc. The Order of Poets, was,
among its other laws, obliged to be pure and free from theft
and killing, and of satirizmg, and of adultery, and of every
thing that woidd be a reproach to their learning, as it is found
in this rann (or verse) : —
" Purity of hand, bright without woimding.
Purity of mouth, without poisonous satire,
Purity of learning, without reproach,
Purity of * husbandship' [or marriage].
" Any Seavchaidhe, then, whether an Ollamhy an Anrad, or
of any other decree of them, who did not preserve these puri-
ties, lost half his income and his dignity, according to law,
OF THE BOOKS OF GENEALOGIES AND PEDIGBEE8. 221
and was sulpect to heavy penalties beside ; therefore, it is not to lbct. x.
be supposed that there is in the world a person who would not ^j^ p^^^
prefer to tell the truth, if he had no other reason than the fear Book of
of God and the loss of his dignity and his income ; and it is not ^^^'^'^
becoming to charge partiaUly upon tliese selected historians of
the nation. However, if unworthy people wrote falsehood,
and charged it to an historian, it might become a reproach to
the order of historians, if they were not guarded, and did not
look for it, to see whether it was in their prime books of
authority that those writers obtained their knowledge. And
that is what is proper to be done by every one, both the lay
scholar and the professional historian; every thing of whicn
they have a suspicion, to look for it, and if they do not find it
confirmed in good books, to note down its doubtfulness along
with it, as I myself do to certain races hereafter in this book:
and it is thus that the historians are freed from the errors of
other parties, should these be cast upon them, which Grod
forbid.
" The historians were so anxious and ardent to preserve the
history of Erinn, that the descriptions of the nobleness and dig-
nified manners of the people, which they have Icfl us, however
copious they may be, should not be wondered at; for they did
not refirain from writing even of the undignified artizans, and of
the professors of the healing and buildinff arts of the ancient
times, — as shall be shown below, to show the fidelity of the his-
torians and the error of those who make such assertions as [for
instance] that there were no stone buildings in Erinn imtil the
coming of the Danes and Anglo-Normans into it.
" Thus saith an ancient authority : The first doctor, the first
builder, and the first fisherman, that were ever in Erinn, were : —
" ^Capa, for the healing of the sick,
In his time was all-powerful ;
And Luasad, the cunning builder,
And LaighnSf the fisherman.
"£a6rt,the female physician who accompanied the lady Ceasair
into Erinn, was the second doctor ; Slanga^ the son olPartholan,
was the third doctor that came into Erinn (with Partholan) ; and
Ferffna, the grandson of Crithinhel^ was the fourth doctor who
came into Erinn (with Nemed). The doctors of the Firbolgs
were, Dubhda Ihihldosach^ Codan Corinchis7iech, and Fingin
Fisiocdha, Mainiy the son of Gressach, andAongus Antemmach.
The doctors of the Tuatha Di Danann were, DianceaJity Air-
medk, Miachy etc.
"Of ancient builders, the following are the names of a few, who
222 OF THE BOOKS OF OEKEALOOIES AND PEDIGREES.
LECT. X.
OeoMlogtot.
were styled the builders of the chief stone edifices (of the world) :
Mae Firtia* " ^^^^ "^^ Solomon's stonc-builder ; Cabur was the stone-
Book of^^ builder of Tara ; Bamab was the stone-builder of Jerico ; Bacus
was the rath-builder of Nimrod; Cidoin, or Cidoim^ was Curoi
(Mac Dair^s) stone-builder ; Cir was the stone-builder of Rome ;
Arond was the stone-builder of Jerusalem ; Oilen was the stone-
builder of Constantinople ; Bole, the son of Blar, was the rath-
builder of Cruachain ; GoU, of Clochar, was stone-builder to
Nadfraich [king of Munstcr at the close of the fourth century] ;
Casruba was the stone-builder o( Ailiac \_Ailinn?'\ ; Ringin, or
Ri^rin^ and Gabhlan, the son of Ua Gairbh, were the stone-
bmlders ofAileach; Troighleathan was the rath-builder of Tara;
Bainchi^ or BainchnS, the son of Dobru, was the rath-builder of
Emania ; Balur, the son of Buanlam/i, was the builder of Rath
BreisS; Cricily the son of Dubhchruitj was the builder of the
Rath of Ailinn.
[This list of names is repeated here in verse by Donnell, tlie
son o£ Flannacan, king oi Fer-li (?), about the year 1000].
" We could find a countless number of the ancient edifices of
Erinn to name besides these above, and the builders who
erected them, and the kings and noble chiefs for whom they
were built, but that they would be too tedious to mention here.
Look at the Book of Conquests if you wish to discover them ;
and we have evidence of their having been built like the edifices
of other kingdoms of the times in which they were built ; — and
why should they not? for there came no colony into Erinn but
from the eastern world, as from Spain, etc. ; and it would be
strange if such deficiency of intellect should mark the parties
who came into Ireland, smce they had the courage to seek and
take the country, as that they should not have the sense to form
their residences and dwellings after the manner of the countries
from which they originally went forth, or through which they
travelled; for it is not possible that they were not acquainted
with the style of buildings of the greater part of Europe, after
having passed through such travels as they did — from Scythia,
from Egypt, from Greece and Athens, from Fclesdine [sic; qu.
for Palestine ?] from Spain, etc., into Erinn.
" And if those colonists of ancient Erinn erected buildings
in the country similar to those of the countries through which
they came, as it is likely they did, what is the reason that the
fact is doubted ? There is no reason, but because there are not
lime-built walls standing in the places where they were erected,
fifteen hundred, two thousand, or three thousand years ago;
when it is no wonder that there are not, since, in much shorter
spaces of time than these, the land grows over buildings, when
OF THE BOOKS OF GENEALOGIES AND PEDIGBEES. 223
once they are broken down, or fall of their own accord, fix>m leot. x.
" In proof of this, I have myself seen, within the last sixteen Book of
years, lofty lime-built castles, built of lime-stone ; and at this day, ^^'^••^**«*^
after they have &llen, there remains nothing of them but an
earthen mound to mark their sites, nor comd even the anti-
quarians easily discover that any edifices had ever stood there
atalL
" Compare these to the buildings which were erected him-
dreds ana thousands of years ago, one with another ; and it is
no wonder, should this be done, except for the superiority of
the ancient building over the modem, that not a stone, nor an
elevation of the ground should mark their situation. Such,
however, is not the case, for, such is the stability of the old build-
ings, that there are immense royal raths [or palaces] and forts
[jCkw] throughout Erinn, in which there are numerous hewn
and polished stones, and cellars and apartments imder groimd,
within their walls ; such as there are in Rath Maoilcatha^ in
Castle Conor, and in Bally O'Dowda, in Tireragh, on the banks
of the Moy. There are nine smooth stone cellars under the
walls of this rath ; and I have been inside it, and I think it is
one of the oldest raths in Erinn ; and its walls are of the height
of a good cow-keep still. I leave this, however, and many
other things of the kind, to the learned to discuss, and I shall
return to my first intention, namely, the defence of the fidelity
of our history, to which the ignorant do an additional injustice,
by saying that it carries [the genealogies of all] the men of
Erinn up to the sons of Milesius.
'* They will acknowledge their own falsehood in this matter, if
they will but see the number of alien races whicli are given in
this book alone, which are not carried up to the sons of Mile-
sius, as may be seen in several places in tlie body of the book,
and let them compare them with one another.
" Here, too, is the distinction which the profound historians
draw between the three difterent races which are in Erinn —
that is, between the descendants of the Firbolgs, Fir Domh-
nanns and Gailiuns, and the Tuatha Di Danann^ and the
Milesians.
" Every one who is wliitc [of skin], brown [of hair], bold,
honourable, daring, prosperous, bountiful in the bestowal of
property, wealth, ancl rings, and who is not afraid of battle or
combat ; they arc the descendants of the sons of Milesius, in
Erinn.
" Every one who is fair-haired, vengefiil, large ; and every
plunderer; every musical person; the professors of musical and
224 OF THE BOOKS OF GENEALOGIES AND PEDIGREES.
LECT. X. entertaining perfonnances ; who arc adepts in all Drnidical and
« «-*^ . maffical arts ; they are the descendants of the TuaUia Di
Book Of iJanann, in iiinnn.
OenMiogiea. ^ Every one who is black-haired, who is a tattler, guileful,
tale-telling, noisy, contemptible ; every wretched, mean, stroll-
ing, unsteady, harsh, and inhospitable person; every slave,
every mean thief, every churl, every one who loves not to listen
to music and entertainment, the disturbers of every coimcil and
every assembly, and the promoters of discord among people,
these are the descendants of the Firbolgs, of the Gailiuns, of
LiogaimSy and of the Fir Domhnanns, in Erinn. But, however,
the descendants of the Firbolgs are the most numerous of all these.
[This is summed up in verse here, but we pass it for the
present.]
" This is taken from an old book. However, that it is possible
to identify a race by their personal appearance and their dis-
positions I do not take upon myself positively to say ; though it
may have been true in the ancient times, until the races subse-
quently became repeatedly intermixed. For we daily see, in our
own time, and we often hear it from our old people, a similitude
of people, a similitude of form, character, and names, in some
families in Erinn, with others ; and not only is this so, but it is
said that the people of every country have a resemblance to
each other, and that they all have some one peculiar character-
istic by which they arc known, as may be understood from this
poem: —
** For building, the noble Jews are found,
And for truly fierce envy ;
For size, the guileless Armenians,
And for firmness, the Saracens ;
For acuteness and valour, the Greeks ;
For excessive pride, the Romans ;
For dullness, the creeping Saxons ;
For haughtiness, the Spaniards ;
For covetousness and revenge, the French ;
And for anger, the true Britons. —
Such is the true knowledge of the trees. —
For gluttony, the Danes, and for commerce ;
For high spirit the Picts are not unknown ;
And for beauty and amourousness, the Gasdhils ; —
As Giolla-na-naemh says in verse,
A fair and pleasing composition.
" We believe that it is more likely to find the resemblance in
Erinn (than anywhere else), because there is a law in the
OF THE BOOKS OF GENEALOGIES AND PEDIGREES. 225
Seanehas Mor, ordered by St. Patrick, which says, that if it lect. x.
should happen that a woman knew two men, at the time of her ^^ p.
conception, — so that she could not know which of them was the Book of
father of the child begotten at that time, — the law says, if the ^*®°®^**8***-
child cannot be afEQiated on the true father by any other mode,
that he is to be borne with for three years, imtil he shall be-
tray family likeness, family voice, and family disposition ; and
the woman was thus assisted to identify him as the father to
whom these characteristics bore the closest resemblance ; as it is
supposed that it is to him whom he the more resembles he
belongs. And as this has been laid down in St. Patrick's law,
it ifi no wonder that it should be a remarkable distinction of
some families more than others. And though it may not be
found true in all cases, there is nothing inconsistent with reason
in it And, further, it is an argument against the people who
say that there is no family in this coimtry which the genealo-
gists do not trace up to the sons of Milesius. And notwithstand-
ing this, even though it were so, it would be no wonder; for, if
a man will look at the sons of Milesius, and the great families
that sprung &om them in Erinn and in Scotland, and how few
of them exist at this day, he will not wonder that people inferior
to them, who had been a long time under them, should not ex-
ist ; for it is the custom of the nobles, when their own cliildren
and families multiply, to suppress, blight, and exterminate their
farmers and followers.
" Examine Erinn and the whole world, and there is no end
to the number of examples of this kind to be found ; so that it
would be no wonder that the number of genealogies which are
in Erinn at this day were carried up to Milesius.
" It having been the custom of the genealogists to give dis-
tinct names of books according to their variety, to the [tracts
which relate to the] Gaedhils, who alone were the particular
objects of their care ; such as the Book of Connacht, the Book
of Ulster, the Book of Leinster, and the Book of '^Munstcr, I
shall, in like manner, divide and classify this book. I will di-
vide it into different books, according to the number of the con-
quests of Erinn before the Gaedhils, and according to the number
of the three sons of Milesius of Spain, who took the sovereignty
of Erinn; a book for the saints, and a book for the Fomonans,
Lochlanns or Danes, and the Normans, and Anglo-Normans,
old and new, after them.
" I shall devote the first book to Partholan^ who first took
po^ession of Erinn after the Deluge, devoting the beginning
of it to the coming of the lady Ceasair, as they are not worth
226 OF THE BOOKS OF GENEALOGIES AND PEDIGREES.
JLECT. X.
Mae Flrbis'
dividing; the second, to Nemed; the third, to the Firbolgs;
^^ ,„„„ ^^^ fourth, to the TuatJia Di Danann; the fifth, to the Gaedhils,
EJ^'of""* and all the sons of Milesius, though it is only of the race of
Genealogies. gj^u^Qj^ \^ treats, till they are finished ; and this book is larger
than seven books of the old division, because it contains more
than they did, and it is more copious than ever it [that is, than
ever this branch of the Graedhlic ffenealories] was before. The
sixth book, to the race of /r, ana the Dal Fiatach; these are
also of the race of Eremon, and occupants of the same country
of Ulster for a long time. The seventh book, to the race of
EbeTj and the descendants of Luahaidh, the son of Ith; for
Munster is the original coimtry of both. The eighth book, to
the saints of Erinn. The ninth and last book, to the Fomo-
rians, the Lochlanns, and the Normans.
" As to the arrangement of our book — O reader ! if you
are not pleased with placing the younger before the elder, I do
not deny that you will often find it so in it, from Fenias Far-
saidh down. Behold the sons of Feniaa himself: that Niul, the
younger, has been from the beginning spoken of with pre-
ference by the historians, while Naem>al, the elder, is httle
spoken of.
" Eremon, too, the son of Milesius, is placed in it before the
rest of the sons of Milesius, who were older than him ; and
there is no computing the number of such cases contained in it,
down to the latter families which we have at this day.
" See how the historians of Munster place the Mac Carthys
before the O'Sullivans, who are their seniors in descent, and
the O'Briens before their seniors the Mac Mahons.
" Other books of the northern half of Erinn, as well as
Doctor Keting, place Niall of die Nine Hostages, and liis de-
scendants, though junior, before the rest of his brothers, his
seniors.
" See how Dudch Galach, the youngest son of Brian, took
precedence of the other three-and-twenty sons, his seniors.
" The historians of the Siol Muiredhaighj place the O'Conors
(of Connacht) before their seniors.
" The Ulidians place Mac Aonghusa (or Magenis), of the
race of Conall Ceamach, before the descendants of Conor, the
king, because Conall's descendants were the more distinguished ;
and it was the same as regarded many other families, which it
would be tedious to enumerate. And if these are allowed to
be proper, why not I have a right to follow the same course ?
'* And further, should any one suppose that this is an ar-
bitrary proceeding, I can assui-e him it is not ; and that very
often it cannot be avoided, where the descent of many tribes
OF THB BOOKS OF GENEALOGIES AND PEDIGREES. 227
and races has become complicated ; so that, in order to separate lect. x.
them, it is often found necessary to pass over the senior, and ^^
write of the junior first, and then to return to the senior again. Book of
" Understand, moreover, O reader ! that it was a law in ^"«^«*«*
Erinn to raise the junior sometimes to the chiefship, in prefer-
ence to the senior, as the following Rule of Law, taken from
the Seanchas Mdr^ and from the Fenechas in common, says:
* The senior to the tribe, the powerful to the chiefship, the wise
to the Church'. That is, the senior person of the tribe is to be
put at the head of that tribe or family, alone ; the man who has
most supporters and power, if he be equally noble with his
senior, to be placed in the chicfehip or lordship ; and the wisest
man to be raised to the supreme rule of the Church.
" However, if the senior be the more wealthy and powerfid,
or if there be no junior of more wealth and power tnan him,
according to the law, then he takes the chiefship. This, how-
ever, is tne same as what has been already said.
" There is a common verse, which is repeated, to prove that
it is lawfid that an eligible junior ought to be elevated to the
sovereignty, in preference to any number of his seniors, who
were deficient in the lawful requirements.
' Though there be nine in the line,
Between a good son and the sovereignty,
It is the right and proper rule
That he be forthwith inaugurated'.
** And it is, therefore, sometimes proper that the junior be
elevated to the sovereignty. Why, then, if one should choose it,
that he should not be placed at the beginning of a book ? And,
besides, it would be an unbecoming arrangement to place the
most important of the guests at the foot of the table, wliile all
the rest, even though they were his elder brothers, were placed
at the head, when they are not kings.
" See, too, how the ignoble of descent are now placed in high
positions in Erinn, in preference to the nobles, because they
possess worldly wealth, which is more to be wondered at than
the above ; and it is a far greater insult to the native nobles of
Erinn than any arrangement of their genealogies which wc may
happen to make, particularly as we receive no remuneration
from any one of them. I pray them, therefore, to excuse their
devoted servant Duhhaltach Mac FirhisighP.
I have stated, in a former lecture, that the autograph of Mac
FirbiaigKa Book, which is written on paper, is in the possession
of the Earl of Roden, and that I made a fac-simile copy of it
15 b
228 OF THE BOOKS OF GENEALOGIES AND PEDIGREES.
LECT. X. for the Royal Irish Academy, in the year 1836. I have only
to add, as before, with respect to the other books, a calculation
Bookof oftheextentoftheGaBdhhctextofthisbook,estiinated,asbeforc,
in reference to the size of the pages of O'Donovan's Annals of
the Four Masters, supposing the Irish text alone were printed
at full length, that it would make about 1300 pages.
You will now, I think, be able to comprehend why it is that
I have attached so much importance to the genealogical tracts ;
and you, perhaps, already feel with me that by the future histo-
rian these great records will not be foimd less valuable than any
of the annals themselves, to the accuracy of which they supply
a check so invaluable in the comparison of historical materials.
The last, the most perfect, and the greatest of these works is Mac
Firbis's vast collection.
Mac Firbis fo\md the great lines and general ramifications of
the Graedhlic genealogies, already brought down, in the Books of
Leinster, Ballymote, and Lecan, to the oeginning of the fif\;eenth
century. These he continued down to his own time, from a.d.
1650 to 1666, with most important additions, collected evi-
dently from various local records and private family documents,
as well as from the State Papers in the public offices in Dublin,
to which he seems to have had access, probably through the in-
fluence of Sir James Ware.
His book is, perhaps, the greatest national genealogical com-
pilation in the world ; and wnen we remember his great age at
the time of its compilation, and that he neither received nor ex-
pected reward from any one, — that he wrote his book (as he
himself says), simply for the enlightenment of his countrymen,
the honour of his country, and the glory of God, — we cannot
but feel admiration for his enthusiasm and piety, and venera-
tion for the man who determined to close his life by bequeath-
ing this precious legacy to his native land.
LECTURE XL
CDrifrered Jiin« 19, 18&6.3
Of the existing peces of detailed History in the Gaedhlic Language. The History
of the Ori^ of the Boromean Tribute. The Hist<OT of the Wars of the
Danes and the Gaedhils. The History of the Wan of Thomond. The *' Book
of Mnnster^. Of the Historic Tales appointed to be recited by the Poets and
Ollamhs. Of the legal education of the Ollamh. The Historic Tales,
with Examples. 1. Of the Catha, or Battles. The '< Battle of Mdgh Tui-
readhr. The '* Battle of Mdgh Tuireadh of the Fomorians".
In the previous part of this course, we have akeady disposed of
the senes of the Annals, the foundation of our yet unwritten
history. You have also heard something of the general contents
of the great books of Graedhlic manuscripts still preserved, and
I have endeavoured to give you some idea of the extent of these
great remains of our ancient literature. Before I proceed to
¥*ve an account of the compositions I have termed Historic
ales, in which so vast a body of information is to be found as
to the details of isolated occurrences, and the life and exploits
of particular historic personages, I have still to introduce to
yoiu- notice a few works of a yet more important character.
When I explained to you the nature of the meagre entries of
which the earlier Annals for the most part consist, I told you
that the intention of their compilers was confined to a record of
mere dates of the more remarkable historical events, and of the
succession and deaths of the Chiefs, Kings, Bishops, and Saints.
They omitted the details of the events thus recoracd, and of the
lives of the sages and rulers of Erinn in these general annals,
because such details formed the subject of compositions of an-
other kind. There were many extensive local histories regu-
larly kept, and many enlarged accounts of important historical
events, which filled up what was wanted in the general annals.
Of those systematic historical compositions, embracing accounts
of events extending over a considerable number of years or ge-
nerations, many are known to have existed, but a few only have
come down to us. These few are, however, tracts so much
larger in extent, and so much more ambitious in their aim, than
the pieces I have classed under the name of Historic Tales, that
they demand our notice in somewhat greater detail. And as
they rank in importance next to the Annals and the great Books
230 OF THE EXISTING OLD MS. HISTORIES.
«. of Genealogy themselves, it is to these pieces that I have now
Of the
to direct your attention. These larger tracts, then, of which I
existing old am about to speak, are those which may be distinguished from
tortus the the smaller pieces, rec6rding only isolated events, exploits, and
Sn^Sgl 1>^**1^> in so far as they form connected narratives of tlie history
of the whole country, or of some large portion of it, throughout
a series of years. They may, therefore, be considered as complete
pieces of history so far as they go, and were, no doubt, intended
to form a portion of the full and complete history of the country,
of which the Annals embrace but the meagre outline.
2?the ob^-"^ "^^ fi^* ^^ t^^^ ^^*^ ^^ pieces to which I shall call your at-
iGTx OF THE tcution, is one covering a considerable space of time, and chiefly,
TRreJiSi^ if not entirely, within the acknowledged historic period. It is
the remarkable history which gives an account of the Origin of
the BoROMEAN Tribute, so long the source of such fierce in-
ternal warfare among the princes of Erinn ; and which details
the chief contests, battles, and social broils to which that tribute
gave rise, from the period of its imposition in the first century,
to its final remission in the seventh.
About the middle of the first century, the mere rent-payers
and unprivileged classes of Erinn, the Aiiheach Tuaiha (a word
incorrectly Anglicised ** Attacots"), rose up against their lords,
and by a sudden rebellion succeeded in overthrowing their power,
and even in destroying the chief part of the nobility, together
with the monarch Fia^ha^ in whose stead they placea their own
leader, Cairhri Cinn-Cait [Carbry Cat-heao], on the throne.
CairbrS reigned five years, and was succeeded by Elim Mac
Conrach, one of the Rudrician race. This Elim reigned over
Erinn for twenty years, after which he was at last slain at the
battle o{ Acaill (a place now known as the hill of Skreen, near
Tara) by Tuathal Teachtmar, son of the former or legitimate
monarch Fiacha, Tuathal assmned the sovereignty with the
hearty good will of the majority of the people, who were tired
out by the inability of the usurping ruler to govern the nation
in peace and order. He immediately set about consolidating his
power, by reducing to obedience all such chiefs as remained still
favourable to the revolutionary cause; and, having fully suc-
ceeded in accomplishing this work, he formally received at last
the solemn allegiance oi his subjects, and sat down in full power
and honour in the palace of the kings at Tara.
Tuathal had, at this time, two beautiful marriageable daugh-
ters, named Fithir and Dairine. Eochaidh Aincheann^ the king
of Leinstcr, sought and obtained the hand of the younger
daiighter Dairini^ and, after their nuptials, carried her home to
OF THE EXISTING OLD MS. HISTORIES 231
his palace at Naas, in Leinster. Some time afterwards his peo- lect. xi.
pie persuaded him that he had made a bad selection, and that ^^ History
the elder was the better of the two sisters, upon which Eochaidh of the o»-
resolved by a stratagem to obtain the other daughter too. For boro«IS*
this piurpose, he shut up his young queen in a secret chamber of '^*""°^"-
his palace, at the same time giving out that she was dead ; after
which he repaired to Tara, told the monarch Tuathal that
Dairini was dead, and expressed his great anxiety to continue
the alliance by espousing the other daughter. To this Tttathal
gave his consent, and JEochaidh returned again to his own court
with a new bride.
After some time the injured lady, DairinS, contrived to
make her escape &om her confinement, and quite unexpectedly
made her appearance in the presence of her faithless husband
and his new wife. The deceived sister, on seeing her alive
and well, for the first time knew how falsely both had been
dealt with, and, struck with horror, disgust, and shame, fell
dead on the spot. Dairini was no less affected by the treachery
of her husband and the death of her sister; she returned to her
solitary chamber, and in a short time died of a broken heart
The monarch Tuathal having heard of the insult put upon
his two daughters, and their untmiely death, forthwith raised a
powerful force, marched into Leinster, burned and ravaged the
whole province to its uttermost boundaries, and then compelled
the king and his people to bind themselves and their descendants
for ever to the payment of a triennial tribute to the monarch
of Erinn. This tribute he fixed to consist of five thousand
ounces of silver, five thousand cloaks, five thousand fat cows,
five thousand fat hogs, five thousand fat wethers, and five thou-
sand large vessels of brass or bronze.
This was what was called the " Boromean Tribute" ; as it
was named from the great niunber of cows paid in it, — bo being
the Graedhlic for a cow.
The levying of this degrading and oppressive tribute by the
successive monarchs of Erinn, was the cause of periodical san-
guinary conflicts, from TuathaVs time down to the reign of
rinnachia the Festive, who, about the year 680, abolished it,
at the persuasion of St. Moling of Tu^h Moling (now St. Mul-
len's, in the county of Carlow), though against the will of St.
Adamnan, who was then the friend and confessor of the mo-
narch. The tribute was, however, revived and affain levied by
Brian, the son of Cinneidiah^ at the beginning of the eleventh
century, as a punishment for the adherence of Leinster to the
Danish cause : and it was from this circumstance that he ob-
tained the surname of Boroimhe.
UBCT. XI.
OF THE EXISTING OLD MS. HISTORIES.
Of the tract devoted to the history of this tribute we have a
The Histo ^^ valuable copy in the Book of JLecain, in the library of the
of ttie Or- Royal Irish Academy ; but we have a stiU more valuable copy,
^ROM^' beoiuse much older, in the Book of Leinster, a manuscript of
tbibut*. ^}^q middle of the twelfth century, preserved in the Library of
Trinity College, Dublin.
The most important of the events recorded in the History of
the Boromean Tribute, because by far the most detailed, is the
battle of Dun Bolg^ near Bealach Conglaia [now Baltinglass],
in the county of Wicklow. This battle was fought in the
year 594, between the monarch of Erinn, Aedh [Hugh], the
son of Ainmird, and the celebrated Bran Dtiohj King of
Leinster, in which the monarch was slain, and his forces
routed and slaughtered.
The History Th® next great epoch of our history has been described in
oftheWARa another similar piece. I allude to that long period, extending
Dikes ovcr morc than two hundred years, during which the Danish
gabohi" ^^^ other Scandinavian hordes continued to pour an almost in-
cessant stream of death and destruction on the country. Of the
history of this dreadful warfare we have a very ample accoimt,
prcserv^ed in various contemporary poems and minor pieces of
Srose ; but the most valuable, because the most complete and
etailed, account of it remaining, is that contained in the tract
specially compiled under the name of Cogadh Gall re Gaedhil,
or the Wars of the Danes with the Gaedhils.
Of this tract I had the good fortune some sixteen years a^o
to discover an ancient, but much soiled and imperfect copy, m
the hbrary of Trinity College ; and this manuscript, with the
permission of the College Board, I cleaned and copied. On the
discovery of the Brussels Collection of Irish MS§. in 1846, it
was found to contain a perfect copy of this tract, in the hand-
writing of the friar Michael O'Clery . This book was borrowed
by Dr. Todd in 1852, and I made a fair transcript of it for the
College Ubrary, thus securing to an Irish institution, where it
might be easily consulted, a full and perfect copy. The ancient
fragment must be nearly as old as the chief events towards the
conclusion of the war, or the time of the decisive battle of Clon-
tarf ; and, as the O'Clery manuscript was not made out from this,
we have the advantage of two independent copies of authority so
far ; and this, I need not tell you, is no small advantage in the
case of documents which must have passed through so many
successive transcriptions in successive ages, as most of our cele-
brated pieces have done.
Of the antiquity of the original composition of the tract, and
OF THE EXISTING OLD MS. HISTORIES. 233
of its authenticity, we have most important evidence in the mct. xi.
feet, that a fragment (imfortunateljr the first folio only) remains ,^^ nirtorr
in ihe Book of Leinster. The existence of this fragment is of of the
double importance. Firstly, because the Book of Leinster, mVDAm
having been compiled between the years 1120 and 1150, at a JiJ^Jfi
time 3iat men were living whose grandfathers remembered the
battle of Clontarf, this tract must have been at that period re-
cognized as an authentic and veritable narrative, and exten-
sively known, else it could scarcely find a place in such a com-
pilation. And secondly, the fact of this tract containing a great
amoimt of detail, of what must have been at this period very
distastefiil to the Leinster men, it is but reasonable to believe
that neither exaggerration nor falsehood would have been al-
lowed to form part of so great a provincial compilation.
This, to be sure, is arguing in the absence of the now lost
copy ; but any one acquamted with our ancient books, will be
struck with the remarkable agreement which characterizes the
record of the same events in books of different and often hostile
provinces, even when the writer is recording the defeat, and
perhaps disgrace, of the people of his own temtory or province.
This book is now in course of publication, as one of the series
of Chronicles on the History of Great Britain and Ireland, under
the supcrintendance of the Master of the Rolls, in England. It
is to be edited, with a Translation, Notes, and Introduction, by
the Rev. Dr. Todd, S.F.T.C.D.
The next great piece of history that I have to call your attention The Hiatory
to, in continuation of the historical chain, is one which, though wIm o»
but of local name and importance, still must have had (as indeed tho«oni>.
it is well known to have had) a considerable influence in stimu-
lating the fierce opposition which the Anglo-Norman invaders
met with, in the south and west of Ireland, for near two hundred
years after their first disastrous descent upon this country.
The tract I allude to is commonly called the Wars of Tho-
mond; and up to the present time it is, I am sorry to say,
better known by name than by examination. It was compiled
in the year 1459, by John, the son of Rory Mac Craith, a
member of a learned family of that name, which gave many poets
and historians to thcDalcassian famihes of Clare, and many learned
ecclesiastics to the Catholic Church,— down to the time of the
wretched Maelmuire [or Miler] Mac Grath, who, from being a
pious friar of the Franciscan order, became (after some smafler
preferments) the first Protestant Archbishop of Cashel, at the
close of Queen EHzabeth's reign. It professes to have been com-
piled from various documents belonging to the families of men
LECT. XI.
234 OF THE EXISTING OLD MS. HISTORIES.
who took an active and prominent part in the stirring scenes of
^ which it is the record,
of the ^ The following is the explanatory title-page, prefixed to a
SoMOKB. ^® paper copy of this valuable tract, now preserved in the
library of the Dublin University: —
" Here is a copy of that prune historical book, which the
learned call Caihreim Thoirdhealbhaigh [the Wars of Turlogh],
in which is set forth every renowned deed that happenea in
Thomond, or North Munster, for more than two hundred years,
or nearly from the Anglo-Norman invasion of Erinn to the
death of De Clare ; first written by John, the son of Rory Mac
Gxath, the chief historian to the noble descendants of Cos [the
Dalcassians], in the year 1459, as appears at the nineteenth
foho of the same very old book, which may be seen at this day ;
and now newly written by Andrew Mac Curtin for the use of
Tadhg, son of John, son of Mahon, son of Donnoch, son of
Tadhff Ogy son of Tadhg, son of Donnoch, son of Rory, son of
Mahon, son of John, son oiDomhnall Ballachj son of Mahon the
Blind, son of Maccon, son of Cumeadha, son of Maccon, son of
Lochlainn, son of Cumeadka M6r Mac Namara of Ranna.
A.D. 1721".
The transcriber of this copy, Andrew Mac Curtin, of Ennis-
timon, in the county of Clare, was one of the best, if not the
very best, Irish scholar of his day ; and a transcript from his
accurate hand may be received with confidence, and looked
upon, for all historical purposes, as of equal value with the
original. The Mac Namara, for whom the transcript was made,
represented, in the direct line, the ancient chiefs of the Clann
Cuilein, in Clare ; and well mieht he be anxious to preserve in
his family a correct copy of this historical piece, because the Mac
Namaras, his ancestors, were the most nimierous, the most
important, and, if possible, the most valiant of the proud and
powerfiil Dalcassian Claims who took part in the fearful internal
warfare recorded in it.
The tract opens with the death of the brave Domknall Mor
O'Brien, the last king of Munster, in the year 1194, and the
elevation of his son, Donoch, (or Donnchadh) Cairbrech O'Brien
to his place, — but as chief of the Dalcais only (not as King of
Mimster), with the title of The O'Brien. The incidents of this
frince's reign are passed over lightly, to his death, in the year
242. Donnoch was succeeded by his son Conor, who erected
the monastery of Corcomroe, in which his tomb and effigy may
be seen at this day. This Conor had two sons, Tadhg ond Brian
Ruadh O'Brien, of whom I shall presently speak.
The Anglo-Norman power which came into the country in
OF THE EXISTING OLD MS. HISTORIES. 235
the year 1172, had constantly gained ground, generation after lect. m.
generation, as you are of course aware, in consequence chiefly
of the mutual jealousies and isolated opposition of the individual J?Sie*'***''^
chiefe and claims among the Gaedhiis. At last the two great Somokd.
sections of the country, the races of the north and the south, re-
solved to take counsel, and select some brave man of either of the
ancient royal houses to be elevated to the chief command of the
whole nation, in order that its power and eflSciency might be the
more effectually concentrated and brought into action against
the common enemy. To this end, then, a convention was ar-
ranged to take place between Brian O'Neill, the greatest leader
of tne north at this time, and Tadhg, the son of Conor O'Brien,
— at CaeluUgi [Narrow Water], on Loch Erne (near the present
Castle Calwell). O'Neill came attended by all the chiefs of the
north and a numerous force of armed men. O'Brien, though in
his father's lifetime, went thither, at the head of the Munster
and Connacht chiefs, and a large body of men in arms. The
great chiefs came face to face at either Bank of the Narrow
Water, but their old destiny accompanied them, and each came
to the convention fully determined that himself alone should be
the chosen leader and king of Erinn. The convention was,
as might be expected, a failure; and the respective parties
returned home more divided, more jealous, and less powerful
than ever to advance the general interests of their country, and
to crush, as united they might easily have done, that crafty,
unscrupulous, and treacherous foe, which contrived then and for
centunes after to rule over the clanns of Erinn, by taking ad-
vantage of those dissensions among them which the stranger
always found means but too readily to foment and to perpetuate.
This convention or meeting of O'Brien and O'Neill took
place in the year 1258, according to the Annals of the Four
Masters; and in the year after, that is in 1259, Tadhg O'Brien
died. In the year after that again, that is, in 1260, Brian
O'Neill himseu was killed in the battle of Down Patrick, by
John de Courcy and his followers.
The premature death of Tadhg O'Brien so preyed on his
father, tnat for a considerable time he forgot altogether the
duties of his position and the general interests of his people.
This state of supineness encouraged some of his subordinate
chiefs to withhold from him his lawful tributes.
Among these insubordinates was the OLochlainn of Burren,
whose contumacy at length roused the old chief to action ; and
in the year 1267 he marched into OLocldainns country, as far
as the wood of Siublidaineach, in the north-west part of Burren.
Here the chief was met by the O Lochlainns and their adhe-
236 OF THE EXISTING OLD MS. HISTORIES.
LBCT. XI.
rents, and a battle ensued, in which O'Brien was killed and his
army routed : and hence he has been ever since known in his-
of the ^ tory as Conchubhar na Siubhdaini, or Conor o£ Siuhhdaineach,
SSwro. Tadhg O'Brien, the elder son of Conor, left two sons, Turloch
and Donoch ; and according to the law of succession among the
claims, Torloch, though stall in his minority, should succeed to
the chieftaincy and to the title of O'Brien. In this, however,
he was wrongfully anticipated by his father's brother Brian
Huadh, who had liimself proclaimed chief, and without any
opposition. This Brian litmdh continued to rule for nine
years, imtil the yoimg Torloch came to full age ; when, backed
by his relatives the MacNamaras, and his fosterers the O'Deas,
he marched with a great force against his uncle, who, sooner
than risk a battle, fled with his immediate family and adherents,
taking with him all his property, eastwards into North Tip-
perary, and left young Torloch in full possession of his ancestim
rule and dignity.
Brian Ruadn, however, could not quietly submit to his loss
and disgrace, and, taking counsel with his adherents, they
decided on his seeking the aid of the national enemy, to rein-
state him in his lost chieftainship. For this purpose Brian
Huadh and his son Donoch proceeded to Cork, to Thomas de
Clare, son of the Earl of Gloucester, then at the head of all the
Anglo-Norman forces of Munster, and sought his assistance, offer-
inghim an ample remuneration for his services. They offered him
all the land lying between the city of Limerick and the town
of Ardsallas, in Clare. De Clare gladly accepted those terms,
and both parties met by agreement at Limerick, fix)m which
they marched into Clare ; where, before any successful opposition
could be offered diem, the castle of Bunratty was built and
fortified by the Norman leader.
A short time afterwards, however (in the year 1277), De
Clare put the unfortimate Brian Btmdh to death ; having had
him drawn between horses and torn limb from Umb, notwith-
standing that the fidelity of their mutual alliance had been
ratified by the most solemn oaths on all the ancient relics of
Munster. And it was then indeed that the great wars of
Thomond commenced in earnest; for, notwithstanding the
treacherous death of their father, the infatuated sons of Brian
Ruadh still adhered to De Clare, and the warfare was kept up
with varying success till the year 1318, when Robert de Clare
and his son were at last killed, in the battle of Disert O'Dea.
After this the party of Brian Rtmdh were compelled to fly once
more over the Shannon into Ara, in Tipperary, where their
descendants have ever since remained imder the clann designa-
tion of the O'Briens of Ara.
OF THE BZISTINO OLD MS. HISTORIES. 237
The brave Dalcassians having thus rid themselves both of LBcrn.
domestic and foreign usurpation, preserved their countrv, their ^^ ^^^^
independence, and their native laws and institutions, down to of the
the vear 1542, when Murroch, the son of Turloch, made sub- i^^oro.
mission to Henry the Eighth, abandoned the ancient and glorious
title of the O'Brien, and disgraced his lineage by accepting a
patent of his territory from an English king, with the English
title of Earl of Thomond.
As illustrative of local topographical and family history, this
tract stands unrivalled. There is not an ancient chieftaincy in
Clare that cannot be defined, and that has not been demied
by its aid ; nor a family of any note in that part of Ireland,
whose position and power at the time is not recorded in it.
Among these families may be foimd — ^the O'Briens, the Mac-
Namaras, the MacMahons, the O'Quinns, the O'Dcas, the
O'Griflfys (or Griffins), the O'Hehirs, the O'Gradys, the Mac
Grormans, the O'Conors of Corcomroe, the O'Lochlainns of
Burren, the O'Seasnans (or Sextons), the O Comhraidhia (or
Ciurys), the O'Kennedys, the O'Hogans, etc., etc.
The style of the composition of this tract is extremely redun-
dant, abounding in adjectives of indefinable difference ; never-
theless, it possesses a power and vigour of description and nar-
ration which, independently of the exciting incidents, will
amply compensate the reader's study.
There are several copies of this tract extant in paper, the
best of which known to me is Mac Curtin's, in Trinity College
library ; but there is a large fragment of it in vellum in the li-
brary of the Royal Irish Academy, written in a most beautiful,
but unknown hand, in the year 1509.
The text of this tract would make about 300 pages of the
text of O'Donovan's Annals of the Four Masters.
The last piece of this class of historical composition which I
shall bring imder your notice, before proceeding to give some
account of the Historic Tales, is the *' Book of Munster", — an
important collection of provincial history, and to a considerable
extent of the history oithe whole nation.
The Book of Munster is an independent compilation, but
of uncertain date, as we happen to have no ancient copy of it ;
but as its leading points are to be found in the Books of Lein-
ster, Ballymote, and Lccain, we may believe that they must
have taken their abstracts from this ancient book in its original
form. There are two copies of it on paper in the Royal Irish
Academy, both made at the beginning of the last century, but
neither of them giving us any account of the originals from
which they were transcribed.
The Book of
MUMSTXK.
238 OF THE HISTORIC TALES.
LECT. XI. The book (as is usual in all the very ancient independent
Boo compilations of this kind) begins with a record of the creation
MuMffTBi?' (taken, of course, from the Book of Genesis), and this merely
for the purpose of carrjring down the pedigrees of the sons of
Noah, and particularly of Japhet, from whom the Milesians of
Erinn descend.
The history of the Ebereans, or southern branch of the Mile-
sian line, is then carried down from Eber to Brian Boroimhe
and the time of the battle of ClontarC
The Une of succession of the kings and great chiefs of Mun-
ster may be easily collected from the great books which I have
before mentioned ; but in this particular " Book of Munster"
there is a mass of details relative to the various disputes and
contentions for this succession (between rival local aspirants,
as well as between north and south Munster, or the Dal-
cassian and Eugenian lines), not to be foimd in any other work
that I am acquainted with.
Space will not, however, here allow me to enter into a
minute analysis of this important tract ; but I may particularly
call your attention to the detailed account it contains of the
contests and circumstances attending^ the succession to the
throne of Munster of Cathal Mac Finguini^ about the year
720 ; of Feilim Mac Crimihainn^ about 824 ; of Cormac Mac
CuUinan, about 885 ; of CealUichain of Cashel, about 934 ; and
oi Brian Boroimhiy about 976; all of which are full of historic
interest, and the more so, as they are founded upon indisputable
facts not elsewhere minutely or satisfactorily recorded.
The Book of Munster, including the pedigrees of the leading
Munster families, consists of 260 pages folio, on paper, equal to
400 pages of the Four Masters. I believe there is a vellum
copy of it in the College of St. Isidore at Rome.
h' Mio ^ *^^ ^^^ short accoimt I have thus given you of the larger
Tales. historical tracts, which supply, for those portions of our history
which they describe, the chief details passed over in the mere
Annals, I have only endeavoured to make you aware of the
scope of this class of works, without enlarging on their special
importance to the future historian of the country, who will find
in them so much of continuous narrative nearly made to his
hand. A little consideration will indeed suggest to you how
much I could have offered on this subject. I pass, therefore,
without more delay to the consideration of a department of our
literature, which is, perhaps, the largest in extent, and hardly
the least in importance, among the materials for the elucidation
of our ancient history, but which I find I must, for the proper
OF THE HISTOBIC TALES. 239
undeistanding of it, introduce to your notice here by some ob- lkct. xi,
servations of an introductory character. I allude to those TT~
shorter pieces, which we may call the Historic Tales, and Hiaxowo
which consist of detailed accounts of isolated exploits and inci- ^^^^
dents, strictly historical in the main, but recitea often with no
inconsiderable amount of poetical or imaginative accompani-
ment of style.
Of these compositions, a very large number have come down
to us, and when, by careful collation, and by the judicious ap-
plication to them of an enlightened criticism, the true facts of
history with which they abound shall be collected, the future
historian will find hinielf at no loss for materials of the most
valuable kind.
I do not purpose in this place to enter into any detailed ex-
amination of the authority of these tracts. Many of them con-
sist entirely of pure history ; many others contain recitals of
indubitable historic facts in great detail, but mixed with minor
incidents of an imaginative character. That they are all true
in the main, I have myself no doubt whatever ; but the investi-
gation of their claims to respect in this regard would lead me at
present too fer from the prescribed track of an introductory
course. I shall, therefore, only open to you shortly the circum-
stances imder which tales of this kind were composed, and the
general character and profession of their authors; and I shall
refer you to a few examples of the recognition of their authority
by some of our carUcst, most careful, and authentic writers. I
snail then at once proceed to describe to you the contents and
plan of a few of these compositions, which may be taken as
specimens of the remainder of them in each department.
I have already shown you in a former Lecture, that under the Jjj t^^^*"
ancient laws of Erinn an obligation was imposed upon certain <*»««« of an
high oflScers to make and preserve regular records of the his-
tory of the coimtry.
The duty of the Ollamhs was, however, a good deal more
extensive than this, for they were bound by the same laws to
make themselves perfect masters of that history in all its de-
tails, and to teach it to the people by public recitals ; as well as
to be the legal referees upon all subjects in dispute concerning
history and the genealogies (and you will bear in mind that the
5 reservation of the rights of property of individuals intimately
epended on the accuracy oi that lustory and of those genea-
logies). The laws provided strictly for the education of the
Ollamh (and no one could act as a Brehon or Judge that had
not attained the degree of an Ollamh), and they comerred upon
240 OF THE HISTORIC TALES.
LBCT. XI. him valuable endowments and most important privileges, all
The eda which he forfeited for life, as I had occasion before to observe
tion and ' to vou, if he became ffuilty of falsifying the history of any fact
ouamh: or the genealogy of any family.
The education of the Ollamh was long and minute. It ex-
tended over a space of twelve years " of hard work", as the
early books say, and in the course of these twelve years certain
regular courses were completed, each of which gave the stu-
dent an additional degree, as a fili, or Poet, with corres-
ponding title, rank, and privileges.
In the Book of Lecain (fol. 168) there is an ancient tract,
describing the laws upon this subject, and referring, with quo-
tations, to the body of the Brethibh NimJiedh, or " Brehon Laws".
According to this authorj^, the perfect Poet or Ollamh should
know ana practise the Teinim Laeglia, the Inuis Forosnadh,
and the Dichedal do cliennaibh. The first appears to have been
a peculiar druidical verse, or incantation, believed to confer upon
the druid or poet the power of imderstanding everything that it
was proper for him to say or speak of. The secona is explained
or translated, ** the illumination of much knowledge, as from
the teacher to the pupil", that is, that he should be able to ex-
plain and teach the four divisions of poetry or philosophy, " and
each division of them", continues the authority quoted, " is the
chief teaching of three years of hard work". The third qualifi-
cation, or Dichedal, is explained, " that he begins at once the
head of his poem", in short, to improvise extempore in correct
verse. " To the Ollamh^, says the ancient authority quoted in
this passage in the Book of Lecain, " belong synchronisms, to-
gether wim the laegha laidhibh, or illuminating poems [incan-
tations], and to him belong the pedigrees and the etjrmolories
of names, that is, he has the pedigrees of the men of Erinn
with certainty, and the branching off of their various relation-
ships". Lastly, " Here are the four divisions of the knowledge of
poetry (or philosophy)", says the tract I have referred to ; " ge-
nealogies, syrichronisms, and the reciting of (historic) tales form
the firist division ; knowledge of the seven kinds of verse, and
how to measure them by letters and syllables, form another of
them ; judgment of the seven kinds of poetry, another of them ;
lastiy, Dichedal [or improvisation], that is, to contemplate and
recite the verses without ever thinking of them before".
It thus appears that the Ollamh was bound (and even fix)m
the very first course of his professional studies), among other
duties, to have the Historic Stories ; and these are classed with
the genealogies and synchronisms of history, in which he was
to preserve the truth of history pure and unbroken to sue-
OF THE HISTORIC TALES. 241
ceeding generations. According to several of the most ancient lbct. xi.
authontieSf the Ollamhy or perfect Doctor, was bound to have
(for recital at the public feasts and assemblies) at least Seven tion boa^
Fifties of these Historic narratives; and there appear to have oSSl^"
been various degrees in the ranks of the poets, as they pro-
gressed in education towards the final degree, each of which
was bound to be supplied with at least a certain number. Thus
the Anrothj next in rank to an OUamh^ should have half the
number of an OUamh; the Cliy one-third the number, according
to some authorities, and eighty according to others; and so on
down to tlie Foehlog, who should have thirty, and the DrUeg
(the lowest of all), who should have twenty of these tales.
To each of these classes, as I have observed, proportionate
emoluments and privileges were secured by law.
It is thus perfectly clear that the compositions I have already The antho-
called the Historic Tales, were composed for a much graver « Sl^Jte
purpose than that of mere amusement; and when the nature of S^Jf
the profession of the OUamh^ the Poet, the Historical Teacher, nisionr.
is considered, as well as the laws by which it was regulated, it
will not seem surprising that the poems and tales in which
these officers preserved the special facts and details of histoiy,
should have been regarded at all times as of the ^atest autho-
rity. Accordingly, we find them q^uoted and followed by the
most distinguished of the early critics and teachers of our his-
tory, such as the celebrated Flann of Monasterboice, and others.
As instances of such references, I shall take a few examples
at random from the Book of Lecain ; but they occur in innu-
merable places in that and other ancient MSS.
The Book of Lecain^ at folio 15, b. a., after a poem on the
death of Aengus Ollmucadhj quotes as authority for it a poem
by Eochaidh O'Flinn ; and at 16, b. b., it quotes ftom another
poem by the same writer.
At folio 25, b.b., a poem by Finntan (sixth century )is quoted
as an authority on the subject of the colonies oi Partiwlon^
and Neinhed^ and of the Firbolgs.
At folio 277, b., a poem by Mac Liag, on the Firbolg co-
lonies, is quoted as having been taken from their own accounts
of themselves ; and at 278, a., another on the same subject.
At folio 280, is quoted a poem by Eochaidh O'Flinn, on the
Tuatha Di Danann and the first battle of Magh Tuireadh — a
poem, in which the account of that battle corresponds with
that of the ancient prose tale I have presently to describe
to you. And so on.
One reason, perhaps, why even the poems of the learned
men of ancient times have thus been regarded as of such im-
16
242 OF THE HISTORIC TALES.
LKCT XI. portance, is that the Ollamhs were in the habit of teaching the
^ facts of history to their pupils in verse, probably that they might
ri^ of the thus be the more easily remembered. Thus we find in the Book
Taie?VM o£ Lecain (fol. 27, a. b.) a poem by Colum Cille, in praise of
fiSorr Eochaidh Mac Eire, addressed to a pupil who questioned him ;
and this poem contains a minute account of the battle of Magh
Tuireadh, and also of the Milesian expedition to Erinn.
And Flann of Monasterboice (perhaps the greatest of our
early critics), the celebrated compiler of the synchronisms
which pass under his name, frequently quotes from and refers
to poems earlier than his time as authorities for historic facts,
and he also often communicates in verse to his pupils his own
profound historic learning. Of Flann's critical and historical
rems there are several in the Book of Lecain : as at folio 24,
b., one on the kings, fi-om Eochaidh Feidhleach to LaeghairS,
in which he gives an accoimt of the CaihrHm Dathi, and the
Bruighean Da Derga, exactly corresponding with the recitals of
those events in the Historic Tales so named. So also, Lecain,
folio 25, a. ; 28, a. a. ; 280, etc., etc., etc..
It seems strange enough that the authors of the Historic Tales
should have been permitted at all to introduce fairy agency in
describing the exploits of real heroes, and to describe purely
imaginative characters occasionally among the subordinate per-
sonals in these stories. This seems strange, because they could
not alter the historic occurrences themselves, nor tamper with the
truth of the genealogies and successions of the kings and chief-
tains,— which it was their professional duty to teach in purity
to the people, — without hazarding the loss of all their dignities
and privileges. It is, however, certain that the rules of these
compositions permitted the introduction of a certain amoimt of
poetical machinery. These rules, and the circumstances under
which, and the extent to which, the Ollamhs used such licence,
must remain matter for critical investigation. It only belongs
to my present design to assure you of the historical authority of
all the substantial statements respecting the battles, the expedi-
tions, and the alliances of our early kings, contained in these
Scela, or Tales : and of this authority there cannot be any doubt,
if we are to believe the testimony of the most accurate of our
early critics and the most venerable MSS. which have been
handed down to us.
One other observation remains to be made. That the His-
toric Tales which I am about to describe to you are indeed
those which the Ollamhs were bound, imder the laws I have
quoted, to have for recital to the people, we are fortunately in
a condition to prove out of one of the earliest, and on the whole,
OF THE HISTORIC TALES. 243
I believe I may say, the most valuable, of all the early historic lect. xi
books now in existence. I mean no other than the Book of
Leinster jteelf. (T.aD.;H. 2. 18). SSiJo^SL"
At folio 151, a., of this venerable MS., we find recorded the tSSt^*
rule I have alieady referred to as to the number of Historic ^S'e dlJi^
Tales which each class of poet, or teacher, was bound to have. — to m.
[See orimnal in Appendix, No. LXXXVIII.]
" Of the qualifications of a poet in stories and in deeds to be
related to kmgs and chiefs, as follows, viz. : Seven times fifty
stories, i,e., five times fifty prime stories, and twice fifty secon-
dary stories ; and these secondary stories are not permitted [that
is, can only be permitted] but to four grades only, viz. : an
Ollamh^ an Amrath, a Cli, and a Cano. And these * Prime
Stories' are: Destructions and Prcyings, Courtships, Battles,
Caves, Nav^ations, Tragedies (or Deaths), Expeditions, Elope-
ments, and Conflagrations". And afterwards, " These followmg
reckon also as prime stories : stories of Irruptions, of Visions, of
Loves, of Hostmgs, and of Migrations".
A vast number of examples of these different prime stories
follow, by which we are supplied with the names of so many
as 187 in all, classified imaer their different heads ; and this
invaluable list has been the means of identifying very mauy of
these ancient tales among the MSS. which have been preserved
to our times. — [See this List in the Appendix, No. LXXXIX.]
The number of the ancient Historic Tales yet in existence
is considerable, and several of them have been identified. Many
of these, of course, are not known to us in so pure a state as we
could wish, but each year's investigation throws some addi-
tional li^ht on even the least of them, and brings out their his-
toric value. I need onlv add, that the strictly Historic Tales
known to me may be calculated as embracing matter extensive
enough to occupy about 4000 pages of O'Donovan's Annals.
Of the Historic Tales a few nave been printed within the last
few years, which may be taken, to some extent at least, as spe-
cimens of the remainder. The Cath Muighi Rath (Battle of
Magh Rath, or Moyra), published by the Archaeological Society
in 1842, is one of the tales in the hst in tlie Book of Leinster.
The Celtic Society also printed two of the Historic Tales in
1855, the Cath muighi jLeana, and the Tochmarc Momira^
both of which are of remarkable interest and great historic value.
Of those which I have selected shortly to introduce to your
notice here, the first is also one of the Catha, or Battles. It is
that of Magh Tvireadh, one of the earliest battles recorded in
our history, and almost the earliest event upon the record of
which we may place sure reliance. It was m this battle that
16 B
244 OF THE HISTORIC TALES.
LECT. XI. the Firbolgs were defeated by the Tuatlia De Danann race,
lo Of the ^^^ subsequently ruled in Erinn till the coming of the Mile-
catha, or sians from Spain ; so that it forms a ^at epoch and starting
"Batuea". ^\j^^ jj^ q^j history. The tract whicn goes by the name is
somewhat long, opening indeed with the same account of the
first colonies or expeditions that landed in Erinn which we
find in the Books of Invasions. It is impossible that I should
give you the whole account here, or indeed any considerable
part of it, but I shall endeavour to make the contents of the
tract as intelligible as our time may permit.
The "Battle The Firbolgs, according to the Annals, arrived in Ireland
ru<r«ad»". about the year of the world 3266. Very soon after landing,
the chiefs, though wide apart the spots upon which in different
J)arties they first touched the shore, contrived to discover the
ate of eacn other ; and having looked out for a central and
suitable place to reunite their forces, they happened to fix on
the green hill now called Tara, but whicn they named Druim
Cain, or the Beautiful Eminence. Here they planted their seat
of government ; they divided the island into five parts, between
the five brothers, and distributed their people among them.
The Firbolgs continued thus to hold and rule the country for
the space of thirty-six years, that is, till the jrear of the world
8303, when Eochaidh tne son of Ere was their king.
In this year the Firbolgs were surprised to find that the island
contained some other inhabitants whom they had never before
seen or heard of These were no other than the Tuatha Di Da-
nann, the descendants o£Iobath, son otBeathach, lobath was one
of the Nemedian chiefs who survived the destruction of Conaings
Tower (on Tory Island), and passed into the north of Europe ;
whilst another of them, Simeon BreaCy passed into Thrace, fo)m
whom the Firbolgs descended. Both tnbes thus met in the old
land once more, after a separation of about 237 years.
The Tuatha Di Danann, after landing on the north-east
coast of Erinn, had destroyed their ships and boats, and steal-
thily made their way into the fastnesses of Magh Rein (in the
Coimty Leitrim^. Here they had raised such temporary works
of defence as might save them fi:om any sudden surprise of an
enemy, and then gradually showing themselves to the Firbolg
inhabitants, they pretended that they had, by their skill in ne-
cromancy, come into Erinn on the wings of the wind.
The ting of the Firbolgs, having neard of the arrival of
these strange tribes, took counsel with his wise men, and thej
resolved to send a large, powerful, and fierce warrior of their
people forward to the camp of the strangers, to make observa-
tions, and ascertain as much of their history and condition as he
OF THE HISTORIC TALES. 245
could. The chosen warrior, whose name was Sreng, went forward lkct. xt.
on his mission to Magh Mein; but before he reached the camp ^^ ^^^^
ihe Tuatha Di Danann sentinels had perceived him, and they Catha, or
immediately sent forward one of their own champions, name^ "^"Xi^
Breas, to meet and talk to him. Both warriors approached jv^^Sa**).
with great caution, until they came within speaking distance
of each other, when each of them planted his shield in &ont
of him to cover his body, and viewed the other over its border
with inquiring eyes. Breaa was the first to break silence, and
Sreng was deughted to hear himself addressed in his own lan-
guage, for the old Graedhlic was the mother-tongue of each.
They drew nearer each other, and, after some conversation, dis-
covered each other's lineage and remote consanguinity.
They next examined each other's spears, swords, and shields ;
and in this examination they discovered a very marked difference
in the shape and excellence of the spears ; Sreng being armed
with two neavy, thick, pointless, but sharply rounded, spears ;
while Breas carried two beautifully shapea, thin, slender, long,
sharp-pointed spears. Breas then proposed on the part of the
Tuatha Di Danann, to divide the island into two parts, be-
tween the two great parties, and that they should mutually
enjoy and defend it against all future invaders. They then ex-
changed spears for the mutual examination of both hosts ; and
after having entered into vows of future friendship, each re-
turned to his people.
Sreng returned to Tara, as we shall in future call that place ;
and having recounted to the king and his people the result of
his mission, they took counsel, and decided on not granting to
the Tuatha Di Danann a division of the coimtry, but, on
the contrary, prepared to give them battle. In the meantime,
Breaa returned to his camp, and gave his people a very discou-
raging account of the appearance, tone, and arms of me fierce
man he had been sent to parley with. The Tuatha Di
Danann having drawn no favourable augury of peace or friend-
ship from this specimen of the Firbolg warriors and his formid-
able arms, abandoned their holdings, and, retiring farther to the
south and west, took up a strong position on Mount Belgadan,
at the west end of Maah Nia (the plain of Nia), which is now
called Ma^h Tuireadh (or Moytura), and is situated near the
village of Cong, in the present county of Mayo. The Firbolgs
marcned from Tara, with all their forces, to this plain of Moy-
tura, and encamped at the east end of it. Nuada, who was the
king of the Tuatha Di Danann j however, wishing to avoid hosti-
lities if possible, opened new negotiations with King Eochaidh
through the medium of his bards. The Firbolg king declined
246 OF THE HISTORIC TALES.
LECT. XI. to grant any accommodation, and the poets having returned to
^^ ^^ their hosts, both the ffifeat parties prepared for battle.
ciTHA,OT The battle took place on MidBuramer-day. The Firbolgs
crale* " Sittie were defeated with great slaughter, and their King (who left the
5J^^J^,« battle-field with a body ^uard of a hundred brave men, in
search of water to allay his burning thirst) was followed by a
party of a hundred and fifty men, led by the three sons of
N^emedh, who pursued him all the way to the strand called
Traigh Eothaiti [near Ballysadare, in the county of Sli^o].
Here a fierce combat ensued between the parties, in which
King Eochaidh fell, — as well as the leaders on the other side,
the three sons of Nemedh.
The sons of Nemedh were buried at the west end of the
strand, at a place since called Leca Meic Nemedh^ or the Grave
Stones of the sons o( Nemedh; and King Eochaidh was buried
where he fell in the strand, and the great heap of stones known
to this day as the Cam of Traigh Eothaill (and which was
formerly accounted one of the wonders of Erinn) was raised
over him by the victors.
In the course of the battle, the Firbolg warrior Sreng dealt
the king of the Tuatha Di Danann, Nuada, a blow of his
heavy sword, which clove the rim of his shield, and cut off his
arm at the shoulder. Nuada had a silver arm made for him by
certain ingenious artificers attached to his court, and he has been
ever since known in our history and romances as Nuada
Airgead'lamh, or the Silver-handed.
The battle of Magh Tuireadh continued for four successive
days, imtil at length the Firbolgs were diminished to 300
fighting men, headed by their still surviving warrior-chief,
Sreng ; and, being thus reauced to a great inequality of numbers
compared with their enemies, they held a counsel and resolved
to demand single combat, of man to man, in accordance with
the universally acknowledged laws of ancient chivalry. The
Tuatha D6 Danann thought better, and offered Sreng terms of
peace, and his choice of the five great divisions of Erinn.
Sreng accepted these terms, and took as his choice the present
province of Connacht, which, down to the time of Conn of the
Hundred Battles, was called by no other name than Cuigead
Sreing — that is Sreng's province, — ^in which indeed his descend-
ants were still recognized down so late as the year 1650,
according to Duald Mac Firbis.
The antiquity of this tract, in its present form, can scarcely
be under fourteen hundred years. The story is told with
singular truthfulness of descnption. There is no attempt at
making a hero, or ascribing to any individual or party the per-
OF THE HISTORIC TALES. 247
formance of any incredible deeds of valour. There is, however, lect. xl
a good deal of druidism introduced ; — ^but the position and con- jo of th
duct of the poets or bards during the battle, and in the midst of catha, or
it, — ^the origin of the name of Moytura, or the plain of pillars or cnle^Slttto
columns, — ^the origin, names, and use of so many of tne pillar 5^jJ^|^«).
stones, of the moimds, and of the huge graves, vulgarly called
Cromlechs, with which the plain is still covered, — are all matters
of such interest and importance in the reading of our ancient
history and the investigation of our antiquarian monumental
remains, that I am bold to assert that I believe there is not in
all Europe a tract of equal historical value yet lying in MS.,
considermg its imdoubted antiquity and authenticity.
There is but one ancient copy of this tract known to me
to be in existence, and of this I possess an accurate transcript.
The mere facts of the coming m of the Tuatha Di Danann^
of the battle that ensued, and of the death of King Eochaidh
only, are told in O'Donovans Annals of the Four Masters, at
the year of the world 3303. That accomplished Irish topogra-
pher lays down the position of Moytura, and other places men-
tioned in our tract, with his usual accuracy; but ne has mis-
taken the accoimt of the second battle (which is in the British
Museum) for this ; and of that battle I shall now proceed to
g've you a short sketch, in abstracting for you a second of these
istoric Tales, which we may call the Second Battle of Magh
Tuireadh^ or the Battle of Magh Tuireadh " of the Fomorians".
After the brief record of the first battle by the Four Masters, The"B«ttie
at the year of the world 3303, they tell us (at the year 3304) ruif^uiA
that BreaSj the chief of the Tuath Di Danann, who was a Fo- Fomorun**'.
morian by his father (the same who, as we have seen, held the
!)arley with the Firbolff warrior Sreng), received the regency
rom his people during the illness of their king, Nuada, who had
lost his-arm in the battle. Breas held the regency for seven years,
when he resigned it again to the king ; and Nuada (who m the
mean time was supplied with a silver arm by his surgeon, Dian-
cechty andCreidniy tlie great worker in metals, — and thence called
Nuada Airgid-lamh, or " of the Silver Hand'') reassumed the
sovereignty. The Annals pass on then to the twentieth year of
Nuadas reign, (that is, a.m. 3330), where they merely state
that, he fell in the battle of Moytura of the Fomorians, by the
hand of Balor " of the stiff blows", one of the Fomorians.
Now nothing could be more dry or less attractive than this
simple record, m four lines, of the death in battle of the king of
a country and people, without a single word of detail, or any
reference whatever to the cause of the war, or to the other actors
in the battle ; so that any person might take it upon himself to
248 OF THE HISTORIC TALES.
LBCT. XI. question the veracity of so meagre a record, if tljere had been
JO Of tiM ^^ collateral evidence to support it. This, however, like the
Catha, or former battle, had its ancient nistory, as well as its dry chronicle ;
(The**B«Mie and from the former I shall lay before you in the following ab-
rJl^Mt BtT'^* ^ much of it as will, at least, I hope arouse the curiosity
?mOTU " *^^ attention of my hearers, — begging of them at the same time
to remember, that notwithstandmg all that has been written
and spoken for and against the remote history of Ireland, even
up to this day, the test of pure, unbiassed criticism, historical
and chronological, has not yet been applied to it.
The tract opens with an account of tne lineage of BreaSj and
how it was that he became king.
We have seen that the warrior regent resigned the sovereignty
at the end of seven years to Nuada the king ; but it was more
by compulsion than good will that he did so, for his rule was so
marked by inhospitality, and by entire neglect of the wants and
wishes of his people, that loud murmurs of discontent assailed
him from all quarters long before his regency was terminated.
In short, as the chronicler says, the knives of his people were
not greased at his table, nor did their breath smell of ale at the
banquet. Neither their poets, nor their bards, nor their satirists,
nor their harpers, nor their pipers, nor their trumpeters, nor their
jugglers, nor their buffoons, were ever seen encaged in amusing
them at the assemblies of his court. It is in mie added that he
had even succeeded in reducing many of the best and bravest of
tile Tuaiha D6 Danann warriors to a state of absolute servitude
and vassalage to himself; and his design seems to have been to
substitute an absolute rule for the circumscribed power of a chief
king under the national law of the claims.
At the time that the discontent was at its height, a certain
poet and satirist named Cairhri^ the son of the poetess Etan, vi-
sited the king's court ; but, in place of being received with the
accustomed respect, the poet was sent, it appears, to a small dark
chamber, without fire, lumiture, or bed, where he was served
with three small cakes of dry bread only, on a very small and
mean table. This treatment was in gross violation of public
law, and could not fail to excite the strongest feeling. The poet
accordingly arose on' the next morning, full of discontent and
bitterness, and left the court not only without the usual profes-
sional compliments, but even pronoimcing a bitter and wither-
ing satire on his host. This was the first satire ever, it is said,
written in Erinn ; and although such an insult to a poet, and
the public expression of his indignation in consequence, would
fall very far short of penetrating the quick feelings of the nobi-
lity or royalty of these times (so different are the customs of an-
OF THE HISTORIC TALES. 249
cient and modem honour), still it was sufficient in those early lbct. xi.
days to excite the sympathy of the whole body of the Tuatha DS j© or the
Danann^ chiefs and people ; and occurring as it did after so many catha, or
just causes of popidar complaint, they determined without more (Xh* "Biitie
to call upon Breas to resign his power forthwith. To this call S^jJJJik
the regent reluctantly acceded ; and having held coimcil with his ®'^!Z*Sl:
mother, they both determined to retire to the court of his father,
Elatha, at this time the great chief of the Fomorian pirates, or
sea kings, who then swarmed through all the German Ocean,
and ruled over the Shetland Islands and the Hebrides.
Though Elatha received his son coldly, and seemed to think
that his disgrace was deserved, still he acceded to his request to
furnish him with a fleet and army with which to return and
conquer Erinn for himself, if he could, from his maternal rela-
tions the Tuatfia DS Danann, Breas was therefore recom-
mended by his father to the favour of the great Fomorian
chiefs, Balor " of the Evil Eye", king of the Islands, and In-
deehi son of DS-Domnand ; and these two leaders collected all
the men and ships lying from Scandinavia westwards, for the
intended invasion, so that they are said to have formed an un-
broken bridge of ships and boats from the Hebrides to the north-
west coast of Erinn. Having landed there, they marched to a
plain in the present barony of Tirerrill, in the coimty of Sligo, —
a spot surrounded by high hills, rocks, and narrow defiles ; —
and, having thus pitched their camp in the enemy's country,
they awaited the dctennination of the Tuatha D6 Danann^ to
surrender or give them battle. The latter were not slow in pre-
paring to resist the invaders, and the recorded accoimt of their
preparations is in full accordance with their traditional character
as skilful artizans and profound necromancers.
Besides the king, Nuada "of the Silver Hand", the chief men
of the Tuatha Di Danann at this time were : the great Daghda;
Lug^ the son o{ Cian, son o£ Viancecht, their great Esculapius;
Ogma Grian-Aineach ("of the sun-like face"), and others; but
the Dagfida and Lug were the prime counsellors and arrangers
of the battle. The tract proceeds to state how these two called
to their presence : — their smiths ; their cerda^ or silver and brass
workers ; their carpenters ; their surgeons ; their sorcerers ; their
cup-bearers ; their druids ; their poets ; their witches ; and their
chief leaders. And there is not, perhaps, in the whole range of
our ancient literature a more curious chapter than that which
describes the questions which Lug put to these several classes
as to the nature of the service which each was prepared to
render in the battle, and the characteristic professional answer
which he received from each of them.
250 OF THE HISTORIC TALES.
LECT. XI. The battle (which took place on the last day of Octobery is
1° Of th eloquently described, — witn all the brave achievements, and all
Ca'tba, or the deeds of art and necromancy by which it was distinguished.
cSe^B«tti« The Fomorians were defeated, and their chief men killed. King
SL*J2ii Nuada of the Silver Hand was indeed killed by Balor of the Evu
of tbePo- Eye, but Balor himself fell, soon after, hy a stone fiimg at him
"^ * by Lug (his grandson by his daughter Eithlenn)^ which struck
lum (we are told) in the "evil eye", and with so much force, that
it carried it out through the back of his head.
The ma^cal skill, as it was called, — ^in reality of course,
the scientific superiority — of the TiMtha Di Danantij stood
them well in this battle ; for Diancecht, their chief physician,
with his daughter Ochtriuil, and his two sons, Airmedh and
Mioch, are stated to have previously prepared a healing bath or
foimtain with the essences of the principal healing herbs- and
plants of Erinn, gathered chiefly in Ltts-Atluigh, or the Plain of
Herbs (a district comprised in the present King's Coxmty) ; and
on this bath they continued to pronoimce incantations during
the battle. Such of their men as happened to be wounded in
the fight were immediately brought to the bath and plunged in,
and they are said to have been instantly refreshed and made
whole, so that they were able to return and fight against the
enemy again and again.
The situation of the plain on which this battle was fought, is
minutely laid down in the story, and has been ever since called
Meagh Fuireadh na bh-Fomorachj or "The Plain of the Towers
(or pillars) of the Fomorians", to distinguish it from the south-
em Moytura, firom which it is distant about fifty miles.
The story does not enter into any account of the setting up
of any tombs, towers, or pillars, though many ancient Cyclopian
graves and monuments remain to this day on the plain ; but as
it appears to be imperfect at the end, it is possible that the tract
in its complete form contained some details of this nature.
Cormac Mac Cullinan in his celebrated Glossary quotes this
tract in illustration of the word Nea; so that so early as the
ninth century it was looked upon by him as a very ancient
historic composition of authority.
I have only to add, that the only ancient copy of this tract
that I am acquainted with, or that, perhaps, now exists, is one
in the British Museum, finely written on vellum by Gilla-Riab'
hdch O'Clery, about the year 1460. Of this I had a perfect
transcript made by my son Eugene, imder my own inspection
and correction, in London, in the summer of last year [1855] ;
so that the safety of the tract does not any longer depend on the
existence of a single copy.
LECTURE XII.
[IMhrwcd Htfcfa 6, ISfift.]
The Historic Tales (continued). 2. Of the Longata. or'lf^riig^. The
History of the ** Voyage of Lahkraidh Loingseachy or MaevP, The " Voyage
of BrtacanC*, 8. Of the TSghUL, or Destroctions. The " Destruction of the
Brmighean (or Court oQ Dit Derga\ The " Bruighean D& Chogd". 4. Of
the Airgndy or Slaughters. The " Slaughters (battles) of Conghal Cldring-
neach*\ Of the Revolt of the Aitheach Tuatha, called the AttacoUi, or Atta-
oots. The ^ Shiughter of the Noble Clanns of Erinn, by Cairbri Cinn-caif*
(Carbry-Cat-head). 6. Of the Forbasa, or Sieges. The " Siege of JEiar",
(the Fortress of Howth Hill). The " Siege of Drom Damhghaire** (Knock-
long).
In the last lecture I opened the account I proposed to give you
of the Historic Tales, with the remarkable tracts which describe
the first and second battles of Magh Tuireadh,
These tracts afforded us examples of the most important class
of those Prim-icela, or Prime Stories, mentioned m the Book
of Leinster : I mean the Caiha^ or Battles. The remainder of
the tales of which I intend to speak, as examples of the other
classes, may be most conveniently introduced in the chrono-
logical order of the events narrated in them ; but it is proper to
remind you, that no such system of selection is adopted m the
list in the Book of Leinster, or elsewhere, and that each class of
the ancient Historic Tales embraces histories of events occur-
ring at every period of our history, from the most remote to the
tenth century. The division of the tales into classes was purely
arbitrary, and apparently for the mere convenience of reference
All these tales are but the recitals in detail of isolated events of
history, either in explanation of important historical occur-
rences, or illustrating the wisdom or gallantry of the heroes of
the Gaedhlic race, or recording some interesting circimistance
in their well-known career. And of each of the classes into
which this department of our historical literature was divided
we possess still several examples.
Ihe next of these tales which I have selected to describe to
you is that in which the curious history of Lahhraidh Loing-
seach is recorded, a Leinster prince, wno became monarch of
Erinn about the year 541 before Christ. This tale might, per-
haps, be classed among the Tochmarca, or Courtships, in so far
as It contains a relation of the romantic story of the marriage of
Lahhraidh with the lady Moriadh^ the daughter of the king of
252 OF THB HISTORIC TALES.
LBCT.xn. West Munster ; or it might take its place among the AiranSy or
20 Of the Slaughters, in so much as it details the Destruction of the fort
LoiioA»A,or of Dinn High (near Carlow), which was taken by Labhraidh
cn»^r' from his treacherous grand-uncle, Cobhthach Gael, the usurping
JStSk xSfc!^ king of Erinn, who was killed in it. It may, however, as probably
MocK")' be the tale recorded in the Book of Leinster among the Long as A,
or Voyages, as the Longeaa Labhrada, and as the prince's second
name of Loingseach [" the Voyager"] was due to this Longeas,
we may perhaps take this tract as an appropriate specimen of
that class of pieces.
The Longeas was in one sense simply a voyage ; from Long^
a ship. But it is observable that this designation is usually con-
fined in ancient stories to a voyage involimtarily undertaken, as
for instance in the case of a banisnment, or a flight. A volim-
tary expedition by sea is described under a different name, that
o£ Imram, and we shall find an example of that class also
amongst the tales which I have yet to introduce to your notice.
In a former lecture I beheve I told you something of the
great king Ugaine Mor^ from whom almost all the chief Gaedh-
Bc families in the provinces of Leinster, Ulster, and Connacht
trace their descent. Ugaini M&r was king of all Erinn about
the year 633 before Clirist, according to the Annals of the Four
Masters. He reigned forty years ; and he was at last succeeded,
in 593 B.C., by ms eldest son, Lueghairi Lore, who was how-
ever treacherously killed two years afterwards by his brother,
Cobhthach Gael Breagh; and this Gobhthach then assumed the
kingship of Erinn, which he enjoyed for full half a century, till
he also was slain at the taking of Dinn Rtgh, just alluded to. It
is with the accession of Gobhthach Gael to the supreme throne
that the story of Labhraidh commences. This story is particu-
larly interesting as recording one of the earliest instances of the
very early cultivation of music among the ancient Irish, — ^in the
power exercised over the feelings of his audience by Graftini,
the first harper of whom we find any special mention in our books.
Laegliairi Lore, the story tells us, had one son, Ailill Aini,
who succeeded him as king of Leinster; however, his uncle
Gobhthach soon procured ms death by means of a poisoned
drink. Ailill Aini\Q& an infant son named Maen Ollamh; but
because he was dumb, and therefore, according to law, for ever
ineligible to be made a king, the usurping monarch spared his
life. The orphan prince was therefore allowed to reside in his
father^s palace of iJinn Righ, and placed imder the tuition and
guardianship of two officers of the court of Tara, namely, Fer-
ceirtni, the poet and philosopher, and Grafting, the harper.
This instance of the endeavour to communicate mental in-
OF THE HISTORIC TALES. 253
struction to a dumb person at so remote a period, is particularly uect.m.
interesting. The boy was not, however, as we shall see, dumb ^o of the
from his birth, and the choice of a harper as one of his instruct- LoKOAaA, or
ore would suggest that he was never deficient in hearing. crh?-^-
Maen^ under the care and tuition of his two able guardians, JS» iSS^
in the course of years, sprung up into manhood, singularly dis- •««<*").
tinguished by beauty of feature, symmetry of person, and cul-
tivation of mind. One day, however, it happened that while
enjoying his usual sports in the play-groimd of his father's man-
sion he received some offence from one of his companions. The
insult was promptly resented by a blow ; and, in an attempt to
suit words to the action, the spell of his dumbness was broken,
and the young man spoke. The quarrel was lost in an ex-
clamation of joy raised by his companions, when they all cried
out LMbhraidhmaen! Labhraidh Maen 1 [**Maen speaks ! Maen
speaks !"] ; and his tutor CraftinS coming up at the same time,
and heanng what had happened, said that henceforth the prince
should bear the name of Labhraidh Maen^ in commemoration of
the wonderful event.
News of this important occurrence having reached the
monarch Cobhthach, at Tara, he commanded Labhraidh Maen to
appear at his court, with his tutors and retainers, to assist at
the Great Feast of Tara, which was then being held.
While seated at the feast, and in the presence of all the com-
pany, the monarch ^so the tale relates) happened to ask aloud,
who was, in the opmion of the company, the most munificent
man in Erinn? Craftini and Ferceirtini both answered that
Labhraidh Maen was the most munificent man in Erinn. He
is better than me, then, said the monarch, and you both may
go with him. The loss will be greater to you than to us, said
the harper. Depart out of Erinn, said the monarch. If we can
can find no refuge in Erinn, we will, said they.
Ixibhraidh 3faen, accordingly, took counsel at once with his
tutors and a few other friends, as to what he should do ; when,
after a careful consideration of all the circimistances of their
case, they decided on leaving Leinster, and seeking refuge and
friendship from Scoriath, king of Fermorca (or the Great Men)
of West Mxmster. Thither they repaired, and, after having
received the customary hospitality of several days, without
auestions asked, at Scoriath'a palace, the king at last inquired
lie cause and nature of their visit. We have been expelled by
the monarch of Erinn, said they. You are welcome to my care
andprotection, then, said Scoriath,
The tale proceeds to tell us that king Scoriath had a daughter,
whose name was Moriath, and whose beauty had so bewildered
254 OF THE HISTORIC TALES.
ucT.xn. the younff princes and chiefs of Munster, that several schemes
had Deen devised by some of them to obtain unlawful possession
LowoABA, or of her person, after their proposals of marriage had been rejected.
^J'?^: On the discovery of those designs by the lacfy's parents, they de-
JJJ^IjJJ: termined on bemg her sole guardians themselves, and, in order
seaekT}. that there should be no relaxation of their vigilance, it was ar-
ranged between them that the father shoidd have constant charge
of her by day, and the mother by night, so that she should never
be out of the safe keeping of either the one or the other.
This vi^lance on tne part of the royal parents did not escape
the notice of their noble guest, who was, indeed, permitted to
enjoy free conversation witn the beautiful Moriath, but subject to
one taifling drawback, that, namely, of the presence of her father
or mother on all such occasions. But, notwithstanding the res-
traint which parental vigilance had placed upon any expression
of tender sentiment, the youthful pair soon discovered that the
society of each was highly prized and desired by the other ; but
beyond this they had no power to proceed, — their love story had
come prematurely to a full stop. The cautious parents of the
young princess were, indeed, as often happens, the only persons
m their court ignorant of the true state of the case ; but their
watchfulness was not the less successful in baflBing the designs
of the lover. Distracted and dejected, the j^oung Labhratdh
Afaen had recourse to the coimsels of his faithful friend and
mentor, Craftini^ and that illustrious harper appears to have
been no stranger to the delicate management of small court
difficulties of tne kind. On this occasion, he advised his ward
to wait for some favourable opportimity to carry out his inten-
tions, and he assured him that when such an opportunity should
oflFer, he, Craftiniy would contrive to obtain for him an interval
of uninterrupted conversation with Moriath.
King Scoriath, after some little time, happened to invite all
the chiefs and nobles of his territory to a sumptuous feast. The
deUght of the guests was much heightened by CraftinS'a per-
formance on his harp ; and, when the king, queen, and all the
festive company were plxmged in enjoyment, exhilarated by
wine, and charmed by the imequalled melody of the most dis-
tinguished performer of his time, Labhraidh Maen and Moriath
snatched the opportunity to slip away unobserved from the
company. No sooner did the gifted harper believe them to
have gone beyond the hearing of his music, than he struck the
almost magical tones of the SiuintraighSy which was of so richly
sofl and enchanting a character as to throw the whole company,
including the king and queen, into the most delicious and pro-
found slumber ; and in the trance of this slumber they were all
OF THE HISTORIC TALES. 255
kept by the magic of Craftini's harp, until the young lovers lbct.xii.
had time to return again and take their proper seats in the as-
sembly, after having, for the first time, plighted to each other
mutual vows of constancy and affection.
The OUamhs of music, or those raised to the highest order of t^j JJo^c
musicians m ancient Ennn, 1 may here tell you, were obliged, ciansofan-
by the rules of the order, to be perfectly accomplished in the ^^^ ^'*°"*
performance of three peculiar classes or pieces of music, namely,
the Suantraighi^ which no one could hear without falling into
a delightful slumber ; the Goltraighi^ which no one could hear
without bursting into tears and lamentation; and the Gean-
traighi^ which no one could hear without bursting out into loud
and irrepressible laughter.
Craftini avtdled mmself, as we have seen, of tlie possession
of these, the highest gifts of his profession, to assist the designs
of his young ward, and played into a profound sleep all those who
would have stood in the way of his nappiness.
Now, however, that the pardonable objects of the young
couple were attained, he changed his hand, and struck the
Oeantraighi, which roused the whole company, and quickly
turned their quiet sleep into a tumult of uproarious laughter.
And then, the musician having displayed these wonderful spe-
cimens of his art, returned again to the performance of the less
exciting, but always beautiful melodies, so many of which still
remain to remind us of the ancient glories of our coimtry, and
continued to delight his hearers imtil the time of their retire-
ment had arrived.
In the meantime, the ever-suspicious queen imagined she de-
tected some equivocal radiations in the glowing countenance of
her daughter, and, approaching her nearer, she thought she
caught the faintest imaginable whisper of a sigh. With an in-
stinctive perception of deception and treason, she immediately
called the king to her side : x our daughter, said she, has ceased
to be herself; her sighs denote that she has given part of her
heart to another. The king was outrageous, ordered the
strictest investigation, and vowed that if the conspirators were
discovered, their heads should be struck off. Craftini remon-
strated against the violence of such a proceeding, but the king,
not being without some suspicions, and disregarding the invio-
lable character of a poet and musician, threatened even him
with punishment, should he interfere farther.
After the first burst of anger and indignation had subsided,
however, and confidence had been once more restored between
the mother and daughter, the latter gradually permitted the former
to discover the truth of her secret. It is but a poor compliment
256 OF THE HISTORIC TALES.
LECT.xiL to the march of intellect and the progress of civilization, that,
20 Of the ^ those remote ages, they solved the mtricate compUcations of
LoKOAaA.or precipitate love very much in the same way that we do in the
CThe'^vl present enlightened times. But so it was, and King Scoriath
tSJ^Lo^ and his prudent queen, by the silent sighs of their daughter
*«»«*")• and the soothing notes of Crafting's harp, were soon induced
to accept Labhraidh Maen as their son-in-law ; and so terminated
this comedy, precisely as such comedies are brought to a con-
clusion even in the mneteenth century.
The alliance with the king of West Munster was an event of
deep political, as well as socisa, importance to Labhraidh Maen;
for, immediately after the event took place, his father-in-law
placed at his command a large force of the bravest men in his
territory, to assist him in recovering his hereditary kingdom of
Leinster from his grand-imcle. W^th these troops he marched
quietly into Leinster, where, being joined by a large number of
adherents to his house's fortime, he at once laid siege to the
royal palace of Diiin Righ, and succeeded in taking it from the
garrison placed in it by the monarch. His triumph, however,
was but of short duration; for King Cobhthach^ who had re-?
covered his first surprise, raised a large army, and marched from
Tara at once into Leinster.
Labhraidh Maen found himself totally unable to meet such a
force, and felt compelled to withdraw, for the time at least, from
the imequal contest. He accordingly changed his plans on the
instant, disbanded his followers, sent his wife, Moriath, under
the immediate guardianship of Craftini^ and attended by her
countrymen, into Munster to her father; and, selecting from
among his adherents a small band of brave men, he bid adieu to
his native land, and took sail for the opposite coast of Britain.
He made no delay in Britain, but, passmg over alone to France,
he entered the military service of the king of that country, in
which he so distinguisued himself that he soon became one of
the chief commanders of the army there.
After he had in course of time estabUshed himself in the fiiU
confidence and estimation of the king of France, Labhraidh
Maen, who still kept up a correspondence with his friends in
Eiinn, determined, if he could, to make one more effort to
regain his rightful inheritance.
iVith this view, he made himself known, and disclosed his
whole history to the king of France, and concluded by asking
of him such a body of troops as he should select, to accompany
him to Erinn, and assist him, in conjimction with his friends
there, to reestablish himself in his kingdom. The French
king consented without difficulty, and the expedition arrived
OF THE HISTORIC TALES. 257
safely in the mouth of the river Slaney, now the harbour of LECT.m.
Wexford. ^^^^
After resting awhile here to recover from the fatigues of their lokoa«a, or
voyage, and bemg joined by ffreat numbers from Leinster and (Se^yl
Mimster, the expe<fition marched by night to Dinn Righ^ where J£.^^
the monarch Cobhthach^ entirely ignorant of their approach,
happened to be at the time holdUng an assembly, accompanied
by thirty of the native princes and a body guard of seven hun-
dred men. The palace was surprised and set on fire, and the
monarch, the princes, the guards, and the entire household,
were burned to death. This was the Argain Dinn Righ^ or
Slaughter of Dinn Sigh,
Labhraidh then assumed the monarchy, and xeigned over
Eiinn eighteen years.
Another of these Loingeaa, but which seems to have been a
voluntary one, is of much later date, — that, namely, of Breacan^
of which we have but the following short accoimt: —
Breacan was the son of Mainly son of Niall of the Nine Hos-
tages, monarch of Erinn, whose reign closed a.d. 405. This
Breacan was a great merchant, and tne owner of fifty Curachsj
trading between Ireland and Scotland. On one of his voyages he
was, we are told, with his fifty Curachs, swallowed up in the
great whirlpool formed by the confluence of the north-western
and north-eastern seas with the channel between Ireland and
Scotland. His fate, however, was not exactly known imtil
Lughaidhj the blind poet, in many years after, paid a visit to
Bennchuir [Bangor, — on the coast of the county of Down].
The poet's people having strayed from the town down to the
beach, foimd tne bleached skull of a small dog on the shore.
This they took up, carried to the poet, and asked him what
skull it was. "Lay the end of the poet's wand on the skull", said
Lughaidh; and then, pronouncing some mystical sentences in the
ancient Teinim Laeah style, he told them that the skull was
that of Breacan's little dog, and that Breacan himself, with all his
curachs and people, had been drowned in the CoirS Breacain
(or Breacan's Cauldron), — an appropriate name, from the constant
boiling up and surging of the wnirlpool, and the name by which
it continued ever after to be known m ancient Graedhlic writings.
This story is preserved in Cormac's Glossary, compiled in the
ninth century, and in the Dinnsencfias, a much older compila-
tion generally.
The next class of tales, of which an example offers itself to
our notice, is that of the Toghla, or Destructions. A Tdghail,
or Destruction of a Fort, is the title given to those histories
17
258 OF THE HISTORIC TALES.
LECT.xn. which detail the taking of a fort or fortified palace or habitar
tion, by force, when tne place is not merely taken, but also
TooBLit, or burnt or destroyed on the taking of it. A Tdghail may be a
ttSl?r*a»»e taking by surprise, or it may be a taking after a siege, but the
tiSn^tbi t®™^ always impUes the destruction of the buildings taken.
BnOghMn Of the Tdghta but a.few are named in the list I have referred
*^^" ' to in the Book of Leinster, though many others, of course,
there were. Of those in the list,, the most remarkable, perhaps,
* J that of the Bruighean Da Derga, or court of Da Derga ;
because it was in the storming and surprise of that residence
that the great Conairi M6r was killed, one of the most cele-
brated kmgs of ancient Erinn. This tract possesses, too, a pe-
culiar interest for those who reside in or near Dublin, because
the scene of the surprise lies near the city, at a place which still
preserves a portion of the ancient name in its present designa-
tion. And it is partly on this accoimt that I have selected the
accoimt of the Tdahail Bruighni Da Derga to describe to you.
In the year of the world 5091, Conairi Mor^ the son of
Eideragely a former monarch of Erinn, ascended the throne, and
ruled with justice and vigour, imtil the year of the world 5160,
that is, till thirty-three years before the Incarnation of our
Lord, according to the chronology of the Four Masters.
The impartiaUty and strictness of ConaMa rule banished
from the country large numbers of idle and insubordinote per-
sons, and among the rest his own foster-brothers, the four sons
of Donndesa^ a ffreat Leinster chief. These yoimg men, adven-
turous and highly gifted, impatiently put out, with a large party
of followers, upon the sea between Erinn and Britain, for the
purpose of leading a piratical life, until the death of the
monarch or some other circumstance should occur that might
permit their return to their country.
While thus beating about, and committing depredations at
both sides of the channel whenever they could, they met,
engaged in similar enterprises, the young prince Ingel, a son of
the kmg of Britain, who with his six brothers and a numerous
band of desperate men Uke themselves had been for their mis-
deeds banished from his territory by their father. Both parties
entered into a compact of mutual risk and assistance; and
having, according to agreement, first made a night descent on
the coast of Britain, where they committed great ravages and
carried ofi* much booty, they turned towards Erinn, for tne pur-
pose of adding to their stock of plunder, and carrying on the war
of depredation evenly between both countries. They landed
in the bay of Tuirbhe [Turvey] (near Malahide, on the coast of
the present county of Dublin), and immediately commenced
OF THE HISTORIC TALES. 259
their devastation of the country, by fire and sword, in the lect. xii.
direction of Tara. s© of th
At this time, the monarch ConairS, attended by a slender toohla, or
retinue, was on his return from north Munster, where he had tiSS'f "^cfhe
been to effect a reconciliation between two hostile chiefs of that tio^^^
country. On his entering Meath, and approaching his palace ^*^hean
of Tara, he saw the whole country, to his great surprise, wrapt ^'^ ^'
in fire, and thinking that a general rebelhon against the law
had taken place in his absence, he ordered his charioteer tiS^
tium to the right from Tara, and drive towards Dublin. Thd
charioteer obeyed, and drove by the hill of Ceamuy Lusk, and
the Great Road of Cualann to Dublin ; which, however, the
monarch did not enter, but crossing the Liffey above the town,
he continued his route to the court, or mansion, of the great
Bruohaidh (or Hospitaller), Da Derga.
This court was built on the river Dodder, at a place which
to this day bears the name oi Bothar-na-Bruighni (or the Road
of the Courrt, near Tallaght, in the county of Dublin. This
was one of tne six great houses of \miversal hospitality which
existed in Erinn at the time, and the owner. Da Derga, hav-
ing previously partaken largely of the monarches boimty, he
was now but too glad to receive him with the hospitality and
distinction which became his rank and munificence.
In the mean time, continues the tale, the outlaws having
missed the monarch, ravaged all Brcgia [the eastern part of
Meath], before they returned to their vessels, and then steered
to the headland of neann Edair (now called the Hill of Howth),
where they held a council of war. There it was decided that
two of the sons of Donndesa (two of the monarch's foster-
brothers), should come on shore, and find out the monarch's re-
treat, they having already discovered the course he had taken
from Tara. This was done, and the scouts having returned to
the fleet with the information sought, the piratical force landed
somewhere south of the mouth of the Liffey, and marching over
the rugged Dublin moimtains, they surroimded Da Derga's
court, which, in spite of a stout resistance, they destroyed and
plundered, murdering the monarch himself and the chief part
of his slender train of attendants.
The composition of this tract must be referred to a period of
very remote antiquity, the style of the construction and language
being more ancient even than the Tdin B6 Chuailgne, and, like
that difficult piece, of a character totally beyond the power of
ordinary Irish scholars to reduce to anythmg like a correct
translation.
This tract is one of considerable length, and not a little im*
17 B
260
OF THE HISTORIC TALES.
LVCT. xn.
JO Of the
TooHLA, or
tlons**. (The
** Destruc-
tion of ttie
Bruighean
DaDergaT).
The "Des-
truction of
tbe Bru-
igheanDa
ChogoT.
40 Of the
AiitoirK,or
*Slaaghterr.
bued with the marvellous ; but, apart from its value as in essen-
tials a truthful link in our national history, it contains, perhaps
without exception, the best and most copious illustrations in any
tract now extant (I mean, of course, illustrations by description)
of the various ranks and classes of the oflScers that composed the
king's household in ancient times, and of the arrangements of a
regal feast — ^both social subjects of great historical mterest.
There is a fine copy of this tract (with a slight imperfection
at the beginning) preserved in the ancient Leabhar na h- UidhrS^
in the Royal Irish Academy; and another copy less copious,
but perfect at the beginning and the end, in the Leabhar BuidhS
Leean, in the Library otT.C.D.; so that from both these
sources a perfect copy could be procured.
Another of these Toghla, and one of great interest, is the
Tdghail BruighnS Da Choga, of which a good copy is to be
found in MS. IL 3- 18. Trinity College, Dublin.
The Bruighean Dd Choga was in the present county of West-
meath ; and it was on the occasion of a sudden surprise of this
Court that Carmac Conloingeaa was killed, about a.d. 33. He
was the son of the celebrated Conor Mac Nessa, king of Ulster,
from whose court he had several years before gone mto volun-
tary banishment into Connacht, m consequence of his father s
having put to death the three sons of Uisneach, for whose safety
Cormac had pledged his word, when they consented to return
to Conor's court at the king's invitation. On the death of
Conor, his son prepared to return, to assume the throne of his
province, and it was on his way back that he lost his life, in
the surprise of Dd Cogcis court, where he had stopped to rest
on his road. Cormac Conloingeas was one of the most celebrated
champions of his time, and figures in many of the detailed his-
tories of events recorded at tms period of our annals.
The chronological order of the specimens of tales that I have
selected leads us next to the class called Airgne, or Slaughters.
The Argairij though separated by the writer in the Book of
Leinster from the Tdghail^ is not, in fact, well to be distin-
guished from it. The word signifies the Slaughter of a garrison
of a fort, where the place is taken and destroyed. So the
taking of Dinn Righ by Labhraidh Loingseach^ described in the
tract 1 spoke of just now, is called, in the Book of Leinster,
Argain iHnn JRigh, and that tract may perhaps actually be the
tale there so named.
There are a great number of the Airgni named in the
Musient list^ go often referred to, and of these several have
WAolied us in one shape or anoAer. One of them, the Argain
OF THE HISTORIC TALES. 261
Ciithrach BdirehS is included in the long tract the Cathreim Lgcr.xn.
Changhail Chldiringnigh^ or Battles of Conghal Claringneach. ^^ of the
The Destruction of Cathair Boirclii forms but a single inci- aibowb, or ^
dent in the career of the warrior CongaJ, and I may in a few words ^J**^**""
introduce to you the causes that led to so fatal a catastrophe. i[^^5fSJiai
Lughaidh Luaighnd, of the Eberean line, assumed the mo- ciar^
naichy of Erinn in the year of the world 4024; and, in dis-"*^^'
posing of the petty kingships of the provinces, he imposed two
kings on the province of Ulster, to one of whom, Conghal Clar-
ingneach^ the son of a former monarch, he gave the southern,
and to Fergus Mac Leidi^ the northern half of the province.
The Ulstermen soon began to feel the weight of two royal
establishments, and a secret meeting of their chiefs took place at
Emania, at which it was resolved to invite both their kings to a
great feast, for the purpose of having them assassinated, and
then to elect one kmg from among themselves, whom they
would support by force of armp against the Monarch, should he
feel dissatisfied with their deed.
The feast was soon prepared, the two kings seated at it, and
the assassins, who were selected from the menials of the chiefs,
took up a convenient position outside the banqueting house.
By this time, however, the knowledge of the conspiracy had
reached the ears of Fachtna Finn, the chief poet of Ulster;
whereupon he, with the other chief poets of the province, who
attended the feast, arose from their particular places, and seated
themselves between the two kings. The assassins entered the
house shortly after, but seeing tie position of the poets, they
held back, imwilling to desecrate their sacred presence, or
violate their too obvious protection.
When the prince Congal saw the assassins, he suspected their
design, and asked the poet if his suspicions were not well-
founded. Fachtna answered in the affirmative, and stated the
cause of the conspiracy ; whereupon Congal stood up, and ad-
dressing the assembled chiefs, offered, on the part of lumself and
his colleague, to surrender their power ana dignity into the
hands of the monarch again, with a request that he would set
up in their place the person most agreeable to the Ultonians.
The chiefs agreed, and the poets taking the two kings under
their inviolable protection, they all repaired to Tara, where
they soon arrived, and announced the object of their visit.
On their arrival at Tara, the monarch's daughter fell in love
with Fergus Mac Leidi, and at her request, backed by the re-
commen&tion of the provincial kings who then happened to be
at court, the monarch appointed him sole king of Ulster, though
such a decision was against an ancient law, which ordained that,
naeh").
262 OF THE HISTORIC TALES.
LECT.xn. a junior should not be preferred to a senior, — and Congal was
40 Of the ^^^^^ ^^ Fergus.
AiBONx, or Congal, on hearing this decision, departed immediately from
j^ughters" "p^j^^ collected all the disaffected of the country about him, to-
oroofSfiai gather with some Scottish exiles, and having met the monarch's
ctoHjv- son, cut off his head and bid defiance to the father. He was,
however, soon forced to leave Erinn with his adherents ; and
his adventures in the island of Rachlamfij and in Denmark and
other northern countries, form a conaderable and most interest-
ing part of his career. After some years, however, he returned
to his native country, and landed m the present bay of Dun-
drum (county Down). Immediately upon his coming ashore, he
discovered that his rival, Fergus M€us LeicU, was at that time
enjoyii^ the hospitalities of Caihair Boirchi (that is, BoirchS's
Stone Castle or Fortress), the princely residence of Eochaidh
SalbhuidhS, chief of the southern part of the present county of
Down, at a short distance from Congal's landing place.
On receiving this welcome piece of information, Congal
marched directly to Caihair BdirchS, and surprised and de-
stroyed it with all that were in it. From thence he went straight
to Tara, and challenged the kiujg with all his forces to a pitched
battle. The battle was fought in the immediate neighbourhood
of Tara; the monarch was defeated and beheaded by Congal,
who was proclaimed in his place, and reigned fifteen years.
The only copy of this fine historic tale that I am acquainted
with, is preserved in the library of the Royal Irish Academy.
[No. 205, Hodges and Smith Collection.]
The Aitheach But the talc which I should prefer to take for you as a spe-
•^lltucoSf'. cimen of the AirgnS, is one which recites the origin of one of
the most momentous troubles which interrupt the course of our
history; I mean the Revolt of the Aitheach Tuatha (or "Atta-
cots"), in the early part of the first century, an incident of which
I have already shortly spoken. This tract is that which is en-
tered in the hst in the Book of Leinster as the Argain Chairpri
Cinn-Cait for Saerclannaibh h-Erenn; that is, the Murder by
Carbry Cat-head of the Noble clanns of Erinn.
The revolution and reign of the Aitheach Tuatha ("^ ttacottT^
or "Attacots", as they have been called in English writings),
mark an era in Irish history, more interesting, perhaps, than
important in relation to the consequences of their rule ; and the
name ^ven to these people has supplied food for much learned
discussion and speculation, to writers of more modem times.
Father John Lynch (better known as Gratianus Lucius),
General Vallancey, the Rev. Charles O'Conor, and many others
of their times, have been more or less puzzled by the name **At-
OF THE HISTORIC TALB8. 263
tacots**, and have sought eveiywhere for an explanation of it Lacr.xn.
but where only it comd be found, namely, in the language of ^
the country in which it originated, and in which those people aimvi, or
grew, Uved, and died. JSSJ^^'
The name which those modem writers have made into ** Atr ^J*^jJ2£*
tacots"", from the Latinized form " Attacotti"", is written in all or *' Atte-
Irish manuscripts, ancient and modem, AUheaeh Tuatha^ and ^^ ^'
this means nothing more than simply the Bentrpayers, or Rent-
paying Tribes or reople.
It is also stated, by even our very latest historic writers, that
the Aitheach Tuatha were the descendants of the earlier colo-
nists, depressed and enslaved by their conquerors, the Milesians.
But this is a mistake, for, according to the Books of Ballymote
and Lecain, the revolutianists were not composed, even tor the
major part, of the former colonists, but of the Milesians them-
selves. For, as may be expected, in the lapse of ages countless
numbers of noble and free Milesian families fell awaj from their
caste, lost their civil independence, and became mixed up and
reduced to the same level with the remnants of the conquered
races, who still continued, in a state nearly allied to slavery,
tillers of the soil.
At the time of this revolution, which took place about the
middle of the first century of the Christian era, the magnates of
the land seem to have combined to lajr even heavier burdens
than ever before on the occupiers and tillers of the soil ; and the
debased Milesians were the first to evince a disposition to re-
sistance. Combinations were afterwards formed between them
and the other malcontents, but so profoundly secret, that during
the three years which they took to consider and mature their
plans, not one of their intended victims had received the faintest
hint of the plot that ripened for their destruction.
The result of their councils was, to prepare a great feast, to
which, as a pretended mark of respect and gratitude, they were
to invite the monarch, the provincial kings, and the great chiefs
of the nation, really for the purpose of destroying them during
the convivial excitement ana unsuspicious confidence of a regal
banquet of the old times.
The feast was prepared at a place since called Magh Cru (or
the Bloody Plain), in Connacht. Thither came the monarch,
kings, ana chiefs, in the full flow of unreserved security, — a se-
curity, as it befell, of the falsest kind ; for, when the nobles were
deep in their cups, and plunged in the enjoyment of the deli-
cious strains of the harp, treacherous hosts surrounded the ban-
Suet hall with men in armour, and slew without pity or remorse
le monarch, Fiacha Finnolaidh^ the provincial kings, and
all the assembled chiefs, as well as all their train.
264 OF THE HISTOBIC TALSS.
LBCT.xn. The revolutionary party having thug, at one blow, got rid of
40 Of the *^ ^^ ^^^ taskmasters, but still wishing to live under a more
AiBOMB, or ^ lenient monarchical government, proceeded to select a king.
cSe^SiTit Their choice fell on CairbrS Cinn-Cait, an exiled son of the
'a^^TmSit ^'^^^ ^^ Lochlainn (or Scandinavia), who had taken a leading
or " Attii- part in the plan and completion of die revolution.
^ CcnrbrS, nowever, died in the fifth year of an nnprosperous
reign, and Fiacha Finnolaidh, of the royal Eremonian race, suc-
ceeded to the sovereignty. Against Fiachaj however, another
revolt of the provinces took place, and he was surprised and
murdered at M(wh Bolg in Ulster, in the year of our Lord 56 ;
and Elim Mac Conrach, king of Ulster (of the Rudrician race
of Ulster), was elected by the revolutionists in his place. The
• reign of EHm also proved imfortunate, for, not only did discord
ana discontent prevail throughout the land, but the gifts of
Heaven itself were denied it, and the soil seemed to have been
struck with sterility, and the air of Heaven charged with pesti-
lence and death during those years.
The old loyalists and friends of the former d3masties took
advantage at once of the confusion and general consternation
which seized on the minds of the people, and proposed to them
to recal or rather to invite home Ttmthal, the son of the mur-
dered monarch, whose mother had fled from the slaughter to the
house of her father, the king of Scotland, while Tuathal as
some writers say was yet unborn.
This proposal was very generally listened to, and a great
number of the Aitheach Tuatha agreed in council to bring over
the young prince, who was now in his twenty-fifth year.
Tuathal answered the call, and soon after landed in Bregia
[Meath], where he imfurled his standard, and was immediately
joined by several native chiefs, with all their followers. From
this he marched upon Tara, but was met by the reigning mo-
narch, Elim, at Acaill (now the hill of Screen), near Tara, in
the county of Meath, where a fierce battle was fought, in
which at length the reigning monarch, Elim, was slain, and a
great slaughter made of his adherents.
And thus the ancient dynasty was once more established, and
continued, substantially unbroken, down to the final overthrow
of our monarchy, in the twelfth century.
There is a detailed, but not very copious account of the
massacre of Magh Cm, preserved m a MS. (H. 3. 18.) in
Trinity College, Dublin.
The next class of the Historic Tales consists of the Forbasa,
or Sieges. The ForbaU may be called a Siege, because it im-
OF THE HISTORIC TALES. 265
plies a regular investment of a position, or of a city, or forti- lect.xh.
tied place of residence. The name is generally, tnough i^ct^o^^j^
always, applied to those sieges which were followed by the cap- FoBBA«A,or
ture, or, at least, the plunder of the place invested. That fri?^ige
capture, as I have already explained to you, would be called h©^^; **
Tvghailf if the place were destroyed If only besieged, the
event would be a Forbais; but a Toghailj or storming, might,
of course, take place, without being preceded by a Forbaia.
These distinctions the student will do well to observe, in apply-
ing himself to the branch of historical literature now under our
notice.
Of the Forbiua^ or Sieges, the example I shall take shall be
the Forbais Edair^ or Siege of Howth, — again selecting a story
the scene of which Ues near this city.
In the more ancient times in which the events recorded in
the tracts I notice to-day took place, and, indeed, down to a
comparatively late perioa, it was customary, — I may premise
by telling you, — ^for distinguished poets and bards (who were
also the philosophers, lawyers, and most educated men of their
day) to pass from one province into another, at pleasure, on a
circuit, as it may be called, of visits among the kings, chiefs, and
nobles of the country ; and, on these occasions, they used to re-
ceive rich gifts, in return for the learning they communicated,
and the poems in which they sounded the praises of their patrons
or the condemnation of their enemies. Sometimes the poet's visit
bore also a poKtical character ; and he was often, with diplomatic
astuteness, sent, by direction of his own provincial kmg, into
another province, with which some cause of quarrel was sought
at the moment. On such occasions he was instructed not to be
satisfied with any gifts or presents that might be oflFered to him,
and even to couch his retusals in language so insolent and sar-
castic as to provoke expulsion if not personal chastisement.
And, whenever matters proceeded so far, then he returned to
his master, and to him transferred the indi^ties and injuries
received by himself, and pubUcly called on him, as a matter of
personal honour, to resent them. And thus, on occasions where
no real cause of dispute or complaint had previously existed, an
ambitious or contentious kin^ or chief found means, in those
days just as in our own, to pick what pubUc opinion regarded
as an honourable quarrel witn his neighbour.
A curious instance of the antic[uity of this practice in Erinn,
will be found in the very ancient but little known tract of
which I shall now proceed to oflFer you a short sketch. It con-
tains besides, I should however tell you, a great deal of other
valuable matter illustrative of the manners and customs of a
266 OF THE HISTORIC TALES.
LBCT.xii. very early period: and it may be taken as a fair specimen of the
^o ^^^ important class of those Historic Tales which I have referred to
FoKBASA, or under the title of Forbasa.
C^«^i«8e There lived in Ulster in the time of Eong Conor Mac Nessa,
How^l " ^^* ^> about A.D. 33, a learned poet, but withal a virulent
satirist, named Aithimiy better known in our ancient writings
as Aithimi Ailghesach, or ^^AithimS the Importunate" ; and he
received this surname from the fact that, he never asked for a
gift or preferred a request, but such as it was especially difficult
to give, or dishonourable to grant.
At this time the Ultonians were in great strength, and the
valour of the champions of the Royal Branch had filled Erinn
with their fame, and themselves and their province with arro-
gance and insolence. They had already enriched themselves
with the preys and spoils of Connacht, and they had beaten the
men of Leinster in the battle of JRoa na Righy and extended
the boundary of the northern province from the river Boyne
southwards to the Righ (or river IWe, the boimdary between
the present counties of Meath and Dublin). They had abo
made a sudden and successful incursion into Mimster, des-
troyed the ancient palace of Teamhair Luachray from which
they returned home with great spoils. So that, having in this
manner shown their power and superiority over the other pro-
vinces, they were restless to undertake some yet more ambi-
tious enterprise ; and, losing all self-restraint, they seem to have
proposed to themselves no object but the one, to find an enemy
to fight with, no matter where, and for any cause, no matter
what it might be.
In this embarrassment of the Ultonians, Aithimi^ the poet,
determined to relieve their languor by raising a still more se-
rious quarrel, if possible, than ever, between them and some one
of the other provinces. Accordingly, though not without the
consent and approval of king Conor Mac Nessa, the poet set out
upon a round of visits to the other provincial kings, resolved
that his conduct and demands should be so insulting and ex-
travagant that they should be forced to visit him with some
gross indignity or personal punishment, such as might give
him cause for pouring out upon them the most satirical strains
of his venomous tongue, as well as make it incumbent on his
province to demand and take satisfaction for the insult offered
them in his person.
He went first into Connacht, but the kings and chiefs of
that province granted freely even his most unreasonable de-
mands, sooner than be drawn into a war with Ulster by a refusal.
From Connacht AUhimi passed to the kingdom of Mid-
OF THE HISTORIC TALES. 267
Erinn (compieliending the south of Connacht and the north lbct. xn.
of Munster or Thomond, and extending, it is said, within nar- ^o ©f the
row limits, from the bay of Galway to Dublin). The king of FoRBAwJor
this territory at the time was Eochaidh Mac Luehta^ whose re- ciSe^ege
sidence lay on the brink of the present Loch De^, in the Upper h©^^."'
Shannon (somewhere, I believe, between Scarin, in the county
of Clare, and the present Mountshannon Daly, on the south-
eastern border of the coimty of Gralway). This King, whose hos-
pitality and munificence were proverbial, had the niisfortune to
be blind of an eye, and the maUgnant satirist knowing that no
demand on his riches, however exorbitant it might be, would be
refused, determined to demand from him that which he was most
certain could not be granted. He, therefore, demanded the king s
only eye. To his great surprise and disappointment, Eochaidh
Mac Luchta (so goes the story) suddenly thrust his finger into the
socket of his eye, tore it out by the roots, and handed it to the
poet ! The king then commanded his servant to lead him down
to the lake to wash his face and staimch the blood ; but fear-
ing that perhaps he had not been able to extract the eye, he
asked his servant if he had really given it to the poet. Alas !
said the servant, the lake is red with the blood of your red eye.
That shall be its name for ever, said the king. Loch Derg-
d/ieirc, or the Lake of the Red Eye, — (the present Loch Derg,
above Killaloe, on the'Shannon).
[Let me here observe, in a parenthesis, that I should not, per-
haps, have gone into this minor, though curious detail, but that
more modem writers of family Irish history have endeavoured
to make Eochaidh, the ancestor of the O'Sullivan family, to be
the person who granted his only eye to the demand of a ma-
licious Scotch poet, and that it is from that circumstance that
the name OSuilahhain — ^that is, the one-eyed, — is derived. But
there are two objections to the truthfulness of this version of the
story ; the first is, that the tale I have just noticed is certainly
older than the time of this latter Eochaidh; the second objec-
tion is, that if this were the derivation of the name, it should
be written with the letter ?n, instead of the 6, which is always
found in it : that is, the word should be Suilamhain (or " one
eye"), and not Suilabhain, as it is generally (but not always)
written in the ancient MSS. The fact, however, is, that botn
these spellings are incorrect, and that the family name, in the
best authorities, is written CSuildhubhain, or the Black-eyed.]
But to return to the tract under notice.
Our poet next crossed the Shannon into south Mimster, to
the palace of Tighemach Tetbannach^ the king of that province
£from whom Cam Tighenuiigh (on a mountom near Rathcor-
268 OF THE HISTORIC TALES.
LBCT.xii. mac, in the county of Cork) in which he lies buried, haa its
50 Of the name.] The kings of all these territories submitted to the
FoRBABA, or deepest insults sooner than incur the poet's virulent abuse and
(The^ige the enmity of his province.
HowSni! **' AithimSy therefore, proceeded on his circuit from Munster
into Leinster, and came to a place called Ard Breatini, in the
present county of Carlow. Here the people of South Lein-
ster, with their king, Fergus FairrgS, met him in assembly
with large and valuable presents, in order to induce him not to
enter their territory. The poet refused to accept any of the
rich gifts that were offered him, until he should be given the
richest present or article in the assembly. This was a sore
puzzle to them, because they could not well discover which
was the best of their valuables. Now while they were in this
dilemma, there happened to be a young man, mounted on a
fleet steed, careerinff for his amusement, in presence of the
assembly ; — and so close sometimes to where the king sat, that,
on one occasion, while wheeling round at full speed, a large
clod of earth flew from one of the hind-legs of his steed, and
fell in the king's lap. The king immediately perceived a large
and beautiful gold brooch imbedded in the clod ; and, turning
joyfully to the poet, who sat next him, he said : " What have
I got in my lap?" "You have got a brooch", said Aith-
imi, " and that brooch is the present that will satisfy me, be-
cause it was it that fastened the cloak oi Maini Mac iJurthacht,
my mother's brother, who buried it in the ground here at the
time that he and the Ultonians were defeated by you in the
battle of Ard BrestinS". The brooch was then given to Aith-
imS, after which he took his departure from South Leinster,
and came to Naas, where Mesgedkra, the supreme king of all
theprovince of Leinster, then resided.
The poet was hospitably received by this king, at whose
court he remained twelve months, and he was loaded with rich
gifts by the king himself, and the chiefs of North Leinster.
The more he got, however, the more insolent and importunate
he became, until at last he insisted on getting seven himdred
white cows with red ears, a countless number of sheep, and
one hundred and fifty of the wives and daughters of the Lein-
ster nobles, to be carried in bondage into Ulster.
To all these tyrannical demands the Leinster men submitted
in appearance, but with a grace and condescension that fore-
boded anything but good to the penetrating eyes of the poet.
Satisfied mat the men of Leinster, who felt themselves restramed
by the public law of hospitality within their own territory, would,
when he had passed out of it, follow and deprive him of all his
OF THE HISTORIC TALBS. 269
ill-gotten property, perhaps even of his life, he therefore sent a ucr.xn.
messen^r into Ulster, demanding of king Conor to send a strong ^^ ^^^
body of men to the confines of Leinster, to receive and escort JoRBAtA, or
him and his property, as soon as he should pass across the cn«^iege
border of that province. hoSS^! ^
When the poet's time for departure came at last, he set out
from Naas with all his rich presents, his cattle, and his captives,
attended by a multitude of the men of Leinster, apparently but
to see him safely out of their country. When they came to
Dublin, however, they foimd that the poet's sheep could not cross
the river L{fi {or Liffey] at the ordmary ford; upon which, a
number of the people went into the neighbouring woods, and set
to work to cut down the trees and branches; so that, in a very
short time, they were able to throw a bridge, or causeway, of
trees and hurdles across the river, by means of which the poet,
his cattle, and train, passed over into the province of Meath, '
the Liffey being at this time the boundary Ime of Leinster and
Meath at this point.
(The point of the river over which this bridge of hurdles was
thrown was, at this time, called Dubhlinny literally the " Black
Pool" (but in fact so called from a lady named Dubhy who had
been formerly drowned there) ; but from this time down it took
the name ol Dvbhlinn Aiha Cliath^ or the Black Pool of the
Ford of Hurdles; and this ford, I have no doubt, extended
from a point at the Dublin side of the river, where the Dothor
[or Dodder] falls into the Liffey at Rings-End, to the opposite
side, where the Poll-bea Lighthouse now stands. The Danish
and Enghsh name Dublin is a mere modification of Dubhlinn, or
Black's Pool, but the native Irish have always called, and still do
call, the city of Dublin Ath Cliath, or Bail4 Atha Cliath — that
is, the Ford of Hurdles, or the Town of the Ford of Hurdles.)
No sooner had Aithimi crossed the Ford of Hurdles tnan
the Leinster men rapidly rescued their women ; but before they
had time to turn their cattle, the Ultonian escort, which had
previously arrived and encamped at the mouth of the river Tulr
chlainn [or Tolca], a short distance from the ford, rushed down
upon them. A battle ensued, in which the Ultonians were
routed, and forced to retreat to Beann Edair (now called the
Hill of Howth), to which place, however, they succeeded in
carrying with them the seven hundred cows. Here they threw
up, on a sudden, a strong earthen fortification, which was ever
afterwards called Dun Aithimi^ or AithimS'a fort, and within
which they took shelter with their prey ; and they sent forthwith
for further reinforcements to the north, and continued, in the
meanwhile, to act on the defensive until their arrival
270 OF THE mSTORZC TALES.
LKOT. xn. The Leinstermen encamped in front of them, cut off their
«oofth« communication with the coimtry, and brought them to great
FoBBASA, or distress. After some time, however, the flower of the cham-
fSS^iege pions of the Royal Branch arrived suddenly at Howth, attacked
HoSSo*.'*' *^® Leinstermen, and routed them with considerable slaughter;
so that, with their king Mesgedhra, they fled towards their own
country. Then ConaU Ceamach^ the most distinguished of the
heroes of the Royal Branch, followed the Leinstermen with his
chariot and charioteer, alone ; in order to take vengeance on
certain of them for the death of his two brothers, Mesdeadad
and Laeghairiy who had been slain at this siege of Howth. He
passed over the ford of hurdles, through Drummainech (now
Drimnagh), and on to Naas; but the army had already dis-
persed, and the king had not yet reached his court.
Conall pressed on from Naas to Claen, where he foimd Mea-
gedhray at last, at the ford of the Liffey. A combat imme-
diately ensued between them, in which Mesgedhra was slain
and beheaded. Conall placed the king's head in his own chariot,
and ordering the charioteer to moimt the royal chariot, they set
out northwards. They had not gone far, however, when they
met Meagedhra's queen, attended by fifty ladies of honour, return-
ing from a visit in Meath. "Who art thou, O woman T said
Conall. "I am MesgedhrcCa wife", said she. " Thou art com-
manded to come with me", said Conall. " Who has commanded
me?"said the queen. "Jlfo^eettra has", said Conall. "Hast thou
brought me any token?" said the queen. " I have brought his
chariot and his horses", said Conall. " He makes many presents",
said the queen. " His head is here, too", said Conall. " Then I
am disengaged", said she. " Come into my chariot", said Conall.
" Grant me liberty to lament for my husband", said the queen.
And then she shrieked aloud her grief and sorrow with such
intensity, that her heart burst, and she fell dead from her
chariot.
The fierce Conall and his servant made there a grave and
mound on the spot ; in which they buried her, together with
her husband's head, from which, however, according to a sin-
gular custom hardly less barbarous than singular of which I shall
say more presently, he had first extracted the brain.
This queen's name was jBuan, or the Good [woman] ; and,
aft;er some time, according to a very poetical tradition, a beau-
tiful hazel tree sprung up from her grave, which was for ages
afl»r called Coll Buatia, or Buan's Hazel. The grave was situ-
ated a short distance to the north of the Ford of Claen, on the
ancient road which led from Naas to Tara, and may, perhaps,
be known even at this day.
OF THB HI8T0BIC TALES. 271
Copies of this tract are preserved in the Book of Leinster, utcr.jai.
and in a vellum MS. in the British Museum, Harl. 5280. 50. of the
F0BBA8A, or
Of the Forbasa listed in the Book of Leinster there is one (The^iegt
more so remarkable, that I would make room for some account Ja^T*
of it, if it were possible — namely, the Forbais Droma Damh' ^hairT).
ahcdri^ by king Cormac Mac Atrt, against Fiacha Muilleathan^
king of Munster, about the year of our Lord 220. Drom
Damhghairi was the name of a ridge or hill in the county ol
Limenck, since Cormac's time (and still) called Cnoc Luinqi,
or Knocklong, from the tents set up there by Cormac, who
encamped upon the spot The following is shortly the history
of this Forbais: —
Cormac*s mimificence was so boundless that, at one time, his
steward complained to him, that, although there were many
claimants and objects of the royal beneficence, there was
nothing for them, as all the revenues appropriated to such pur-
poses were exhausted. Cormac, in this extremity, asked the
steward's advice as to the best means of replenishing his stores.
The steward, without hesitation, said that the only chance of
so doing was in demanding from Munster the cattle revenue of
a second province ; that it contained two distinct provinces, but
that it had always escaped paying tribute but for one, and that
he oiight to call on them for the tribute of the other.
Cormac appeared to be well pleased with this suggestion, and
immediately despatched couriers to Fiacha Muiueathain, the
king of Mimster, demanding tribute for the second division of
that province. The king of Munster received the monarch's
message in a fair spirit, and sent the courier back with an offer
of ample relief of Uormac's present diflSculties, but denying his
right of demand, and refusing to send a single beef in acknow-
ledgment of it. Cormac havm^ received this stubborn message,
mustered a large army and all his most learned Druids, marched
into the heart of Munster, and encamped on the hill then called
Dram Darnhghairi, or the " Hill of the Oxen".
Having established his encampment, he consulted his Druids
on the best and most expeditious means of bringing the men
of Mimster to terms. The Druids, after debate among them-
selves, assured the monarch that the surest and most expedi-
tious mode of reducing his enemies would be to deprive them
and their cattle of water, and that this they were prepared to do
on receiving his permission. Cormac Immediately assented, and
forthwith the Druids by their spells and incantations dried up,
or concealed, all the rivers, lakes, and springs of the district, so
that bo^ men and cattle were dying of thirst all round them.
272 OF THE HISTORIC TALES.
LECT. xii. The king of Munster in this extremity took counsel with his peo-
6° Of the P^^» ^^^ ^^^ decision they came to was, not to submit to Cormac, but
FoBBABA, or to send to the island o\ Dairbri [now called OiUan DarairS, or
(Th?*8iege Valencia], on the western coast of Kerry, to Mogh Ruith, the most
iLSSr* famous Druid of the time (who is said to have studied Druidism
ghaire*^. in the East, in the great school of Simon Magus), to request that
he would come and relieve them from the terrible distress, which
th^well knew had been brought on them by Druidic agency.
The ancient Druid consented to come and relieve them, on
condition that he should receive a territory of his own selection
in that part of the province, with security for its descent in his
family tor ever. His demands were granted, and he selected
the present barony of Fermoy in the coimty of Cork (where
some of his descendants survive to this day, under the names of
0*Duggan, O'Cronin, ete.). The Druid then shot an arrow into
the air, telling the men of Munster that water in abimdance would
spring up wherever the arrow should fall. This promise was
verified ; a rushing torrent of water burst up where the arrow
fell ; and the men of Munster and their flocks were relieved.
The Munster men then fell upon Cormac and his hosts, routed
them from Cnoc Luingi^ and followed them into Leinster, scat-
tering and killing them as they went.
The place in which the arrow fell is still pointed out in the
parish of ImUach Grianan, in the county of Limerick ; and the
well remains still under the ancient name of Tobar (or Tiprd)
Ceann moir^ that is. Well of Great Head, or Spring; and
a river that issues from it is called Sruth Cheanna mhoir^ or
the Stream of Great Head.
This is a wild but most important story, full of information
on topography, manners, customs, and Druidism. It is spoken
of in several of our ancient books, but the only copy of it that I
know to exist was preserved in the Book of Lismore, imtil that
^at book was mutilated in Cork many years ago ; and now there
IS a portion of the original staves at Lismore and a portion at
Cork ; but I have a full copy of both parts in my own possession.
Short as I have made the outlines I have given you of these
few specimens of the Historic Talks, I have been unable to
compress within the present Lecture any intelligible account
of those classes of them which it is my business to bring under
your notice. At our next meeting I shall, however, endeavour
to complete this branch of the inquiry I have opened.
LECTURE XIII.
CIMiT«r«d Jane 19« I8U.]
The Historic Tales (continued). 6. Of the OUtS, '* Tragedies**, or Deaths.
The Story of the " Death of Conor Mac Nessa". The »* Death of Maelfa-
tkartaigh, the son of Ronan". 7. Of the Tana, or Cow Spoils. The " tdin
b6 Chuailffne\ 8. Of the Tochmarca, or Courtships. The " Courtship of
Eimer", bj the Champion CuchuUain. 9. Of the Uatha, or Caves. 10. Of the
Eckirai, or Adventures. 11. Of the Sluaiyheadha^ or military expeditions.
The "Expedition of King Dathi to the foot of Sliabh n-Ealpa (the Alps)**.
12. Of the Imramha, or Expeditions by Sea. The " Voyage of the Sons of
Ua Corra^. Of the remaining classes of the Historic Tales.
I ALMOST begin to fear you will set me down as a story-teller
myself, and not a lecturer upon the grave subject of the Mate-
rials of our Ancient History, before I shall have completed my
intended notices of the pieces called Historic Tales. You must,
however, always bear in mind that, so far as I have thought it
right to enter into the details of these stories, I have done so
only for the purpose of making the GraedhUc student as accu-
rately acquamtcd with their plan and style as the nature of
this general course may admit. I have, however, in no instance
detailed to you even any considerable part of any of these com-
positions ; though they will, in fact, upon examination, be found
to contain far more of valuable historical matter than I could
make you familiar with, if I were even to devote the whole of
these lectures to this subject alone. All that I have attempted
to do is, to give you a sort of general idea by way of syn-
opsis of the contents of a few of these tales; and I have
selected, as specimens of them, those wliich appear to me most
proper to serve as examples of the classes to which they re-
spectively belong.
The next class of the Historic Tales to which I have to ask
your attention, is that of the Oitte or Aideadha, — "Tragedies",
or Deaths. These stories are the narratives of violent Deaths, or
of any melancholy or tragical occurrences in which the Death of
some remarkable individual forms a principal feature in the tale.
From one of these Oitte, or Aideadha, the ^^ Aideadh Conrur,
Keating has introduced into his history the story of the death
of Curoi Mac Daire^ who was killed by the celebrated champion
18
274 OF THE HISTORIC TALES.
LECT. xm. CuehulainHj about the first year of the Christian era. But the
example I prefer to select is a more important one, because the
oiTTE, or ^ personage whose death is recorded in the tale was one of the
fSef^th ' most remarkable men in all our history, — that Conor Mac Nessa,
N(i2»)°'**** ^^ whom I have already more than once spoken. This tale is
also particularly interesting to Christians, as you will find, in
respect of the immediate cause of the death of the pagan king ;
for, though there are several ancient vei-sions of the story, the
connexion of the disaster with the crucifixion of our Lord is
uniformly recorded. This tale is mentioned in the list, in the
Book of Lcinster, as the Aideadh Chonchohhairy and to some
version of this story also Keating had recourse in the compilation
of his history. The copy of me tale, the principal contents of
which I am about shortly to narrate to you, is preserved in the
Book of Leinster.
Conor Mac Nessa was king of Ulster at the period of the Incar-
nation of our Lord. He was the son o( Fachtna^ ^^^E of the same
province, but who was slain while Conor was yet an infant.
Conor's accession te the provincial throne was more a matter
of chance than of hereditary claim, because Fergus Mac Rossa
was actually king at the time. Conor s mother, Nessa, (from
whom he derived the distinctive appellation of Mac Nessa,)
was still a woman of youth and beauty, at the time that her
son came to be fifteen years of age, and Fergus, then the king
of the province, proposed marriage to her. Nessa refiised to
accept his oflfer, excepting on one condition — ^namely, that he
should hand over the sovereignty of Ulster, for one year, to her
son Conor, in order that his children after him might be called
the children of a king. To this singular condition Fergus was
but too glad to accede, and Conor accordingly took upon him
the sovereignty of Ulster, which, young as he was, he adminis-
tered with such wisdom, justice, and munificence, that, when
the year was expired, and the time for resigning the kingly
office to its original holder had arrived, the Ulstenncn raised a
formidable opposition to the act; and, after much contention
and diplomacy, the difficulty was disposed of by each one retain-
ing what he had, — Fergus his wife, and Conor the kingdom ;
and so, as we are informed by history, Conor continued long to
rule the people of Ulster with wisdom and justice, to defend their
rights with vigilance, and to avenge their wrongs with bravery,
wherever and whenever the encroaclmients of the neighbour-
ag provincial powers required it.
It was under the fosterage and example of this prince that
the renowned order of knighthood, so well known in song and
story as the Knights of the Royal Branch, sprang up in Ulster ;
OF THE HISTORIC TALES. 275
and among the most distinguished of the order I may name to lect. xin.
you the celebrated Conall Cearnach^ Cuchulainn^ the sons of ^^^~
Uisneach (^Naoisi, AinlS, and Ardati), Eoghan Mac Durthacht, oittk, or
Dithhthach Dael Uladhj and Laeghairi Buadhach, as well as Cor- (rHeoa^ '
mac Conloingeas (Conor's own son). nwmS?'**"
One of those barbarous military customs which, in one form
or another, prevailed in former times perhaps all over the world,
and which have been preserved in some countries nearly down
to our own days, existed in Erinn at this period. Whenever
one champion slew another in single combat, it is stated that he
cut off his head, if possible ; clove it oj>en ; took out the brain ;
and, mixing this witn lime, rolled it up mto a ball, which he then
dried, and placed in the armoury of his territory or province,
among the trophies of his nation.
As an instance of this strange custom, we ha^'e already seen,
in the sketch of Aithimi^ the poet (in speaking of the Siege of
Beann Edair, or Howth), that, on that occasion, when the great
Ulster champion, Conall Ceamach, pursued Mesgedhra, the
king of Leinster, from Howth to Claena (in the present coimty
of Kildare), where he overtook and fought him m single com-
bat, he cut off the king's head after he had killed hmi, and
extracted the brain. And, according to that story, it appears
that after having put it through the usual process lor hardening
and preservation, ne placed the ball formed of the royal brain
among the precious trophies of Ulster, in the great house of the
Royal Branch at Emama, where it continued to be esteemed as
an object of great provincial interest and pride.
Now, Conor Mac Ncssa, in accordance with the custom of
the times, had two favourite fools at his court ; and these silly,
though often cunning, persons, having observed the great
respect in which Mesgedhra's brain was held by their betters,
and wishing to enjoy its temporary possession, stole it out of
the armoury and took it out to the lawn of the court, where
they began to play with it as a common ball.
while thus one day thoughtlessly engaged, Cet Mac Magach,
a famous Connacht champion, whose nation was at war with
Conor Mac Nessa, happened to come up to them in disguise ;
and perceiving, and soon recognizing, the precious ball which
they were carelessly throwing from hand to hand, he had little
difficulty in obtaining it from them. Having thus unexpectedly
secured a prize of honour so valuable, Cet returned immediately
into Connacht ; and &s there was a prophecy that Mesgedhra
would avenge himself upon the Ulstermen, he never went forth
upon any border excursion or adventure without carrying the
king 8 brain with him in his girdle, hoping by it to fulfil the
18 b
270 OF THE HISTORIC TALKS.
LECT. xni. prophecy by the destruction of some important chief or cham-
go. Of the P^^^ among the Ulster warriors.
oiTTB, or Shortly after this time, Cet, at the head of a strong par^ of
(Thei)emth ' the men of Connacht, carried off a large prey and plunaer from
Jlfe^S®' ^'■^ Southern Ulster; but they were pursued and overtaken (at
BaiU-ath-an- Urchair, now Ardnurchar, in the present county
of Westmeath) by the Ulstermen, imder the command of the
king himself [See Appendix, No. XC.]. Both sides halted
on the banks of a stream, which they selected as an appropriate
battle-field, and prepared for combat. Cet soon discovered that
the pursuit was led by king Conor ; at once bethought him of
the prophecy ; and immediately laid his plan for its fulfilment.
Accordingly, perceiving that a large number of the ladies of
Connacht, who had come out to greet the return of their hus-
bands, had placed themselves on a hill near the scene of the
intended battle, he concealed himself among tliem.
Now, at tliis time, when two warriors or two armies were
about to engage in battle, it was the custom for the women, if
any were present, of either party to call upon any distinguished
chief or champion from the opposite side to approach them and
exhibit liimself to their view, that they might see if his beauty,
dignity, and martial bearing were equal to what fame had
reported them to be.
To carry out his plan, then, Cet instructed the Connacht women
to invite Conor himself to come forward, that they might view
him. To this request Conor willingly assented in the spirit of
the cliivalry of the time ; but when he had come within a short
distance of the presence of the ladies, on the corresponding emi-
nence at his own side of the stream, Cet raised hipiself in their
midst, and fixed Mesaedhras brain in his Cranntabhaill^ or
sling. Conor perceived the movement, and recognizing at once
a mortal enemy, retreated as fast as he could to his own people ;
however, just as he was entering the little grove of Doiri da
Bliaethj Cet^ who followed him closely, cast from the sling the
ball made from the fatal brain, and succeeded in striking Conor
with it on the head, lodging the ball in his skull.
Conor's chief physicians were immediately in attendance,
and after a long examination and consultation, they reported
that it was not expedient to remove the ball ; and the royal
patient was carried home, where he was so well att<?nded by
them, that after some time he recovered his usual health and
activity. He was, however, charged to be careful to avoid,
among other things, all violent exercise, riding on horseback,
and all excitement or anger.
He continued thus for years to enjoy good health, until the
OF THE HISTORIC TALES 277
very day of the Crucifixion, when, observing the eclipse of the lect. xm,
sun, and the atmospheric terrors of that terrible day, he asked go of the
Bacrach, his druid, what the cause of it was. ;>ittb, or
The druid consulted his oracles, and answered by informing nS^fSIS *
the king that Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, was at NeSST^"''
that moment suffering at the hands of the Jews. " What crime
has he committed ?" said Conor. ** None", said the druid. " Then
are the slaying him innocently?" said Conor. " They are", said
the druid. Then Conor burst into sudden fury at the words,
drew his sword, and rushed out to the wood of Lamhraidh^f
which was opposite liis palace door, where he began to hew
down the yoimg trees there, exclaiming in a rage : " Oh ! if I
were present, it is thus I would cut down the enemies of the in-
nocent man !" His rage continued to increase, until at last the
fatal ball, which was lodged in his skull, started from its place,
followed by the king's brain, and Conor Mac Nessa fell dead on
the spot. This occurrence happened in the fortieth year of his
reign ; and he has been counted ever since as the first man who
died for the sake of Christ in Ireland.
This curious tale seems to have always been believed by the
Irish historians, and from a very early date. In one version of
it, however (that in the Book of Leinster), it is stated that pro-
bably it was not from his druid that Conor received the iiuor-
mation concerning the crucifixion of our Lord, but from Altus,
a Roman consul.
Of these Oitt^, Aideadha, or Tragedies, I may just mention ^^^dS^o^
one other very curious one (also recorded in the Book o( Maeifathor-
Leinster). I mean the Aideadh Maeilfathartmgh Mic Rdnain, 'muiit^
or death of the Prince Maclfotharty, the son of Ronan, king of
Leinster, about the year a.d. 610.
This king had, as it is stated, married in his old age a very
young northern lady, whom he brought home to his Leinster
palace, there to sec, for the first time, his son, with whom she
unhappily fell in love. The prince refused and shunned her :
and the lady in revenge, after several endeavours to procure his
death, spoke to the king in such a manner as to excite his jea-
lousy against his son, and enraged him so much that Muelfathar'
taigh was soon afterwards killed with spears, himself and his
grayhounds, in his father's house and by nis father s orders.
The characters in this tale are all historical, and the tragedy
is narrated, as well as the whole story of the causes that led to it,
at full length.
The next di\'ision of historical tales that I would have had to l^^-J^^^
notice, would have been the Tana, or Cow Spoils; but as you "Cow-
278 OF THE HISTORIC TALES.
LBCT. XIII. have already had a specimen in one of which I gave you a
7° Of the ra^l^^r copious description in a former lecture (I mean the Tain
Tana, or fcj Chuailgu^j wliich is indeed the chief of them), I shall pass
Spoils''. them over for the present, and proceed to take up an example
of another class of these tracts ; that, namely, which consists of
s®. Of the stories of the more celebrated Tochmarca, or Courtehips and
w*^"colut^ Espousals, in ancient Irish history. Of this class of tales, one of
courtihipof ^® most remarkable, and the best preserved, is the Tochmarc
^l^'j \y EimliirSy — the tale of the Courtship of the gjeat Ulster champion
**"" ' Cuchulainn and the lady JEimer, me beautiful daughter of x^or-
gall Monach, a nobleman who in his day held a court of gene-
ral hospitality (similar to that of Da Derga before mentioned)
at the place now called Lusk, in the coimty of Dublin.
Of the champion Cuchulainn, the hero of this tale, we have
spoken at some length in a former lecture, when treating of the
Tain b6 ChuailanS, I need only add here that, according to all
the accounts, the beauty and symmetry of his person are de-
scribed to have been in full accordance with his noble carriage
and bearing, and worthy of his precocious valour and renown.
The*mcn of Ulster, it appears, paid Cuchulainn a very pecu-
liar compliment ; for, presided over by their famous king Conor
Mac Nessa, they held a special assembly to devise the best means
of providing for their young champion a partner for life, worthy
of nis rank m life, his manly perfections, and his personal and
military accomplishments. The decision to which they came
was, to send envoys all over Erinn to visit the courts of the
princes and nobles, in order to discover the most beautiful and
accomplished lady among their daughters, so that Cuchulainn,
in accordance with the custom of tnose times, should go and
court her.
In accordance with this decision, persons properly quahfied
for so delicate a mission were sent fortn from Emania (the palace
of Ulster) ; but after an extensive and close search among the
higher classes of the day, they returned home without being for-
tunate enough to succeed in tne object of their embassy, — ^in fact,
Feramorz himself was not one of them.
Cuchulainn, however, nothing dispirited by the failure of the
solicitude of his friends in his behalf, resolved to go and try his
own success in a matter that concerned him so much, and which,
after all, should depend for its final accomplishment on his own
personal examination and approval ; and having heard, it would
appear, of the beauty and accomplisliments of the lady Eimer,
he ordered his chariot, and, accompanied only by his faithful
charioteer, Laegh, he set out from Emania, antl, passing by the
many princely and noble mansions that lay in his journey,
OF THE HISTOBIC TALES. 279
Stopped not until he drew up on the lawn of the court of her lect. xm.
lather, Forgall, at Lusk.
Here he had the good fortune to meet the beautiful object of t<k!hmabca,
his visit, in the pleasure-ground of the mansion, enjoying her Silis'^!*"(The
customary sports, surrounded by the fair daughters of the neigh- ^^^^^
bouring chiefs and men of Meath, whom she was accustomed to c^tckmiainn).
instruct in the lady accomplishments of the times (for the lady
Eimer is stated to have been preeminently endowed with " six
natural and acquired gifts, namely, the gift of beauty of person,
the gift of voice, the rift of music, the gift of embroidery and
all needlework, the gift of wisdom, and the gift of virtuous
chastity"). Cuchtdainn immediately (but in an obscure style
of speech) revealed his name and the reason of his imceremo-
nious visit to Eimer; but the young lady declined to accept his
addresses, alleging as her only reason that she was a yoxmger
daughter; and then, laimching forth in a strain of charmmg
eloquence on the beauty, accomplishments, and virtues of her
elder sister, she recommended her suitor to seek her father's
consent for liberty to pay his court to that lady. Cuchulainn,
however, declined this recommendation, and not wishing to be
seen by Elmer's father or brothers in private conversation with
her, he soon after took a hurried leave, and departed for his home.
Forgall soon came to hear of the visit of this remarkable and
unknown stranger to his daughter, and discovered at once from
his description who he was. Not desiring, however, to form an
alliance with a professional champion, and knowing well that
his designs on Eimer would be renewed, he immediately deter-
mined on obstructing them.
For this purpose, he clad himself and two chosen attendants
in the attire of Scandinavian messengers, and supplying himself
with various articles of value, they went northwards to Emania,
and presented themselves at the court of King Conor, as mes-
sengers sent to him with presents and ^ifts from the king of
Scandinavia. The strangers were well received and highly feasted
and honoured for three days, after wliich they were introduced
to the chief heroes of the Royal Branch, such as Conall Ceat'
nach, Cuchulainn himself, and others, who showed them various
specimens of their military education. Forgall bestowed great
praise on the accomplishments of tlicse celebrated warriors, but
remarked that there were some feats of arms in which they ap-
peared to be deficient, and recommended the king to send them
into Scotland to finish their education at the great military
academy of Dam/mall, the champion, and the Amazonian lady
Scathach,
So warmly, and apparently so disinterestedly, did he press
280 OF THE HISTORIC TALES.
LBCT. xm. this recommendation, that Cuchulainn made a vow (in a form
go Qj ^^ of promise, from which, according to the laws of chivalry of the
TacHMABCA, time, he could not recede), that he would forthwith set out for
Swpt".*%e Scotland, and not return as long as he could find any feat of
£?m«MbT^ arms to learn, in which he happened to be then deficient.
CttcAu/irffii*.) Forgall then took his leave of king Conor and his court, and
returned home highly pleased with me success of his plan, as he
had calculated that, should Cuchulainn fulfil his vow, he should
never return, because he could never escape all the dangers that
were sure to beset him in his travels. However, Cuchulainn
paid a hasty but secret visit to his lady love, who, by this time,
had become deeply enamoured of him, and, having told her of
the vow he had made, and of his determination to fulfil it, they
plighted mutual troth and constancy, and he went forth on his
travels.
As Forgall anticipated, CuchulainrCs journey was beset with
dangers and difficulties of all kinds ; but those described in the
tale are chiefly of the romantic and supernatural character.
Although, nevertheless, the story at this point is especially en-
riched with poetic embellishment, still the natural incidents
with which it abounds, and the curious sketches of, or perhaps
I should say, allusions to, the manners and customs of tne date
of society at a period so very remote (but with which the writer
appears to have been familiar), both m Erinn and in Scotland,
will make ample amends in information of the most soHd cha-
racter, for the exuberant display of the author's fancy, whoso-
ever he may have been.
But to continue: Cuchulainn^ having finished his military
education at the school of the lady Scathach^ in Scotland, and
having gained great renown by his superiority over his fellow-
students, returned home by way of Ceann TirS, or the Land's
Head [now Cantire, in Scotland], paying a visit to the island of
Rechrainn [now Rathlin], on the north-east coast of Erinn.
Here he met with an incident, which, though not quite new in ^,^
character to classical scholars, has, from the circumstances thaf*^ '
produced it, a peculiar interest for the Irish historian.
On putting mto a small bay in the island of Rechrainn^ he,
and the few Irish fellow-students who accompanied him, left
their vessels, and, reaching the beach, were surprised to find a
beautiful girl sitting there alone. Cuchulainn immediately
questioned her as to the cause and reason of her strange position,
and the young lady told him that she was the daughter of the
king of Kechrainn; that her father was every year compelled to
pay a large and rich tribute to the Fomorians, or pirates, who
infested the Scottish islands ; that, failing this year to procure
S
OF THE HISTORIC TALES. 281
the stipulated amount, he was ordered to place her, his only lect. nn.
daughter, in the position in which he now saw her, and that, ^ ^
before the night, she should be carried off by the Fomorians ; tochmakca,
and whilst this conversation was actually going on, three fierce Ship«^'!*'aTie
warriors of the Fomorians in fact landed in the bay from their ^;™^*l**'
• t n ^ •1*111 1 aimer, by
boat, and made straight for the spot m which they knew the Cucktuainn).
maiden awaited them. Before, however, they had time to lay
rude hands upon her, Cuchulainn sprang forward to encounter
them, and succeeded in slaying them all, receiving but a slight
scar on the arm in the combat, which the maiden tied up with
a part of her costly robe. The maiden, so unexpectedly re-
leased from her terrible condition, now ran joyously to her
father, and related to him all that had happened ; but she could
S've no particular account of her deliverer. The father imme-
ately commimicated the happy tidings to his people, who,
with the strangers and visitors at his court, thronged around
him with their congratulations, and Cuchulainn among the rest.
The king led the way to the customary ablutions before their
feast, in which he was followed by his household and visitors,
several of whom were boasting of having been the actual
rescuers of the princess ; but when it came to CuchulainrCs turn
to bare his arms, she immediately identified him as her deli-
verer, from his having the strip of her dress wrapped round his
ann. An explanation followed, and the king, with the yoimg
lady s full consent, made an offer of her and ner fortime to her
dehverer. This Cuchulainn^ however, declined to accept at the
time ; and, bidding farewell soon afterwards to his friends on the
Island of Rechrainn^ he returned to Emania, where he was joy-
fully received by kingConor and the knights of the Royal Branch.
Cuchulainn took but little rest after his arrival in Ulster, be-
fore he set out for the residence of his faithful lady love at Lusk ;
but Elmers father and brothers having heard of his return, and
expecting a visit from him, fortified themselves and Eimer so
strongly and closely, that for a whole year Cuchulainn failed to
obtain even a sight of her, much less an entrance to her dwel-
ling. Being driven to desperation at last, he scaled the three
circumvallations of the court, entered it, slew Elmer's three bro-
thers, killed or disabled their adherents, and took away the
la^ly herself by force, together with her waitingmaid, and as much
gold, silver, and other treasures as he could carry. Cuchulainn
forthwith transferred his treasures to his chariot, and turned his face
northwards once more ; but an alarm being raised in the country
all round, he was followed by numbers of armed men, so that he
was compelled repeatedly to wheel round and give them combat.
These combats took place generally at the fords of the rivers ;
282 OF THE HISTORIC TALES.
LECT. xm. and it is remarkable that every ford from the Glonn-A Hi (or the
8° Of the ^^^^ of Great Deeds), on the river AilbhM (now the Delvin),
TocHMxRCA, to Ath-an-Lnoit (or the Ford of the Sods), on the River Boyne,
ships". Txhe took its name from that of some person slain in the course of tLese
Ei^^hy^^ combats, or from some characteristic incident connected with
cuchJainn). them. But bcsidcs these names (many, or all of which may be
easily identified) there is scarcely a hill, valley, river, rock,
mound, or cave, in the line of country from Emania (in the pre-
sent county of Armagh) to Lusk (in the county of Dublin), of
which the ancient and often varying names and history are not
to be found in this singularly curious tract. So that, if we look
upon it even but as a highly coloured historic romance, it will
be found one of the most valuable of our large collection of an-
cient compositions, on accoimt of the light which it throws not
merely on ancient social manners and on the military feats and
terms of those days, but on the meaning of so vast a number of
topographical names. And it records too, I may add, very many
curious customs and superstitions, many of which, to tms day,
characterise the native Irish people.
The only old copies of this tract with which I am acquainted
are three. One of them, an imperfect one, is in the ancient
Leabhar na h-Uidhre, in the library of the Royal Irish Academy ;
another written partly on parchment and partly on paper, in the
same library, belongs to the time of about the middle of the six-
teenth century; the third, a fine and perfect one on vellum, in
the British Museum, is in the handwriting of Gillariahhach
O'Clery, the son of Tuathal O'Clery, who died in the year 1512.
Of this copy I have made a careful transcript for my own use, free
from the contractions with which the original abounds, and more
accessible for all useful purposes than either of the old, or I may
perhaps say, than any other copies now extant.
Of several Amongst the other remarkable Tochmarca^ or Courtships,
brated^Voc^ Still preserved among our MSS., I may mention the very ancient
^oSTrt-""" Tochmarc MomSra, printed last year [1855] by the Celtic So-
ahips". ciety, with the battle of Magh Lena. It contains a singularly
interesting account of the voyage of the celebrated Eoahan Mor to
Spain in the second century, and his marriage therewith Jforn^a,
the daughter of the king of that country. The name of this
story does not occur in the list of specimens of Scel<i in the
Book of Leinster.
The Tochmarc Mheidhhhe^ which does appear in that list, is
the story of the marriage of the celebrated Meadhbh^ [or M^av],
queen of Connacht, with Ailill, prince of Leinster, at Naas ; told
in the Tain bd ChuailffnS.
OF THE HISTORIC TALES. 283
The Tochmarc Ailbhi^ also in that list, is the courtship oiFinn lect. xni.
Mac Cumhailly of the princess Ailbhe, the daughter of Cof*mac ~ ~~
Mac Airt, This lady AiWhi is said to have been the wisest othe/cei©-
woman of her time ; and Finn's courtship is described in the ^^ '^'
relation of conversations, in which there is a sort of contest of ^°°f^
abili^ and knowledge between them.
Of the many Tochmarca still preserved to us, I shall only
mention one more — the Tochmarc Begfolady or " Courtship of
the Woman of little dowry", who was sought in marriage by
Diarmaid Mac Cearbhaill^ monarch of Erinn, in the sixth cen-
tury. This piece is very ancient, though this also does not
occur in the incomplete fist in the Book of Leinster ; and it is
of remarkable value for the minute descriptions which it con-
tains of the lady's dress, and of the various gold ornaments worn
at the period.
Another class of tales is known by the name of Uatha, or 9°. or the
Caves. These are tales respecting various occurrences in caves : }^clf^'\^
sometimes the taking of a cave, when the place has been used as a
place of refuge or habitation, — and such a taking would be, in
tact, a sort of Toglmil; sometimes the narrative of some adven-
ture in a cave ; sometimes of a plunder of a cave ; and so on.
Thus the Uatli Beinni Edair ^mentioned in the Book of Lein-
ster), is the tale of the hiding of Diartnaid and Grdinne^ — the lat-
ter the intended wife of Finn Mac CumhaiU, with whom Z>tar-
maid eloped, — in a cave on Behm Etair or Edair (i.e., the hill
of Howtn). Again the Uath Chruachan, or '* Cave of Cruach-
ain\ is a very curious story of the plunder of tlie cave of
Cruachain^ part of the Story of the Tain Be^ or Bo, Aingen^
(Cow-Spoil of Aingen), in Connacht, in the time of Queen
MeadJibh and King A Hill, about the time of the Incarnation.
So the Uatfi Belaigh Conglais is the story of Cuglas, a prince of
Leinster in the first century. This prince was a distinguished
huntsman, but one day in himting, he disappeared in the cave
called since after him, Belach Conglais (now Baltinglass), and
was never heard of afterwards.
Another class consists of the Echtr ax, or Adventures. An 10^. of the
Echtra was generally a foreign expedition : it was always a per- or " aJi ''
sonal adventure of some kind. That called in the Book of Lems- ^«"*»*^'0
ter the Echtra Macha iyighini Aedha Ruaidh (or the Adventure
of Macha, the daughter of Aedh [Hugh] the red), is the story of
Queen Macha s expedition into Connacht, and her brin^g back
as prisoners the three sons of Dithorha, the events of which I have
already related to you in reference to the founding of the palace
ol" Emania by this Macha (near the present city of Armagh).
284 OF THE HISTORIC TALES.
LECT. »in. The tales of these two classes are, however, so like in their
i(p Of the P^**^ ^^^ subjects to others, of which I give you examples, that
EcHTBAi, or it is unnecessary to detain you here by any detailed specimen
tm^M'\°' of them. I shall pass on then to another and more important
division
sldaioh*!** ^^^ example of the Sluaigheadha, or Mihtary Expeditions,
KADHA, or which I wish to introduce to you, is that in which the last of the
Expfi^^ pagan kings of Erinn lost his hfe, about the year of our Lord 428.
E^SJditi^* Tms expedition was also (like many of the Irish wars of the
th Ai )*** period), a continental one, and the kmg's army appears to have
^ * passed quite across the south of France. The story is called, in
the Book of Leinster, the Sluaghid Dathi co Sliahh n-Ealpa^ or
the Expedition of Dathi to the Alpine Moimtains.
Niall of the Nine Hostages was succeeded in the monarchy
rA.D. 405) by Dathi, the son of his brother Fiachra, king of
Connacht; and was, like his uncle, a valiant and ambitious
man. It happened that, in the seventeenth year of his reign,
king Dathi was induced to go from Tara to Eos Ruaidh, the
great cataract of the River Erne (at the present Bally shannon),
to adjust some territorial dispute which had sprung up among
his relatives. The time at which this journey was undertaken
was the close of the summer, so that the kmg arrived at his
destination close upon November Eve, a season of great so-
lemnity of old among the pagan Gaedhils.
Dathi, having concluded an amicable adjustment among his
friends, and finding himself on the eve of the great festival of
Samhain, was desirous that his Druids should ascertain for him,
by their art, the incidents that were to happen him from that
time till the festival of Samhain of the next year. With this
view he commanded the presence of his Druids ; and Doghra,
the chief of them, immemately stood before him. " I wish",
said the king, " to know my destiny, and that of my country,
from this night till this night twelvemonths". ** Then", said
Doghra, " if you will send nine of your noblest chiefs with me
from this to Rath Archaill, on the bank of the river Muaidh [the
Moy], I will reveal something to them". " It shall be so", said
the king, ** and I shall be one of the number myself'.
They departed secretly from the camp, and arrived in due
time at the plain of Rath Archaill, where the Druid's altars
and idols were. DathCs queen, Ruadh, had a palace at Mul-
loch Rimidhe, in this neighbourhood, [a place still known imder
that name, in the parish of Screene, in the barony of Tireragh,
and county of Sligo]. Here the king took up his quarters for
the night, whilst the Druid repaired to Dumha na n-Dmadh (or
QF THE HISTORIC TALES. 285
the Druid's Mound), near Rath Archaill, on the south, to con- lect. xnt.
suit his art according to the request of the king. no or th
At the rising of the sun in the morning, the Druid repaired sldaioh-
to the king's bed-room, and said: " Art thou asleep, O king of Ji^St;^
Erinn and of Albain?" "I am not asleep", answered the 5^J?*'^„j^
monarch, " but why have you made an addition to my titles ? Kxpeditium
for, although I have taken the sovereignty of Erinn, I have SieAipt).
not yet obtained that of Albain [Scotland]". " Thou shalt
not be long so", said the Druid, " for I have consulted the
clouds of the men of Erinn, and foimd that thou wilt soon
return to Tara, where thou wilt invite all the provincial kings,
and the chiefs of Erinn, to the great feast of Tara, and there
thou shalt decide with them upon making an expedition into
Albain, Britain, and France, following the conquering footsteps
of thy great uncle, Niall, and thy grandunclc, Crimhthann
Mor^. The king, delighted with this favourable prediction,
returned to his camp, where he related what had nappened,
and disclosed his desire for foreign conquests to such of the
great men of the nation as happened to be of his train at the
time. His designs were approved of, and the nobles were dis-
missed to their respective homes, after having cordially pro-
mised to attend on the king at Tara, with all their forces,
whenever he should summon them, to discuss farther the great
project which now wholly seized on his attention.
Daihi returned home, stopping for a short period at the
ancient palace of Criiachaiji, in Roscommon. From this place
he proceeded across the Shannon, and then delayed for some
time at the ancient palace of Freamhamn, [a name still preserved
in that of the hill of Frewin, in the present parish of Port-
Loman, in the county of Westmcath].
The tale goes on to tell, at this place, an anecdote, having
reference to the raith or building where the party then were,
which is so interesting in itself, and as an example of the kind
of information with which these tracts abound, that I may so
far digress as to state it to you.
In the course of the evening, when the fatigues of the journey
were forgotten in the enjoyment of the cup and the cheerful-
ness of conversation, the ting asked his Druid, Finnchaemh,
who it was that built the noble and royal court in which they
were then enjoying themselves. The Druid answered, that it
had been built by Eochaidh Aireamh [Monarch of Erinn,
about a century before the Christian era]. He then narrated
to Daihi how that monarch called on the men of Erinn to build
him a suitable residence, which should descend to his own
family independently of the palace of Tara, which always
286 OF THE HISTORIC TALES.
MCT. xifi. descended by law to tlie reigning monarch. Tlie men of
no Of the ^™^ cheerfully consented, and, dividing themselves into seven
sluaioh- divisions, they soon built the great rath and the palace within
'^MnitorJ it. The ground upon which the palace was built was the pro-
tfJS?/"(The P^^y ^^ ^^ ^^^^ ^^^ ^f Teablitha (or Teffia); and although
Expedition they formed one of the seven parties who contributed to its
tbeAipe). crection, the monarch had not asked their consent for the site.
This intrusion was so keenly felt by the Feara Citl, and their
king, Mormael, that, at the following feast of S(imJiain^ or No-
vember Eve, when invited by the monarch to the solemnity of
the great festival, Ma^lmar attended with forty men in chaiiots,
who, in the confusion of the night, murdered king Eochaidh,
unperceived by his people, and escaped themselves. Th^
king's death was not oiscovered till the following morning, and
the Feara Cul were the first to charge the murder on the secret
agency of the T^iatha Di Danann^ by the hand of Slo(/mall, of
Sidh Neannia (in the present county of Roscommon).
So far the Druid's history of the building otFreamJiainn, and
the death of the Monarch Eochaidh Airimh. The Feara Cul,
however, did not escape detection ; their crime was quickly dis-
covered, and, in fact, m order to escape the punishment which
awaited them, they fled over the Shannon into Connacht, and
settled on the boraers of Ghdway and Roscommon. Here the
tribe remained for nearly three hundred years, until the return of
Cormac Mac Art from his exile in Connaoht, in the year of our
Lord 225, to assume the monarchy, when he invited the i^mm Cul
to accompany him as liis body-guard. This service they accord-
ingly pertbnned, and on Cormac's ascending his father's thronii
he gave them a territory north of Tara, nearly coextensive with
the present barony of Kclls. And I may observe that since this
settlement of the claim by Cormac, they have been always
known in Irish history as the Feaisi Cul Breach, or the Feara
Cul of * Bregia', a territory comprised in the modem county of
East Meath. (This designation seems to have been intended to
distinguish their territory from the oririnal one, called that of
the Feara Cul of Teabhtha or Teffia, which is in West Meath — a
distinction not hitherto accoimted for by modem writers. — H.
2. 16. Col. 888. T.C.D.)
Let us, however, return to the story of king Dathi himself On
leaving Freamhainn, Dathi came to Ros-iia-Righ^ the residence of
his mother, which was situated north-east of Tara, on the bank of
the Boyne. Here he remained for some time, and at last returned
to Tara, at which place he had, meanwhile, invited the states of
the nation to meet him at the approaching feast oiBelltaine (one
of the great pagan festivab of ancient Ennn) on May Day.
OF THE HISTORIC TALES. 287
The feast of Tara this yeai was solemnized on a scale of splen- lect. xin.
dour never before equalled. The fires of TailUen [now called j^o ^^^^
Telltown, to the north of Tara] were lighted, and the sports, sldaioh-
games, and ceremonies, for wmch that ancient place is cele- ""Sutiry
brated, were conducted with unusual magnificence and solemnity. 5jJJ?*"(The
These games and ceremonies are said to have been instituted ^/RjJUf®"
more than a thousand years previously, by Lug^ the king of the the Alps).
Tuatha D^. Danann^ in honour of TailltS, the daughter of
the kiiig of ^ain, and wife of EochaidJi Mac EirCj the last king
of the Firbolg colony, who was slain in the firet great battle of
Magh Tuireadh. It was at her court that Ltig had been fos-
tered, and on her death he had her buried at this place, where
he rwsed an immense mound over her grave, and instituted
those annual games in her honour. These games were solem-
nized about the first day in August, and tliey continued to be ob-
served so long as down to the ninth century.
After the religious solemnities were concluded, Dathi, having
now discharged his duties to his gods and to his subjects, tumea
his thoughts to his contemplated expedition ; and at a conference
with all the great chiefs and leaders of the nation, found them all
ready to support him. Accordingly, without further delay, he
concluded ms preparations, and leavmg Tara in the charge of one
of liis cousins, ne marched to DundeaJgan (the present Dundalk),
where his fleet was ready for sea, at the head of the most power-
ful army that had ever, up to that time, been known to leave
Erinn. He did not, however, embark at Dundalk, but order-
ing his fleet to meet him at Cuan Snamha Aighnech (now Car-
lingford), he marched to luhhar Chinntrachta (now Newry),
and from that to Oirear Caoin, On his way to the latter place
it appears he passed by Magh BlU (now Moville), and only at
a short distance, (so that Oirear-Caoin may probably have been
the ancient name of the place now called Donaghaaee.) Here
his fleet awaited him, and having embarked all his troops, he set
sail for Scotland, which he reached safely at Port Patnck.
Immediately upon his landing, Dathi sent his Druid to Fere-
dach Finn, king of Scotland, who was then at his palace of Tuir-
rin I/righe na Righ, calling on him for submission and tribute,
or an immediate reason to the contrary on the field of battle.
The Scottish king refused either submission or tribute, and ac-
cepted the challenge of battle, but required a few days to pro-
pare for so unexpected an event.
The time for battle at last arrived; both armies marched
to Magh an Chairthi (the plain of the Pillar Stone), in
Glenn Feadha (the woody gien) ; Dathi at the head of his
Gaedhils, and Feredach leading a large force composed of
288 OF THE HISTORIC TALKS.
LECT. xm. native Scots, Picts, Britons, French, Scandinavians, and Hebri-
iio. Of the ^®^^ Islanders.
sldaioh- a fierce and destructive fight ensued between the two parties,
"Miutary in which the Scottish forces were at length overthrown and
ttoM^'cThe routed with great slaughter. When the Scottish king saw the
o^StuMtS ^^^^^ of ^ ^^ *^^ ^^^ discomfiture of his army, he threw Jiim-
the Aipa). self headlong on the ranks of his enemies, dealing death and de-
struction all round him : but in the height of his fury he was
laid hold of by Conall Gulban [the great ancestor of Saint
Colum Cille and of the O'Dormells of Donnegall], who, taking
him up in his arms, hurled him against the pillar stone and
dashed out his brains. The scene of this battle has continued
ever since to be called Gort an Chairthi^ the Pillarstone Field ;
and the glenn, Glenn an Chatham or Battle Glen.
Daihi having now realized the object of his ambition, set
up a surviving son of the late king on the throne of Scotland,
and receiving hostages and formal public submission from him,
he passed onwards mto Britain and France, in both of which
countries he still received hostages and submission, wherever he
proceeded on his march. He continued his progress, but with
what object does not appear, even to the foot of the Alps, where
he was at last killed, in the midst of his glory, by a flash of
lightning.
The body of this great king was afterwards cai-ried home
by his people, and he was buried with his fathers in the ancient
pagan cemetery at Raith Cruachain^ in Connacht, as related in
a very old poem by Tama Eigeas. At this place his grave was
still distinguished by the Coirthe Dearg^ the Red Pillar Stone,
down to the year 165t), when Dubhaltach Mac Firbuigh wrote
his first great Book of Grenealogies.
There are two copies of the present tract in Dublin, one in
the Royal Irish Academy, and the other in my own collection,
both on paper, and neither of them older than the year 1760;
^ and although the tract has so far suSered at the hands of
ignorant transcribers, as to be much corrupted in style and lan-
guage, still I have found in it many genuine illustrations of
ancient manners, customs, and ceremonies, to wliich other very
ancient and better preserved pieces contain but allusions more
or less obscure.
120. Of the The next and last class of the Historic Tales, of which I
"E^xpidJ^ °' shall give you an example at any length, is that of the Imramha,
SS?" ** oTie ^^ Expeditions by Sea, which, as I have already explained to
E*pcdiuon you, are to be distinguished from the Longeas^ in so far as the
owacorra). Imramli was a navigation undertaken voluntarily, and generally
OF THE HISTOBIC TALES. 289
in searcli of something, while the hongeas was a voyage entered l»ct. xm.
upon involuntarily, as in the case of banishment or escape from j^o or the
pursuit. You have had a specimen of the hongeas in the story imramka, or
oiLabhraidh Loingseach, The example of an Imramh which I tiwi?by*"
have selected is a story of a much later period, in the Christian SpediS?
times — namely, about the sixth century; so that it is the last in ^S^^^SjlJJ.
the chronological order of my examples. It is the Imramh Ua° ^
Corra, or the Navigation (or Expedition) of the sons of Ua
Corra into the Atlwitic Ocean-
Of this class of our ancient tales, the nimiber that have come
down to us is but small, but they are very ancient ; and though
indefinite in their results, and burdened with much matter of a
poetic or other romantic character, still there can be no rational
doubt that they are fi>xmded on facts, the recital of which, in the
original form, would have been probably found singularly valu-
able, though, in the lapse of ages, and after passmg through
the hands of story-tellers, whose minds were full of imagination,
these tales lost, in a great measure, their original simphcity and
truthful character, and became more and more fanciml and ex*
travagant
That such tales as these were numerous in the ancient history
of Erinn may be very clearly seen from the Litany of Aengus
Ceile Di^ where several of them are mentioned. At present, I
know of but four such pieces remaining in our ancient manu-
scripts, of all of which, however, we have copies of considerable
antiquity and detail. These are the Navigation of Saint Bren-
dan ; the Navigation of the sons of Ua Corra; the Navigation
of Snedgus and Mac Biaghla; and the Navigation of Maelduin.
(One of these pieces, the Navigation of Somt Brendan, has
been introduced to the world in full detail, and in beautiful
verse, by my distinguished friend, our Professor of Poetry,
Denis Florence MacCarthy, in the Dublin University Maga-
zine for January^ 1848).
Saint Brendan's voyages, for he made two, were performed
about the year 500; the voyage of the sons of Ua Corra,
about the year 540 ; the voyage of Snedgus and Mae Riaghla
(two priests of the island of lona), about the middle of the
seventh ; and that of Maelduin, in the eighth century. As the
early history of the sons of Ua Corra, and the cause of their
wanderings at sea, are more circumstantial and curious (though
their story, too, is tinged with a little of the fabulous)- th^n
any of the rest, excepting Saint Brendan's, I have selected
this tale a? an example of which to give you a short sketch.
Conall Dearg Ua Corra was an opulent landholder and
farmer of the province of Connacht. He had to wife the
19
290 OF THE HISTOBIC TALES.
LECT. xin. daughter of the Atrchinnech, or lajr impropriator of the church
120 Of the ^^"^^» ^^ Cloihar; with whom he hved nappily for some years,
iMBLAMHA, OF kccping a house of hospitable entertaimnent for all visitors
tionaby* and straugcrs. Not bemg blessed with children, however,
ExpediSn* though praying ardently to the Lord for them, they became,
2d^\£?1> ^^^ particularly the husband, impatient and discontented;
' and, so far did his despair carry him, that at last he renounced
God, and persuaded his wife to join him in prayer and a three
days' fast to the Devil, to favour them witn an heir to their
large inheritance.
ft would seem that the evil spirit heard their petition, for, in
due time after, the wife brought forth three sons at one birth.
These sons grew up to be brave and able men, and, having heard
that they had been consecrated to the Devil at their birth, they re-
solved to dedicate their lives to his service. As if for that special
end, they appear to have collected a few desperate viUwns about
them, and to have commenced an indiscrimmate war of plunder
and destruction against the Christian churches of Connacht and
their priests, beginning with the church of Tuaim da Ghualann
g'uam], and not ceasing till they had pillaged or destroyed more
an half the churches of the province.
At last they determined to visit also the church of Cloihar^
to destroy it, and to kill their grandfather, the Airchinnech of
the place. When they came to the church, they found the old
man on the green in front of it, distributing with a bountiful
hand meat and drink to his tenants and to the benefactors of
the church. Seeing this, his persecutors altered their plans,
and put off the execution of their murderous purpose till the
more favourable time of night.
The grandfather, though suspecting their evil design, received
them with kindness, and assigned them a comfortable resting-
place ; and, after having fared heartily, they retired to bed, m
order to lull suspicion, at the usual time. Lochan, the eldest
of the three brothers, had, however, during his sleep, a strange
vision, which ended by seriously affecting their design. He
was shown in a dream, in vivid colours, the glories and joys of
Heaven, and the torments and horrors of Hell ; and he awoke
deeply affected by what was thus disclosed to him.
When the three brothers, then, arose at the hour of the
night appointed to execute their purpose, Lochan addressed
himself to the other two, related to them his vision, told them
of his newly-born fears, and, in fine, persuaded them that they
had been hitherto serving an evil power, and making war on a
good master. The brothers were powerfully struck with what
wey heard; and so complete was the transformation of mind
OF THE HISTORIC TALES. 291
suddenlj wrought in them by it, that at last they all agreed lect. xm.
to repair in the morning, in a spirit of sorrow and penitence,
to their grandfather, to seek his prayers and pardon, and to imbamha, or
ask his advice as to what they should do to amend their lives, ti^Vi^
and make reparation for the past. eS^SST
When the morning came, accordingly, they presented them- oftheSoM
selves before the Airchinnech, acknowledged their wicked inten- ^ •^^''»'^>
tions, and took counsel with him as to their future conduct.
The course he advised them to take, and on which they deter-
mined, was, that they should repair at once to Saint Finnen of
Clonard, who was then the great teacher, and, as it were, the
head of all the schools of divinity in Erinn, and submit them-
selves to his spiritual direction.
For this purpose they took leave of their friends, put off their
habiliments of warfare and offence, turned their spears into pil-
grims' staffs, and repaired to Clonard.
When the people of Clonard perceived them coming, being
well acquainted with their wickedness, they fled for their lives
in all directions, with the exception of Saint Finnen himself,
who went out calmly to meet them. Seeing this, they hastened
to meet the holy priest, and throwing themselves on their knees
before him, they besought his pardon and spiritual friendship.
" What do you want /'' said the priest. " We want**, said they,
" to take upon us the habit of religion and penitence, and hence-
forth to serve God'\ " Your determination is a good one", said
thepriest; '* let us come into the town where my people are".
They entered the town with him, and the saint naving taken
counsel of the people respecting the penitents, what they decided
on was, to place tnem for a year under the sole care and instruc-
tion of a certain divinity student, with whom exclusively they
were to hold any conversation during that period.
Having finished their year in this manner, in the solitary prac-
tice of religious exercises, and the study of the Christian doc-
trines, to the satisfaction and edification of their instructor and
the entire congregation, the thi*ee brothers a^in presented them-
selves before Saint Finnen, and besought nis benediction and
his penitential sentence for their former crimes.
The saint gave them his benediction, and then said : " You
cannot restore to life those innocent ecclesiastics whom you have
slain, but you can go and repair and restore, as far as it is in your
power, the many churches and other buildings which you have
desecrated and ruined^
The sons of Ua Corra at once rose up and took an affectionate
leave of Saint Finnen and his pious and learned flock ; and as
the church of Tuaim da Ghualann [Tuam] was the first that
19 b
otUaCorra).
292 OF THE HISTORIC TALES.
LECT. xni. Buffered from their wicked depredations, they determined that it
i2« Of the should be the first to receive the benefit of their altered disposi-
IMBAKHA, or tionS.
tion?^! Thither accordingly they went, and they repaired the ruined
STpediSra* church, and restorea it to its original perfection. And thus they
^^eSoM^ proceeded on, from place to place, \mtil at last they had repaired
and restored all the ruined churches but one, after which they
returned to Saint Finnen.
The saint asked them if they had finished their work. They
answered that they had repaired all the churches but one.
" Which is that ?" said Finnen. " The church of Ceann Mara'",
[Kinvara, at the head of the bay of Gralway], said they. "Alas !"
said the saint, " that was the first church which you ought to
have repaired, — the church of the holy old man, Coman of
Kinvara ; and return now", said he, " and repair every damage
that you have done in that place".
The brothers obeyed, they went back and repaired the church,
and after this, takmg coimsel with Saint Coman, they built
themselves a great curach or canoe, covered with hides, three
deep, and capable of carrying nine persons, in which they deter-
mined to go out upon a pilgrimage upon the great Atlantic
Ocean.
When their vessel was ready to be laimchcd, several persons
besought permission to accompany them ; and among others, a
bishop, a priest, and a deacon, as well as the man who built the
canoe, and also (the story tells us) a certain musician. These
five they received of the party.
With this company then the three sons of Ua Corra went
out upon the waters in the Bay of Gralway ; and after having
cleared the islands and headlands of the bay, deeming it useless
to attempt to steer their course in any particular direction, they
drew their oars on board, and committed themselves passively
to the mercy of the waves and the direction of God.
The adventurers were driven by the wind from the land into
the solitudes of the great Atlantic Ocean ; and the story goes on
to describe how, after forty days and forty nights, they came to
an island which was full of people, all of whom were moaning and
lamenting. One of the wanderers went on shore for the pur-
pose of learning the name of the island and the character of its
inhabitants, but no sooner had he joined these strange people,
than he too began to moan and lament like the rest ; and this
induced his companions to depart without him.
After this the tale becomes altogether wild and fabulous, al-
ways, however, tending to a certain moral conclusion. The
wanderers pass occasionally into the region of spirits, and are
OF THE HISTORIC TALES. 293
brought Into contact with the living and the dead ; and the in- lkct. xin.
cidents of their voyage are made to tell, negatively, on some of
the immoralities and irregularities of Christian life. On one is- iMRAiiHA,*or
land, for instance, they found a solitary ecclesiastic, who told tiSJby*
them that he had been expelled from the community to which 5^"- .<?^«
111 to i-^i* • 11 *^ 1 Expedition
he belonged tor neglecting his matins ; that he set out on the of the sons
sea in a boat, and so was cast ashore on this island alone. On ^^* ^''>'^)-
another island they found a man digging with a spade, the
handle of wliich was on fire ; and on asking him the cause of so
strange a circumstance, he told them that when on earth he was
accustomed to dig on Sundays; and this was the punishment
awarded to him. On another island they found a burly miller
feeding his mill with all the perishable things of which people
are so choice and niggardly m this world. On another they
found a man riding a horse of fire, who told them that he
liad taken his brother's horse, and ridden it on a Sunday. An-
other island they found peopled with smiths, and artificers in
the precious metals, and men of every trade, all shrieking and
moaning under the incessant attacks of huge black birds, which
tore the flesh from their bones with their bills and talons ; and
they learned that these people were thus made to suffer for all
the falsehoods and frauds which they had been guilty of in this
world.
At length the voyagers approached a land which they learned
from some fishermen on its coast was Spain. Here they landed,
and the bishop built a church, which, however, he soon after-
wards resigned to the priest, and went on himself to Rome, ac-
companied by a certain youth, who was one of the wandering
party. This bishop subsequently returned to Erinn from Rome,
accompanied by tne same youth, who is said to have related
the whole adventure, under the bishop's correction, to Bishop
Saerhhreatliach [a name Latinized Justinus, and now called
Justin] ; Bishop Justin related it to Saint Colman, of Arann
Island ; and upon tliis relation Saint Mocholmdg wrote the poem
[see original in Appendix, No. XCI.], which begins; —
The Ua Corraa of Cormacht,
Undismayed by mountain waves,
Over the profound howling ocean,
Sought the lands of the marvellous.
From the conclusion of this tale we may fairly infer that its
composition belonged originally to the great island of Arann,
on the coast of the county of Clare, and in the bay of Gralway ;
and, although the narrative, in the latter part of it, is wild and
fabulous, there is little doubt that this and many similar voy-
294 OF THE HISTORIC TALES.
LBCT. ami, ages were actually undertaken by several parties of Cliristiari
12*' Of the pilgrims* in the early ages of the Church in Ireland. And this
iNiuMHA, or fact, as I have already stated, is fully borne out by the Litany
tiof2i^*' of Aengus CeiU Di^ written about the year 780 (of which more
llpeditSr ^^ ^ future occasion), in which he invokes the intercession of
of thesoM the sons of TJa Corra and of their company, as well as of
several other companies of pilgnm navigators.
At the time of the delivery of this lecture I was acquainted
but with two copies of this curious tract, both on paper, one in
the Royal Irish Academy, and the other in my own possession.
Since then, however, a copy of it, somewhat damaged indeed,
but full and valuable, has come under my observation ; one,
namely, which is preserved in the old vellum " Book of Fer-
moy", before referred to as having been purchased by the Rev.
Dr. Todd, at the sale of the books of the late William Monk
Mason, in London, in 1858. The copy in my possession ap-
pears to have been transcribed from the same original.
Of the re- The Other divisions of the Tales mentioned by the early
daweaof the wntcrs, 1 need not stay to enlarge on.
HwTOiuc Q£ ^j^^ Fessa (Feasts or Banquets), we have a great number,
some of which I shall have presently to allude to in connexion
with the Fenian and purely imaginative tales.
The Aithidhi were Elopements. Of these an excellent ex-
ample is within the reach of all of you, in the celebrated story
of Beirdri and the Sons of Uimeach^ an edition of which
(with a translation) was published here in 1808, by the Gallic
Society of Dublin, of wnich copies may still be easily pro-
cured. This was the tract named in the Book of Leinster as
the Aiihid Dheirdri re Macaibh Uisnigh (the Elopement of
Deirdr6 with the sons of UisneacK).
The Serca, or Loves, were love-stories, such as that eventful
story of Queen Garmlaith, the principal part of which I had
occasion to describe to you in a former lecture.
The Tomhadhma were the stories of the bursting out of
Lakes, and the irruptions of the Sea, and the consequences of
the inundations caused by them. Thus the Tomhaidhm Locha
n-JEchach, or Bursting out of Loch Ncagh, is the account of
the irruption which first formed that great loch, about the
second century; in which irruption Eochaidh Mac Mairkla^
the son of the king of Fcrmoy, in Munster, was drowned with
his people. It is from liim that Loch Neagh takes its name :
Loch n-Echach, the Lake of Eochaidh.
The Tochomladh was an Immigration or arrival of a Colony ;
and under this name the coming of the several colonies of Par-
OF THE HISTORIC TALES. 295
thalofiy of Nemedh, of the Firbolp, the Tuatha Di Danann, the lect. xiii.
Milesians, etc., into Erinn, are all described in separate tales. It of there-
is probably from the original records of these ancient stories that maining
the early part of the various Books of Invasions has been com- hJotSwo"**
piled. _ T^^
Lastly, the Fis, or Visions, were stories of prophecies declared
in the form of visions seen by various personj^es. Of the more
remarkable prophecies, as they are called, I shall soon have oc-
casion to speak to you at greater length.
I believe I have now laid before you a somewhat intelligible
though very short sketch of what the student of history may ex-
pect to find in the various classes of the Historic Tales of the
OUamhs and Poets of Erinn. Their value and bearing upon
our history I have already attempted to indicate, and I hope
even the slight descriptions my space allowed me to give of
these compositions, have been sufficient to prove to you their
importance.
LECTURE XIV
CDettrcrcd Joljr 7, 18MJ
Of the ancient Imaginative Tales and Poems; and of the use to be made
of them in serious historical inyestigation. Of the Fenian Poems and
Tales. Of the compositions of Omn (Os8ian\ Of Fergus. Of Caeiit^,
The ** Dialogue of the Ancient Men'*. Description of the dwelling of Crede,
the beautiful daughter of Cairbri, King of Kerry. The Story of the ** Pursuit
of Diarmaid and Orainni\ The Story of the " Battle of Ventiy Harbour".
The present course of Lectures has been confined, as you are
aware, to the subject of the materials of positive history to be
found amonff existing ancient Irish MSS. Other remains of
our ancient literature have also come down to us, and in very
considerable quantity — ^literature, namely, of a purely imagina-
tive character ; and with the compositions of this class we nave
at present but little to do, though at a future period I hope to
liave an opgagunity of making you acquainted with their con-
tents. Efv4«fai ancient writmgs of pure fiction, however.
little as at fim sight you may suspect their importance to the
student of mere history, much will be found of very great
value in any inquiries into the life and institutions of our an-
<*<5stor8 in those remote ages. And as the true history of
ancient Erinn can never be written or understood, without an
accurate acquaintance with that life, as well as with those insti-
tutions, it has appeared to me, that the sketch I have been en-
deavouring to lay before you of the materials of our liistory
would be incomplete, were I to omit to call your attention to
the uses which may be made even of the most fancifiil tales of
Ce ima^nation which are to be found in the ancient Gaedhlic
ks. It is of this subject, then, that I propose to treat,
though very shortly indeed, in the present Lecture.
In the composition even of the wildest tales, you will almost
always find that the imagery and incidents made use of by the
author are drawn from the life and scenes actually passing
around him, or else fjrom those which he has learned from
minute and vivid descriptions, handed down to him from earlier
times in his own language. This is indeed almost a necessary
condition of every novehst^s success ; equally so whether he be
the story-teller of the Arabian desert, the Seanchaidhi of ancient
OF THE IMAGINATIVE TALES AND POEMS. 297
Erinn, or a modem Ghwjclhel, writing in the nineteenth century lect.xiv.
in the English language, such as Gerald GriflSn or Sir Walter ^ ^^^ ^^^^^
Scott. But the farther back the author we examine has flou- Hcai use to
rished, the more likely will it be that his short and simple SeiliGiKA-
poem or tale should have been framed out of materials actually ][2>"^*i2
present to his eye, or existing within his knowledge in the so-
ciety in which he lived. Whatever be the names, the deeds,
the sufferings, of his heroes and heroines, — and even though the
romantic visions of fairyland may be called in to add wonders
to the adventures narrated, — still the mere details of life, the
customs and action of society (without which no story can be
made to move along), must be drawn by the author from the
manners and institutions existing around him, or, at farthest,
from those with which he has been familiarized by his fathers
immediately preceding him, and which still live in the popular
memories of his time. J£ this were not so, the poet's hearers
would not imderstand him, the story-teller's tale would create
no interest among his audience. And so it is that, even in
these purely imaginative fictions, we may expect to find (and
examination proves that we do find) abundance of minute and
copious information upon those little details of ordinary life, —
upon the buildings, upon the interiors of the homes, upon the
dresses, the food, the etiquette and courteous forms, and the
mode of sjkjccIi, of our remote ancestors, — ^which no liistorical
records can give, but without which no liistorical records can
be made to supply us with the true life and meaning of history.
So fur, therefore, as these necessary details are concerned, we
must count great part of even the purely imaginative literature
of ancient Erinn as containing much diat claims a place among
the materials of history.
Of the serious use which may in this manner be made of
genuine national compositions, though of the class of mere
fiction, a remarkable example occurs to me, which may explain
the \'iew that I take of this subject, better, perhaps, than any
lengthened argument. You are all probably familiar with the
celebrated Eastern tales, commonly called those of the " Arabian
Niffhts". It is scarcely possible to conceive any stories more
entirely based on and even made up of fiction, and that fiction
so purely imaginative, so almost exclusively conversant with
the impossible, as to present very little indeed soberly capable
of belief at all. And yet these stories, necessarily embracing
as they do a vast amoimt of description and allusions con-
nected with Arab life and manners, — these stories have been
made the occasion and foundation of, perhaps, the most solid
and valuable work on Eastern life in the English language.
298 OF THE IMAGINATIVE TALES AND POEMS.
LKCT.xiv. I allude of course to the large (noted) edition of the "Arabian
Of the hiito- N%^^" published by Mr. Lane, the well-known Eastern tra-
ric»i QM to veUer. Now it is precisely in the same way that similar tales
theilloiKA- of ancient Erinn would be found most valuable as illustrating
Iiaf potS. ancient Gaedhlic life, if we were fortunate enough to possess so
great a body of the earlier works of this class m proper pre-
servation, or even of reliable copies of such works.
Of those wliich we do possess, many contain somewhat more
of truth than the Arabian Nights, because the personages intro-
duced are often historical. Many, however, being meagre in
extent, and little conversant with details of life, will be found
to suggest little of importance to the student of mere history ;
and these I shall therefore entirely pass over here. The re-
mainder, however, appear to me to be of so much importance,
in the manner and for the reasons I have shortly attempted to
explain, that I feel bound to assert that, without a careful exa-
mination of their contents, no one, in the present state of know-
ledge, can attain an adequate acquaintance with early Irish life,
much less presume to address himself to the task of contributing
to what may become a satisfactory history of Erinn.
But, besides so much valuable information upon life and man-
ners, as almost all the class of writings contain of which I am
now speaking, there are some other points also upon which the
imaginative tales in the ancient G^dhlic embrace matter of
solid importance and authority. They frequently embody or
allude to historic traditions, believed or partly believed in the
time of the authors, and sometimes in the very statement of
them supplying links wanting in the chain of history, in the
allusions and references made in them to more serious works
now lost. Every such tradition must, of course, have had some
foimdation ; and every such tradition, when found in any writ-
ing of great age, deserves, and ought to command, diligent atten-
tion at least, and careful inquiry. Very many of the Imagina-
tive Tales, again, contain the most valuable records as to places ;
often describing to us minutely the situation of cities, forts,
graves, etc., well known in historv, but whose topography could
not otherwise be made out. And many a blank has been filled
up, and many a mistake has been corrected, by the informa-
tion respecting localities and the derivation oi their names,
found in this class of our literature.
Without enlarging further, then, upon tiiis subject, I think I
have now said enough to explain to you why it is that in treating
of the manuscript materials of ancient Irish history, I could not
altogether pass over the Imaginative Tales found among our
mcient Graedhlic MSS., at least that class of them in which are
OF THE IMAGINATIVE TALES AKB POEMS. 299
to be found those descriptions of information to which I have lect xiv.
referred.
The purely imaginative literature of the ancient Graedhils, oftheeariier
still existing m the MSS. which have been handed down to us SiatTve
in safety, may be divided into distinct classes, some of which fSJIh^*
are compositions yet more ancient than the others. The earliest ^^^^
of all — if we regard merely the authors to whom they are attri-
buted— are the poems or metrical tales called the Feman Poems,
many of which are attributed to Oisin and Fergus, the sons of
the celebrated Finn Mac CumJiailly some of them to Finn him-
self, and some to his cousin CaeiltS. After these may be placed
the prose recitals, probably foimded on similar poems now lost,
but probably also themselves compositions of as early a date : I
mean those stories commonly called Fenian Tales. Finally,
after the Fenian Poems and Tales, in point of date, we find a
great number of romantic legends and tales, both in prose and
verse, many of which were certainly composed at a very remote
period, but of which the various dates of composition extend
down almost to our own times. And it is withm my own me-
mory that in Clare, and throughout Mimster, the invention and
recital of such romantic tales continue to afford a favourite
deUght to the still Gaedhlic-speaking people.
It is obvious that, so far as concerns the historical value of
such illustrative details as I have stated to exist in this class of
literature, we may pass by at once almost all the talcs which are
known or may be believed to have been composed after the
intimate contact of the pure Gacdhil with tlie Norman and
English settlers, in whatever parts of the island such intimate
contact took place. For as soon as any portion of the people
became for a while intimate with foreign races and foreign
modes of life on their own soil, their literature, it may be sup-
j)osod, would probably become tinned with foreign ideas, and
would therefore become of little value in illustration of the life
and history of the Gaedhils. In selecting for study, then, those
of our Imaginative Tales which appear to contain valuable mat-
tor for the historian, I would pass over altogether all those of
the last three centuries in every part of the country, and all
tliose of date before that period, composed in any part of the
island in immediate contact with foreign society and manners.
Of course, in the particular case of any separate piece, care must
also be taken to investigate those circumstances upon which
ought to depend its authenticity for the purposes of our inquiry.
With these preliminary remarks, then, I proceed to offer some
observations to-day upon those portions of the imaginative lite-
300 OF THE IMAGINATIYE TALES AND POEMS.
LECT. XIV. rature of ancient Erinn which we yet possess, and from which
soUd and reliable information is to be obtained. And, in the
pLwSS, etc, examples which I shall bring under your notice, I shall select
^ibed to* from the earliest and most characteristic of these interesting com-
positions.
Several writers on Irish history have been rather puzzled
about the antiquity of the poems and legends ascribed to Oisin;
and the Rev. Charles O'Conor, in the Bibliotheca Stowensis
(vol. i. p. 165), says that,
"All the most ancient poems on the subject of Tain Bo
Chuailgniy and the wars of Cuchulainn, and on the wars of
Conn of the Hundred Battles, and of Fingal, and of Oscar, and
of Oisiriy or Ossian, are in this style of poetry. [He refers to a
specimen.] They are romances of the thirteenth and fourteenth
centuries; the few historical facts in them are gleaned from
Tighemach and from the Saltair of Cashel".
Now part of this opinion belongs to the reverend doctor him-
self, and part to his [m these matters] more learned grandfather,
Charles O'Conor of Belanagar, who, in his observations on Mr.
Mac Pherson's dissertations and notes on the poems of " FingaF
and " Temora", speaks as follows :
'* That the poems of Fingal and Temora have no foundation in
the histonr oiTthe ancient Scots, is an idea that we are very far
from estabUshing. They are evidently founded on the ro-
mances and vulgar stories of the Fiana Eireann. The poet,
whoever he was, picked up many of the names of men and
places to be found in those tales, and invention made up the
rest. In digesting these poems into their present forms, chrono-
logy was overlooked, and the actions of diflferent ages are all
made coeval. Ossian, an ancient bard of the third century, is
pitched upon as a proper author to gain admiration for such
compositions, and the more (it should seem) as he was an illi-
terate bard".
Mr. O'Conor does not fix upon any probable date for these
Fenian poems, for two reasons : first, because he could not find
satisfactory data for doing so; and, secondly, because, as he
could not find such data, he would not do so. His learned
and reverend grandson, however, was not so fastidious ; for it
appears to have been a rule with him to dispose of everything
for which he could not find a positive date, by placing it arbi-
trarily within the period — " from the thirteenth to the sixteenth
century".
It is now too late to discuss whether Oisin was an illiter-
ate bard or not ; but the Rev. Dr. Keting, in his History of
Erinn, at the reign of Cormac Mac Art, quotes an ancient
i
OF THE IMAGINATIVE TALES AND POEMS. 301
authority, which I have not yet had the good fortune to meet, lect.xiy.
for the qualifications which it was indispensable for a man to ^^^^
possess before he could be received into the select militia, <>f ?2Si/**^
which Finn Mac Cumhaill was the last commander ; and one oufn,
of those qualifications was, that the candidate should be a poet
(that is, educated to compose regular verses), and should have
learned the twelve Booh of Poetry.
It is impossible to fix any precise, or even probable, date for
these Feman poems now ; and all that can be done, in answer
to the arbitrary statements of Dr. O'Conor and others, relative
to the date of their compositions, is to trace them back as far as
known manuscripts of ascertained dates will carry us. Of these
ancient authorities, the Book of Leinster, so often referred to in
the course of these lectures, is the oldest and most authentic.
It was compiled, as you will remember, in the early part of the
twelfth century, and, certainly, from more ancient books. Its
authority, so far, must be received as imexceptionafile ; and to it
I shall, in the first instance, refer, for the refutation of Dr.
O'Conor's arbitrary opinions on these poems. I may, however,
I think, safely assert that the style, language, and matter of
these poems will, in the opinion of any competent Irish scholar,
carry their composition several centuries farther back.
If the people of Scotland could show such poems as those to
be found in the Book of Leinster and the other books which I
shall follow, relating to Finn Mac Cumhaill and Oiain^ and
connecting them as much with Scotland as they do with this
country, then, indeed, might they stand up boldly for Mac
Phcrson's forgeries and baseless assertions; and there is little
doubt but that they would have long since presented them to
the world in print.
The ancient literary remains which have for a long time of the
passed under the names of Fenian Poems and Tales are of pJem8*^kd
four classes. talm.
The first class consists of poems ascribed directly, in ancient
transcripts, to Finn Mac Cumliaill; to his sons, Oisin and
Fergus Finnhheoill (the Eloquent) ; and to his kinsman Caeilte.
The second class consists of tracts made up of articles in prose
and verse, ascribed to some one of the same personages, but
related by a second person.
The third class consists of miscellaneous poems, descriptive
of passages in the Ufe of Finn and liis warriors, but without
any ascnption of authorship.
The fourth class consists of certain prose tales told in a ro-
mantic style relating to the exploits of the same renowned
captain, and those of his more distinguished companions.
LWJT.XIV.
302 OF THE IMAGINATIVE TALES AND POEMd.
The poems ascribed, upon any tiling like respectable authority,
to Finn Mac Cumhaill are few indeed, amounting only to five,
a^bS'to as far as I have been able to discover ; but these few are found
^JJJJJ^^ in manuscripts of considerable antiquity — namely, the Book of
Leinster, which, as I have already observed, was compiled,
chiefly from older books, in the early part of the twelfth cen-
tury ; and the Book of Lecain, compiled in the same way in
the year 14 IG.
The first of these five poems is devoted to an account of the
exploits and death of Goil Mac Moma, the great chief of the
Connacht Fenians.
This GoU had slain Finn's father, Cumhall, in the battle of
Cnuclia, near Dublin, and was in Finn's early life his mortal
enemy ; but he subsequently made peace with him and submit-
ted to his superior command. In the poem Finn gives a vivid
and rapid account of all the men of note who fell by the hands
of Golf and the Connacht warriors in all parts of Erinn, with the
names of the slain and of the places in which they fell. The
poem consists of 80 quatrains, and begins thus [see original in
Appendix, No. XCIL] : —
" The grave of Goll in Magh Raighne".
(This Magh Raighni was an ancient plain in Ossory in Leins-
ter ; cm FinchS, or Saint Finche's church was situated m it, accor-
ding to the Festology otAengns CiiU De, or Aengus the " Cul-
dee . The poem contains a great number of topographical re-
ferences, for which it is particularly valuable.
The second is a short poem, of only five quatrains, on the ori-
gin of the name of Magh-da-Gheisiy or the Plain of the Two
Swans, also in Leinster, beginning [see original in same Appen-
dix] : —
" The stone which I was wont to throw".
The third is a shorter poem of only three quatrains, on the
ori^n of the name of Roirend, a place in Ui Failghe, or Ofialy,
beginning [see original in same Appendix] : —
"Beloved is he who came from a brave land".
These three (which belong to the ancient lost tract called the
Dinnsenchus) are found in tne Book of Leinster only : the fol-
lowing are likewise to be found there, but are also preserved in
the Book of Lecain,
A poem of seventeen quatrains, descriptive of Ros-Broc
gladger-Wood], the place which is now Teach Moling [Saint
ullen's], on tne brink of the Kiver Bearblia [or Barrow], in
OF THB IMAGINATIVE TALES AND POEMS. 303
the present county of Carlow. It begins [see original in same lect.xiv.
Appendix]:— -aePoem.
ascribed to
^^RosS'Broc tliis day is the resort of warriors". Finn Mac
*^ ^ CwnhaUk
In this poem (the authenticity of which as Finn s, there is
abundant reason to question), Finn is made to prophesy the
coming of Saint Patrick into Ireland to propagate the truths of
Christianity, and the future sanctity otRos-Broc when it should
become the peaceful abode of Saint Moling and his monks.
Another poem is on the tragical death of Fitkir and Darini^
the two daughters of the monarch Tuathal lechtmar, whose
imtimely end was produced by the treachery of Eochaidh An-
chean^ King of Leinster. This poem begins [see original in
same Appendix] : —
"Fearful the deed which has been done here".
So far the Book of Leinster: but the Book otLecain contains,
in addition, two other poems ascribed to Finn. One of these
is taken from the tract m the Dinnsenchus, on the origin of the
name of a place called Druim Dean, in Leinster. This was a
hill upon which Finn had a mansion. Finn went on an expe-
dition into Connacht, during which he defeated the chieftain
Uinchi in battle at Ceann Mara [now called Kinvara], on the
Bay of Gralway. Utnche^ with twenty-one of his party, escaped
from the battle, and came directly to Finn's mansion at Druim
Drean^ which he succeeded in totally destroying. Finn soon
returned home, but finding his residence destroyed and several
of his people killed, he went with his son Oisin and his cousin
Caeilte in pursuit of the enemy, whom he overtook and slew at
a ford called ever since Ath Uinchi^ or UinchS's Ford. On
Finn's return from this last achievement, he addressed this poem
to the hill on which stood liis desolate home [see origiril in
same Appendix]': —
" Desolate is your mansion, O Druim DearC.
Of some poems, prophecies, and sayings ascribed in other
manuscripts to Finn Mac Cumhaill^ the space I have allotted
me will not allow me to speak in detail ; but I may, however,
take occasion to assure you that it is quite a mistake to suppose
Finn Mac Cumhaill to have been a merely imaginary or mythi-
cal character. Much that has been narrated of his exploits is,
no doubt, apocryphal enough; but Finn himself is an un-
doubtedly liistorical personage ; and that he existed about the
time at which his appearance is recorded in the annals, is as
certain as that Julius Caesar lived and ruled at the time stated
304
OF THE IMAGINATIYB TALES AND POEMS.
The Poems
aeeribed to
linn Mae
CumkaiU.
OtOMn^ot
"OMlan".
LBCT. XIV. on the authority of the Roman historians. I may add here,
that the pedigree of Finn is fully recorded on the unquestion-
able authority of the Book of Leinster, in which he is set
down as the son of Cumhall, who was the son of Trenm&r^ son
of Snaelty son of Eltan, son of Baiscni, son of Nuada Necht,
who was of the Heremonian race, and monarch of Erinn
about A.M. 5090, according to the chronoloj^y of the Four
Masters, that is, 110 years before Christ. Finn himself was
slain, according to the Annals of the Four Masters, in Anno
•Domini 283, in the reign of Cairbri lAfeachair.
OUin (a word which signifies literally the "little fawn"), the
son of Finn Mac Cumhailly has within the last hundred years
attracted much attention among the most learned men of
Europe. Mr. James Mac Pherson, a Scottish gentleman, gave
to the world, as you are all doubtless aware, about the year
1760, a highly poetic translation of what he pretended to be
some ancient genuine compositions of Oisin, It is no part of
the purpose of this Lecture to review the long and teamed
controversy which followed the publication of these very clever
imitations of what was then, and for a long time afterwards,
believed to be the genuine style of Oisin' 8 poetry ; but I can-
not omit to observe, that of all Mac Pherson's translations, in
no single instance has a genuine Scottish original been found,
and that none will ever be found I am very certain.
The only poems of Oisin with which I am acquainted, that
can be positively traced back so far as the twelfth century, are
two, which are found in the Book of Leinster. One of diese
(consisting, indeed, but of seven quatrains) is valuable as a
record of the great battle of Gabhra, which was fought in a.d.
284, and in which Oscar, the brave son of Oisin, and CairbrS
Lifeachair, the monarch of Erinn, fell by each others hands.
There are two specially important facts preserved in this poem,
which, whether it be tlie composition of Oisin or not, is, at all
events, one of very ancient date; namely, the fact, that the
monarch Cairbre fought on horseback, and that the poet, who-
ever he may be, refers to an Ogham inscription on Oscar s
tombstone.
A perfect and very accurate copy of this poem was published
in the year 1854, by a society which, adopting the Scottish in-
stead of the proper Irish form, calls itself the "Ossianic Society''.
The second poem of Oisin, preserved in the Book of Lem-
ster, is of much greater extent than the first, as it consists of
fifty-four quatrains, and it is equally, if not more, valuable in
its contents.
Oisin, at the time of writing this poem, appears to have
The Poems
•acribed to
OMn.
OF THE IMAGmATIYE TALES AND POEMS. 305
been blind, and to have been popularly known by the name of i^ect.xiv.
Cruaire Dally that is, GuairS "the blind". ^^ ^^^
The occasion of the poem appears to have been the holding oacribed to
of the great fair and fetival games of the Lif^, or Liflfcy, ^^**
which probably were held on the Cuirrech lAf^ (now known
as the Curragh of KildareV These games and fairs were of
frequent occurrence in ancient Erinn, down even to the tenth
century ; and among tlie sports on such occasions, horse racing
appears always to have held a prominent place.
The poet begins by stating that the king has inaugurated the
fair; speaks of the happiness of those who can attend it, and
contrasts their condition with his own, as being incapable, from
old age and blindness, to participate as he had been accustomed
to do in these exciting sports. He then gives a vivid accoimt
of a visit which, in his more youthful days, he had made, along
with his father, Finn, and a small band of the Fenian warriors,
to the court of Fiacha MuiUeathan^ King of Munster, at Bada-
mar (near the present town of Cahir in Tipperary) ; and of the
races of Oenach Clochadr [now Manister, near Croom, in the
county of Limerick], which the king had celebrated on the
occasion of Finn's visit. The winning horse at the course was
a black steed, belonging to Dill, the son of Dachreca, who was
the kings tutor. The king purchased the steed from his old
tutor on the spot, and made a present of it to Finn. Finn and
liis party then took tlicir leave, and passed into the district
comprised by the present county of Kerry, on to the sandy
strand of Beramain [near Tralee]. Here Finn challenged his
son, Oisiiiy and his cousin, Caetlte^ to try the speed of their
choice horses with his black steed on the sandy strand. Tift
race is won by Finn ; but, in place of taking rest after it, he
strikes into the country southward, followed by his two com-
panions, and they proceed without resting until night comes
on, when thev find themselves at the foot of the hill of Bair-
neck [near KiUamey]. Here niglit overtook them, and although
they were well acquainted with the locality, and had never
known or seen a house there before, they saw one now, which
they entered without ceremony. This, however, was, it seems,
no other than an enchanted house, prepared by some of Finn's
necromantic enemies, in order to frighten and punish him for
the death of some friends of theirs by his hands. The wild
horrors of the night in such a place need not here be related;
nor shall I delay over details of more solid interest in the story,
such as the various incidents of Finn's visit to Munster on this
occasion, and the very curious topographical notices of his pro-
gress. For all these things I must rlfer you to the poem itself.
20
306
OF THE IMAGIKATIYS ^ALES AND POEMS.
The Poems
ascribed to
fifmbke&O,
LECT.xiv. This, however, is not very difiBcult of study ; and vou will
The Poems S^ somc assistancc from a free metrical translation of it, made
awsribed to by OUT distinguished countrjrman, Dr. Anster, which was pub-
^^**^ lished in the Dublin University Magazine for March and
April, 1852.
The next of the Fenian poets is Fergus Finnbheoil (Fergus
" the Eloquent"), son of Finn Mac Cumhaill,
Of this early bard's compositions, I have met but one ge-
nuinely ancient poem. It occurs in the lost Book of Dinnsen-
ehu8, copied into the Books of Lecain and Ballymote, and pro-
fesses to account for the name of an ancient well or spring
named Tipra Seangarmna, situated in the soutli-eastem part of
the present county of Kerry, and in which, I believe, the river
FeilS [Feale] has its source. It would appear from this poem that
the spring oi Seangarmnin issued from a cleft in a rock, or rather
from a mountain cavern. Ow/n, the brother of Fergus, with
a few followers, were, it would appear, while out hunting, in-
veigled into this cleft or cavern by some of its fairy inliabitants,
and detained there for a whole year. During all this time Oisin
was accustomed to cut a small chip from the nandle of his spear,
and cast it upon the issuing stream. Finn, his father, who had
been in search of him all the time, happening at last to come to
this stream, saw a chip floating down, took it up, and knew
immediately that it was part of Oisin's spear, and intended for a
sign. He therefore followed the stream to its source, entered
the cavern, and rescued his son and his companions. And this
is the legend which Fergus relates in the poem, (Book of Bally-
mote, fol. 202, a. a.) which consists of thirty-three quatrains,
ttd begins [see original in Appendix, No. XCIII.] :
" The well of Seangarmain^ with all its beauty".
wUiSdto "^^ ^^^* ^^^ ^* ^^ ^® ancient Fenian bards is CaeilU
CasiM Mae Moc Rouain^ the cousin of Finn, and one of his officers, the most
^*^*"*^ distinguished both as warrior and poet, but chiefly distinguished
above all the rest in legendary record by his singular agihty and
swiftness of foot
Of CaeiUe's poems I find but one among our more ancient
tracts, and this was in the Dinnsenchus, in which it is quoted as
supplying an account of the origin of the name Tonn Chliodhna
[or Wave of Chliodhna], wjiich was the ancient name of a strand
and the waves that broke over it, situated in or near the bay of
Chch-na-CoilltS [ClonakiltyJ, on the coast of the county of Cork.
Tills poem, like the last, is found in the Books of Ballymote
and Lecain^ and is said to have been sung by the author for
Saint Patrick* It is nolt legend of Finn or nis people, but a
OF THE IMAGINATIVE TALES AND POEMS. 307
love story, the heroine in which (Cliodhna, a foreign lady) was arctjhv.
unfortunately drowned on this shore, and from whose name was ^^ p^^^^
derived the appellation of the Wave of Cliodhna. The poem is ascribed to
very ancient, and begins [see original in same Appendix] : — R^n. "*
" Cliodhna the fair-haired, long to be remembered".
Having so far described to you such of these very ancient ^taativ?"
poems as I have found ascribed directly to Finn Mac Cumhaill, Taie«
his sons Oisin and Fergus Finnblieoil, and his cousin Caeilti^ I S? p'lloS*
shall now bring under your notice the second class of our SSS^p "ol?."*
ancient imaginative compositions — namely, those tracts which
were made up of articles in prose and verse, ascribed to some
one or more of the personages already mentioned, but related
by a second person.
The most important, perhaps the only genuine, tract of this
class now existing, is that which is well known as the Agallamh
na Seandrach, or Dialogue of the Ancient Men.
These " ancient men" were Oisin, the son o(Finn Mac Cumh- jJJ^^ Jfthe
at'H, and CaeilU^ the son of Cronchuj son of Ronan, popularly ^cifnt
called Caeilti Mac Ronain^ a near relative of Oisin,
These two chiefs long survived their brethren in arms, and
are even reported to have lived imtil the coming of Saint
Patrick into Erinn to preach Christianity, by wliom it is said
they were converted and baptized. So m the " Dialogue" just
referred to, then, they are made to give an account to the
Saint of the situation, the history, and origin of the names of
various hills, mountains, rivers, caverns, rocks, wells, mounds,
shores, etc., throughout Erinn, but more particularly such
places as derived their names or any celebrity from actions or
events in which Finn Mac Cumhaill, or his warriors, had been
personally engaged or in any way concerned. Of this class of
compositions we have at present existing, as I have just ob-
served, but this one tract ; and even this, as far as can be yet
ascertained, is imperfect. There is a large fragment of it pre-
served in the Book of Lismore, a vellum manuscript written
about the year 1400 ; another large fragment, on paper, in the
Royal Irish Academy [H. and S. Collection, No. 149] ; a more
Srfect, but still damaged copy in the Bodleian Library at
xford FRawlinson, 487] ; andf, as far as I am able to judge
without having seen the book, an older and more perfect copy
than any of these, if not quite perfect, in the College of St. Isi*
dore, in Rome.
This tract, which might almost be called a Topographical
and Historical Catechism, commences by stating that after the
disastrous battles of Comar, Gabhra, and Ollarbha^ the FianjiB
20 b
OF THE IMAGINATITE TALES AND POEMS.
LTOT.Mv^^ or Fenian forces were so shattered and diminished in numbers,
,j^„jjj^ that the surviving few of them dispersed themselves over the
logM of the country, so that uieir number was at last reduced to eleven —
^"^^ namely the two good old chiefs, Oisin and Caeiltj, and nine
common soldiers. After having wandered a long time among
the new and strange generation that had sprung up aroimd
them in their native country, the two chiefs agreed to separate
for a time ; and Oisin went to his mother to the (enchanted)
mansion of Cleitech^ near Slane, while Caeilti passed over Magh
Breagh (or Bregia) to the south, and to Saint Patrick, who was
then sojourning at Raith-Droma-deirgj to whom Caeilti related
his unfortunate story. Saint Patrick was very glad to add so
remarkable a personage to his congregation, and readily gave
Caeilti and his few companions a comfortable maintenance in his
establishment.
OMn soon after joined his old friends, and the two chiefs
thenceforth were Patrick's constant companions in his missionary
journeys through the coimtry, always giving him the history of
every place that they visited, and of numberless other places,
the names of which incidentally occur in the course of the narra-
tive, as well as the origin of their names, all of which was
written into a book, for the benefit of future generations, by
Brogan, Saint Patrick's scribe.
Tne space allotted to these lectures will not allow me to dwell
further on this tract than to lay before you one or two exam-
ples of the nature and style of the countless articles of which it
18 composed.
Saint Patrick, with his travelling missionary retinue, including
Caeilti^ we are told, was one day sitting on the hill which is now
well known as Ard-Patrick, in the coimty of Limerick. The
hill before this time was called Finn Tulach^ the Fair (or
White) Hill, and Patrick asked Caeilti why or when it had
received that name. Caeilti answered that its first name was
Tulach-na-Feini; but that Finn had afterwards given it the
name of Finntulach. " And (continued Caeilti) it was from
this hill that we marched to the great battle of Finntraigh (now
* Ventry' Harbour)". [See original in Appendix, No. XCIV.]
"One day that we were on this hill, Finn observed a favoiurite
warrior of his company, named Cael O'Neamhain, coming to-
wards him, and when he had come to Finn's presence, he asked
him where he had come from. Cael answered that he had come
from Brtigh in the north (that is the fairy mansion of Brugh^
on the Boyne). What was your business there? said Finn.
To speak to my nurse, Muirn, the daughter of Derg, said Cael.
About what? said Finn. CJonceming Credit the daughter of
OF THB IMAGINATiyS TALES Am> P0BM8. 809
Cairhriy King of Kerry [Ciaraiqhe Luachra], said CaeL Do jjurr.xrr.
you know, said Finn, tlit she is the greatest deceiver [flirt, t,,^udih.
coquette] among all the women of Erinn ; that there is scarcely iogn« of tba
a precious gem in all Erinn that she has not obtained as a token }^^^
of love ; and that she has not yet accepted the hand of any
of her admirers ? I know it, said Cael; but do you know the
conditions on which she would accept a husband? I do, said
Finn: whoever is so gifted in the art of poetry as to write a
poem descriptive of her mansion and its rich furniture, will re-
ceive her hand. Good, said Cael; I have with the aid of my
nurse composed such a poem ; and if you will accompany me, I
will now repair to her court and present it to her.
" Finn agreed to this proposal, and having set out on their
journey they soon arrived at the lady's court, which was situated
at the foot of the well known mountains called the Paps of
Anann, in Kerry. When arrived, the lady asked their busmess.
Finn answered that Cael came to seek her hand in marriage.
Has he a poem for me ? said she. I have, said Cael; — and ne
then recited the very curious poem, of which the following is a
literal translation :
"A journey I make on Friday:
And should I go I shall be a true guest,
To Credea mansion, — not small the fatigue, —
At the breast of the moimtain on the north-east.
" It is destined for me to go there.
To Credit at the Paps of Anann,
That I be there, awaiting sentence,
Four days and half a week.
" Happy the house in which she is,
Between men and cliildren and women.
Between Druids and musical performers.
Between cup-bearers and door-keepers.
"Between equerries without fear.
And distributors who divide [the fare] ;
And over all these the command belongs
To fair Credi of the yellow hair.
" It would be happy for me to be in her dan,
Among her soft and downy couches.
Should Credi deign to hear [my suit],
Happy for me would be my journey.
"A bowl she has whence berry-juice flows.
By which she colours her eye-brows black ;
[She has] clear vessels of fermenting ale ;
CJups she has, and beautiful goblets.
310 OF THE IMAGINATIVE TALES AND POEMS.
LBCfT.MV.
The**Dla-
" The colour [of her dun] is like the colour of lime ;
tuc 1^..- Within it are couches and. green rushes;
logue of the Within it are silks and blue mantles ;
^S*'\°' Within it are red gold and crystal cups.
*' Of its Ctrianan [simny chamber] the comer stones
Are all of silver and of vellow gold, —
Its thatch in stripes of faultless order,
Of wings of brown and crimson red.
"Two door-posts of green I see;
Nor is its door devoid of beauty ;
Of carved silver, long has it been renowned^
Is the lintel that is over its door.
" CredSs chair is on your right hand ;
The pleasantest of the pleasant it is ;
All over a blaze of Alpme gold,
At the foot of her beautiful couch.
" A gorgeous couch, in full array,
Stands directly above the chair ;
It was made by [at ?] TuiU^ in the east.
Of yellow gold and precious stones.
.** There is another bed on your right hand,
Of ffold and silver without defect, —
With curtains, with soft [pillows],
And with graceful rods otgolden-bronze.
" The household which are in her house,
To the happiest of conditions have been destined ;
Gray and glossy are their garments ;
Twisted and fair is their flowing hair.
" Wounded men would sink m sleep.
Though ever so heavily teeming with blood.
With the warblinffs of the fairy birds
From the caves of her sunny chamber \Griandn\,
" If I am [i.e., have cause to be] thankful to the woman.
To CredS^ for whom the cuckoo sings,
In songs of praise she shall ever live,
If she but repay me for my gift.
" If it please the daughter of Cairbri^ —
She will not put me oflf to another time, —
She will herself say to me here :
' To me vour journey is greatly welcome'.
" An hundred feet spans Credits house
From one angle to the other;
And twenty feet are fully measured
In the breadth of its noble door.
OF THE IMAGINATIYS TALKS Aim P0BM8 311
*' Its portico is thatched
With wings of birds both blue and yellow ;
LBOT. ZIT.
The**Dto.
Andent
Its lawn in front, and its well, logMortiit
Of crystal and of carmogal.
" Four posts to every bed [there are],
Of gold and silver finely carved, —
A ciystal gem between each post, —
They are not of unpleasant heads. [See Appshdix.]
" There is in it a vat of royal bronze.
Whence flows the pleasant juice of malt;
An apple-tree stanos overhead the vat ^
With the abundance of its weighty fruit
*; When Credd's goblet is filled
With the ale of the noble vat,
There drop down into the cup directly
Four apples at the same time,
*' The four attendants [distributors] that have been named,
Arise and go to the distribution;
They present to four of the guests around,
A drink to each man, and an apple.
" She, who has all these things, —
Within the strand and the flood, [see Appendix]
Cred4 of the three-pointed-hill, —
Has taken p.e., won by] a spear's cast before the women of Erinn.
" Here is a poem for her, no mean present.
It is not a hasty rash composition :
To Crede now it is here presented —
May my journey be brightness to her".
The yoimg lady was, it seems, delighted with this poem,
and readily consented to become the wife of the gifled Cael;
and their marriage, we are told, took place soon after. Their
happiness was, however, of short duration ; for Cael was almost
immediately called away to the great battle of Ventry Harbour,
where he was killed in the midst of victory, fighting against
the host of foreign invaders. CrecU had followed him to the
battle-field, and received his last sighs of afiection for herself,
and of exultation for having died in his country's cause. He
was buried by his comrades on the south side of the harbour
in a place which was (afler him, it is said) called Traigh Caeil^
or the strand of CaeL Crede composed an elegy for him,
which is valuable to us, among other things, as containing
some curious allusions to ancient customs, as well as^ a descrip-
tion of the grave of her lover and the manner of his interment.
I think 1 need ofler no apology for detaining you so long
312
OF TUB IMA0I]fATIV£ TALES AND POEMS.
LECT. XIV.
•nwDii^
logueof Um
Ancient
Men".
or others
of the
fKHlAir
with die details of this singularly interesting little poem. I
shall only give you, in a few words, one other example of the
varied sort of information which will be found in the tract at
present imder consideration, and then pass from the " Dialogue
of the Ancient Men" for the present.
Saint Patrick, we are told in it, receives an invitation from
the king of Connacht to visit his country. He sets out from
Ard Patrick, passes through Limerick, Cratloe, Sliabh Echiyhe,
and many other places, into Ui Maine, and to the court of the
king of Comiacht at Loch Croini (in the present county of Ros-
common), whei]^he was joyfully and reverently received.
One day that they were seated on a green mound in the
vicinity of the palace, a young Munster warrior, who was at-
tached to the king's court, put the following questions to Caeilte
with Patrick's consent. Where did Oilioll Oluim, [the cele-
brated king of Munster,] and his wife Sadhhh, die, and where
were they buried ? Where did their seven sons die in one day ?
Who were the parties that fought the battle of Cnoc Samhnay
in Tipperary? Where and now did Cormac Cas [another
son oi Oilioll Oluhn] die? etc. Coetft J answers all these ques-
tions, and tells how the battle of Cnoc Samhna was fought
between Eochaidh Abradruadh [the Red Browed], King ol'
Leinster, and Cormac Cas; how the latter received a fearful
wound in the head ; and how after lingering for thirteen years
in great agony, he died at DuJi Tri-Liag, that is, the Dun (or*
fort) of the three pillar stones [now Duntrileague, in the coimty
of Limerick], which was specially built for his particular accom-
modation ; together with many other similar details.
From the nature of these questions, and the copious answers
which Caeilte is always made to give, it will be seen that tliis,
as well as the other articles in this valuable tract, must be full
of curious and really valuable historical information.
Besides the pieces of which I have already spoken, a large
collection of Fenian poems, chiefly ascribed to Oisin, but some
of them also to his brother poets, is to be found in our paper
MSS. of the last 200 years ; most of these manuscripts being
transcripts, as I have already observed, from books of much
older date. These poems are generally given as dialogues be-
tween Oisin and Saint Patrick ; but they seldom contain much
matter illustrative either of topography or social manners.
The most popular, as well as the largest, of this class of
poems is that which is known as Caih Chnuic an Air, the battle
of the Hill of Slaughter ; but as no details of topography are
given in it — not even the situation of the Hill of Battle — and
OF THE IMAGINATIVB TALES AND POEMS. 313
as the foes were little more than three or four foreign champions, lkct. xiv.
the piece is of little historic value.
The next and last class are the Prose Tales, of which the or the
following are the chief, if not all, that are at present known : ^H'^
the Toruigheacht Dhiarmada is GhrdinS, or Pursuit oiDiarmaid ^ ^o^-
and Grainni; the Cath Finntrdgha, or Battle of Ventry Har-
bour (in Kerry) ; the Bruighean Chaerthainn^ or Mountain-ash
Court; the Imtheacht an Ghilla Deacair, or FUght of the
Slothful Fellow ; Bruighean Cheisd an Chorainn, or the Court of
Ceis Corann; the Bruighean Eochaidh Big Beirg, or Court of
Little Red Eochaidh; the Bruighean bheag na h-Almhaini^
or Little Court of Almhain (or Allen); and the Feia Tighi
Chondin Chinn i-Sleibhdj or Feast of Conan's House of Ceann
SleibUS"^
Of these, the only tale founded on fact, or, at least, on
ancient authority (though romantically told), is one in which
Finn himself was deeply interested. It is the pursuit of JDiar-
maid and Grainni^ The facts on which it is founded are
shortly these.
Finn, in his old age, solicited the monarch Cormac Mac The xaie of
Art for the hand of his celebrated daughter Grainne in mar- *? x^^^****'
riai^e. Cormac afnreed to the hero's proposal, and invited Finn maid and
to go to lara, to obtain from the princess herseii her consent
(which was necessary in such matters in those days in Erinn)
to their union. Finn, on this invitation, proceeded to Tara,
attended by a chosen body of his warriors, and among these were
his son Ow/w, his grandson Oscar, and Uiamiaid O'Duibhni^
one of his chief officers, a man of fine person and most fasci-
nating manners. A magnificent feast was of course provided,
at which the monarch presided, surrounded by all the great
men of his court, among whom the Fenians were accorded a
distinguished place.
It appears to have been a custom at great feasts in ancient
Erinn lor the mistress of the mansion, or some other distin-
guished lady, to fill her own rich and favourite drinking-cup
or glass from a select vessel of choicest Hquor, and to send it
round by her own favourite maid in waiting to the chief
gentlemen of the company, to be sent round again by them to
a certain number (which was, I believe, four), in their im-
mediate vicinity, so that every one of those invited should
in turn enjoy the distinction of participating in this gracious
favour. On the present occasion the lady Grainni did the
(«») The first and last name<1 of the above-mentioned tales have been pub-
lished since this Lecture was deliyered bj the Ossianic Society.
314 OF THE IMAGINATIVE TALES AND POEMS.
LECT. XIV. honours of lier royal father's court, and sent round her favourite
Of the ^^P 8X!Cordmorly, until all had drank from it, Ois(n and Diar-
j-KNiAK maid O'Duibhni alone excepted. Scarcely had the company
ProM^ " uttered their praises of the liquor and their profound acknow-
the^» Par-**' l^fenicuts to the priucoss, than they all, almost simultaneously,
S^w'^*^" ^^ ^^^^ ^ heavy sleep.
Qrainnff\) The Hquor was of course drugged for this purpose, and no
sooner had Graimd perceived the full success of ner scheme,
than she went and sat by the side of Oisin and Diarmaid^ and,
addressing the former, complained to him of the folly of his
father Finn, in expecting that a maiden of her youth, beauty,
and celebrity, could ever consent to become the wife of so old
and war-worn a man ; tliat if Ouin himself were to seek her
hand she should gladly accept him ; but since that could not
now tti, that she had no chance of escaping the evil which her
father s temerity had brought upon her but by flight ; and as
Oisin could not dishonour liis mther by being her partner in
such a proceeding, she conjured Diarmaid by liis manUness,
and by his vows of chivalry, to take her away, to make her his
wife, and thus to save her from a fate to wnich she preferred
even death itself.
After much persuasion (for the consequences of so grievous
an offence to his leader must necessarily be serious) Diarmaid
consented to the elopement ; the parties took a hasty leave of
Oisin; and as the royal palace was not very strictly guarded on
such an occasion, Grainni found little difficulty in escaping the
vigilance of the attendants, and gaining the open country
with her companion.
• When the monarch and Finn awoke from their trance, their
rage was boundless; both of them vowed vengeance against
the unliappy delinquents ; and Finn immediately set out from
Tara in pursuit of them. He sent parties of his swiftest and
best men to all parts of the country ; but Diarmaid was such a
favourite with his brethren in arms, and the peculiar circum-
stances of the elopement invested it with so much sympathy
on the part of those yoimg heroes, that they never could dis-
cover the retreat of tne offenders, excepting when Finn him-
self happened to be of the party that immediately pursued
them, and then they were sure to make their escape by some
wonderful stratagem or feat of agility on the part of Diarmaid.
This, then, was the celebrated Pursuit of Diarmaid and
GrainnS, It extended all over Erinn ; and in the description
of the progress of it, a great amount of curious information on
topography, the natural productions of various localities, social
manners, and more ancient tales and superstitions, is introduced.
OF THE IMAGINATIVE TALES AKD POEMS. 315
The flight of Diarmaid and Grainni is mentioned in several lect. xiv.
of our ancient manuscripts, and tlie popular traditions tlirough- ~
out the country point to those ancient monuments, vulgai-ly y^viIh
called Cromlechs^ as their resting and hiding places, many of Jj^^/"
which are still commonly, though of course without any reason, [JJ®» IJ® ®'
called Leabthacha Dhiarmada is Ghrainni, or the Beds of JDi- suit of zwar-
armaid and Grainnl [See Appendix, No. XCV.] S^^nS-^
The next Fenian tale that claims attention is that which is The Taio of
so popularly known as Caih Finntrdgha, the Battle of the of Vknn*
White Strand (a name now Anglicized Ventry Harbour, — ^in venfry^
west of Kerry).
That this is an ancient tale may be inferred from the mention
of it made in the story of the unwrtunate lovers Gael and Cred^
just mentioned, as well as from a damaged copy of it on vellum,
which is preserved in an old manuscript in the Bodleian Library
at Oxford [Rawlinson, 487] ; but the paper copies of it, which
are numerous in Ireland, are very much corrupted in language,
and interpolated with trivial and incongruous incidents. The
tale is a pure fiction, but related with considerable force and in
a hiffhly popular style.
The tale commences with the statement that Dairi DommhaTy
according to the author the emperor of the whole world ex-
cept Erinn, calls together all the tributary kings of his empire
to join him in an expedition to Erinn, to subjugate it and to
enforce tribute. lie arrives with a gi*eat fleet at Glas Charraig
[now the " SkclUg Rocks", on the coast of Kerry], piloted by
Glas Mac Dremain, a soldier of KeiTy, who had been pre-
viously banished by Finn Mac CmnhailL This Glas Mac
Dremain, who was well acquainted with his native coast, brought
the fleet safely into the noble harbour oiFinntrdigh (or Ventry),
from which place the emperor determined to suboue the country.
Finn had at all times some of his trusty warriors, vigilant
and swift of foot, posted at all the harbours of the country, for
the purpose of giving him timely information of the approach
or laadmg of any foreign foe on the island ; and not the least
important, as well as interesting, part of this tale is the list of
tliese harbours, with their ancient as well as their more modem
names.
At the actual time of tliis invasion, Finn, with the main
body of his wan-iors, was enjoying the pleasures of swimming *
and fishing in the waters of the river Sliannon, where a mes-
senger from his warden at Ventry readied him with tlie impor-
tant news. In the meantime, the news also reached several
chiefs and wuiriors of the Tuatha D6 Danann race, who were
316
OF THE IMAGIXATITB TALES AND POEMS.
LECT. XIT.
Of the
Fexiaw
TALUln
Prote. (Tha
Tale of the
''Battie
of/Ynn-
traigha^ or
Ventry.")
The Tale of
the '' Flight
of the Sloth<
ful Fellow '.
L
located in Ui Chonaill Gabhra [In the present county of Lime-
rick], and several of these, simultaneously with Finn, set out
for V entry, where they all arrived in due time, and imme-
diately entered upon a series of combats with the foreign enemy.
Tidings of the invasion were soon carried into Ulster also ;
and Gall, the son of Fiacha Foltleathan, king of that province,
a youth of fifteen, obtained leave fixjm his lather to come to
Finn's assistance, at the head of a fine band of young volun-
teers from Ulster. Young GralFs ardour, however, cost him
rather dear ; for having entered the battle with extreme eager-
ness, his excitement soon increased to absolute frenzy, and atlter
having peribnned astounding deeds of valour, he fled in a state
of derangement from the scene of slaughter, and never stopped
imtil he plunged into the wild seclusion of a deep glen far up
the country. Tliis glen has ever since been called Gleun-na-
n-Gealt, or the Glen of the Lunatics, and it is even to this day
believed in the south, that all the lunatics of Erinn would re-
sort to this spot i£ they were allowed to be at large.
The siege, as it may be called, of Ventry Harbour, held for
twelve months and a day; but at length the foreign foe was
beaten off >vith the loss of all his best men, and indeed of nearly
the whole of his anny ; and thus Finn and his brave warriors,
as was their long custom (woidd that we had had worthy suc-
cessors to them in after times !), preserved the Uberty and inte-
tegrity of their native land.
This tale of the Battle of Ventry is of no absolute value as
historic authority for the incidents related in it ; but the many
names of places, and the various manners and customs tradi-
tionally handed down and preserved in it, render it of consi-
derable interest to the student in Irish history.
The next Fenian tale which requires notice is one which
is well known under the name of the Imtheacht an Ghiolla
Deacair, or "Flight of the Slothful Fellow".
On one occasion that Finn Mac Cumhaill gave a great feast
to his officers and men, at his own court at Almhain [the
Hill of Allen, in the present county of Kildare], it was deter-
mined to go into Munster on a hunting excursion. The feast
being over, they set out with their dogs and hounds, and after
having passed through several places of historical celebrity,
which are named in the tract, they arrived at last at Cnoc Aini
[now called Knockany], in the present county of Limerick.
Here Finn took his stand, and setting up his tent on the top of
the hill, he despatched his warriors and their hounds in various
groups to the long range of mountains which divide the present
OP THE IMAGINATIVE TALES AND POEMS. 317
counties of Limerick, Cork, and Kerry. The chase was com- lect. xiv.
menced with ardour and prosecuted with increasing excitement '^~
through the mountains already mentioned, and lien into the fesiak
game-abounding wilds of Kerry. pJ^^ ^(The
When Finn had estabUshed his temporary residence on Knock- Jj-SJjJt^of
any, he placed a scout on the brow of the hill to keep watch, t^® siothfui
while he himself, with his few attendants, sought amusement in
a game of chess. Wliile thus engaged, the scout returned with
news that he saw a man of great and unwieldy bulk slowly ap-
proaching them from the east, leading a horse, which he seemed
to be dragging after him by main force. Finn and his party
immediately started to their feet; and although the stranger
was but a short distance from them, so slow was his movement,
that some considerable time elapsed before he reached their
Eresence. Having arrived before them at last, Finn questioned
im as to his name, race, country, profession, and the object of
his visit. The stranger answered that his pedigree and coimtry
were undistinguished and imcertain ; that his name was Giolta
Deacair, or the " Slothful Fellow" ; and that he was seeking ser-
vice imder some distinguished master ; and that being slow and
very lazy, he kept a horse for the purpose of riding whenever
he was sent upon a message or errand. The latter part of the
answer afforded Finn and his friends matter for merriment,
as the horse, from his gaimt and dying appearance, seemed
to be less desirous of carrying any burden than of being carried
himself.
However, Finn took the " Slothful Fellow" into his service ;
upon which the latter requested and obtained permission to
turn liis old horse out among the horses of the Fenian party.
No sooner, however, had the old horse found himseli' among
his better conditioned neiglibours, than he began to kick, bite,
and tear them at a fearful rate. Finn immediately ordered the
new servant to go and bring his wicked beast away. This the
senant set about doing, but so slow was liis movement that all
the horses in the field would have been torn to pieces before he
could have reached them, though the distance was but short.
Conan Mac Moma, who may be described as the Fenian
Thersites, seeing his own steed attacked by the maUgnant ani- ^
mal, went boldly up to him, caught hold of him, and endea-
voured to lead him off from the field. But no sooner was the
old beast laid hold of, than he seemed to have lost all power of
life and limb, and stir he would not. His owTier, however,
ha\dng come up by this time, told Conan that the horse was
not accustomed to move w4th strangej"s except when ridden;
whereupon Conan mounted him, but neither would he move
318 OF THE IMAGINATIVE TALES AND POEM9.
LBCT. XIV. then any more than before. The new servant then said that
Of the ^Conan was too light for the horse, which was accustomed to
feniah move only with a weighty load, and pressed the other men of
Pro^ ^'cThe Finn's party to moimt along with Conan, which they did to the
^Filght^f i^i^ii*iher of twelve. The owner now dealt the old horse a smart
tijo siothftii blow of an iron rod which he always carried for that pm-pose.
No sooner had the horse received tnis blow than he started off
at a rapid speed with his burden in a western direction towards
the sea, followed by Finn and the few of his party who had re-
mained with him. Having reached the sea, the horse plunged
in, and the waves immediately opened a dry passage far m front,
but closed up after him, the " Slothful Fellow" holding fast by
his tail.
It is sufficient to say that the riders were carried by enchant-
ment to a foreign unknown country; that Finn and a select
party followed them in a ship; and that after much of wild
and extravagant adventure, tney were discovered and brought
home again.
These two last tales that I have been just describing, and
another called the Bruighean Chaerihainn^ still existing, are
mentioned by Dr. Keting, in his History of Erinn, at the reign
of Cormac Mac Art, as among the many romantic tales written
of Finn Mac Cumhaill and his warriors, existing in his own
time, say about the year 1630.
In describing to you these early Fenian Tales, I have, m
fact, made you acquainted with the general scope of the nu-
merous tales of a purely imaginative character which come after
them in the chronological order of the pieces of ancient litera-
ture which have been presented to us. For my present purpose
it is, therefore, unnecessary to give you any examples of the
latter in detail. The value of all of them to the student of
mere history, consists only, as I have already said, in the records
of ancient toijography, and in the glimpses of life, manners, and
customs, which they contain ; and important ^ they are in so
many other ways to the student of the Graedhlic language and
literature, a more minute examination of them must be reserved
* till such time as, in another course of lectures, it may become
my duty to treat of those special subjects.
Of these Imaginative Tales of ancient date, some older than
those called Fenian, of which I have been speaking, some not so
old, I shall, then, at present, only mve you the titles of some of
the more important ; and I may particularly name : — The Adven-
tures of Brian, the son of Feabhall; of Conla Ruadh; of Cor-
mac Mac Art, in the land of promise ; of Tadhg (or Teige)
OF THE IMAGINATIVE TALES AND POEMS. 3T9
Mac Cein; the exile of the sons of Dull Dearmart; the court- lect. x.
sliip of Etain; of Beag Fola; and the death of Aithim^. ^^^^^^^
Copies of these are preserved in vellum ; and of the following ancient
there are copies on paper. The Adventures of Conall Gulban ; TALM^in'*^
the great battle of MuirtheimnS and death of Cuchulainn; the vS!L*°*
Red Route of Conall Ceamach (to avenge that death) ; and the
tales called the Three Sorrowful Stories of Erinn — namely, the
Story of the tragical fate of the children of Lear; the Story
t>f the children of Uisneeh; and the Story of the sons of Tui-
reann, etc.
Tliese various tales were composed at various dates, but all,
I believe, anterior to the year 1000.
In conclusion, I have only to indicate to you the extent of
our existing manuscript treasures in this department of litera-
ture, by stating roughly, as before, the quantity of letterpress
which they would fill, if printed at length in the same form as
the text of 0'Donovan*s Four Masters.
The Gaedhlic text of the Fenian poems and tales, then, may
be calcidatcd as extensive enough to occupy about 3000 pages
of such volumes ; and I believe the text of the mass of the other
talcs of which I have spoken, would extend to at least 5000
pages more.
You may thus form to yourselves some idea of the amount of
that literature, — small a portion of it as has, in any form, come
down to us, — which awaits your study whenever you qualify
yourselves to open its pages by making yourselves acquainted
with that ancient tonoriie, so long neglected by the present des-
cendants of the Graedhils of your country. And in estimating
the literary value of the compositions of this class (of which so
very great a number remain to us), remember you are not to be
guided by the remarks I have made respecting their merely
historical importance. Perhaps their chief claim, after all, to
your attention would be foimd to lie in their literary merits, and
in the richly imaginative language in which they are written.
Let me, then, always remind you, that in these Lectures I still
confine myself strictly to my subject, — the materials of the An-
cient History of Erinn ; and that the subject of our Literature
niust be reserved for another course.
LECTURE XV.
D«llTer«d ICarch ». 1855.]*
Of the remains of the early Christian period. Of the Domhnach Airgid, Of
the Cathach . Of the L^nd of the Cuilefadh, Of the Reliquaries, S hrin ef ,
Croziers, Bells, and other relics, still preserved, of the first centuries of
Christianity in Erinn.
We have now brought to a close the too inadequate sketch
wliich the necessary limits of a general course like the present
permitted, of the nature and extent of the existing MS. mate-
rials for the elucidation of the general History of Erinn ; mate-
rials which, I hope, I have shown to be most abimdant for the
purpose, if only used with proper judgment, and after the mi-
nute investigation and careful comparison among themselves
which the various classes of these interesting historical and lite-
rary remains of ancient times require at the hands of the histo-
rian. There is, however, a special branch of our history con-
cerning which from this plac^ it must be expected that I should
say sometliing more than I have yet done ; and the rather that
the authentic materials out of which it may be easily constructed
in the fullest detail are singularly rich and varied, considering
their great antiquity. I allude to the Historjr of the early ages
of the Church, from the introduction of Christianity into this
island in the beginning of the Fifth Century. The investiga-
tion of our early Christian remains in connection with the His-
tory of the country, appears to me indeed to be a duty which
of necessity devolves on me, when I consider the character of
the Institution in which I have the honour to fill a chair ; and
not the less so, perhaps, in consideration of the distinguished
part in the history of the Church itself taken by our ancestors,
not only at home, but throughout a great part of Europe, in the
early centuries of Christianity.
"Hibemia Sacra" and "Island of the Saints" are time-ho-
noured names, of which our country may well be proud ; but few
of us, at present, know on what her claims to such distinctions
* Ortli? f wrT»1tr-4m« Lflctiif* *]( IUa pf**^^^ ocnjfw, 9ix only were deDrered In 18&5, Six In the vptivg at 18S6,
MtA Us* rrttHlniQi M\tm lit tilB mmsam <€ U» Mtmr jrear. Afl«T th« Foarth Lrclnrv hud been dcliTiTed, however
[in Xtnlt, ISIfrl , |» WW IhgMhi iAriMlria Hal, M the occanlon of the opening of the Chmtr of Iriah Htstorj and
Awiiiiadgpr in IB* Clliifllli SBlllllU. Ifci M^Kit <rf Chrtothm ArehiBologytn 7 • ' •
. ^ ,. „, J Ireland nhoold be prominently
tfinrtiyDMt vm Um WUl saAfltl^&Mlim mmmUy deUvered were accordbwlT- those which now appear In
tbttwj^mmjkmm lis, ICT. mH XTt- <ar tbM Whitte aeitea. The date* uulgned to Lectnres V. to XII. (ante)
iQWAihr beaii li»grf«D||y »Ui«*h(I« in someqamaet of a ntbtake in the liat ftimiihed bjr the UnirerBity
OF THB REMAINS OF THE EABLY CHRISTIAN PERIOD. 32 L
rest: though, as I hope to show, abundant evidences of them lect.xv.
yet remain in our all but imexplored manuscript records, as well ^^^
as in the numerous relics of ancient art which have been handed the existing
down to us, and in the ruins of the towers, the churches, and the th^wfy***
sculptured crosses which cover the land, all forming an impe- SJSS^in
rishable and irrefragable monument of the Christian faith of an- i^rinn.
cient Erinn.
In remains illustrative of her early Christian times, it may,
without the least exaggeration, be said that Ireland is singularlv
rich. The faith and devotion of her people, preserved with
heroic constancy through ages of the most crushmg oppression,
have been the theme of many an eloquent pen. But, perhaps,
in no way have these nationsu virtues ever been more strikingly
exhibited than in the transmission to our own days of the nume-
rous sacred relics wliich we still possess, and of which some can
be traced to a period coeval with the very introduction of
Christianity into the island.
The chief objects of interest to the Christian archaeologist in
Ireland are of two classes. One of these comprises various very
ancient copies of the Gospels, and of some other parts of the
Sacred Scriptures. The other includes a great variety of
examples of^ ancient ecclesiastical art, especially works in the
metals, the most beautiful of which are to be found in our great
national collection, the Muscmn of the Royal Irish Academy ;
such as Shrines, Bells, Croziers, Crosses, etc., etc.
Adequately to illustrate these various relics would require in
itself an extensive course of lectures ; it is not my intention,
therefore, to do more than present you with some short notices
x>( the most remarkable of them, in the hope that a taste may be
thus awakened amongst the students of tiiis University for the
cultivation of this branch of Irish archajology. It is one which
wins from foreign visitors to our museums uic most enthusiastic
expressions of admiration, but which is not yet as extensively
appreciated amongst ourselves as it deserves to be.
Of the ancient Irish copies of the sacred writings, two are of
such extraordinary antiquity, and present such a very remark-
able history, that it ^vill be necessary to give a somewhat de-
tailed account of them. These are, 1°. that known as the Domh-
nach Airgid; a copy of tlie four Gospels, once, we have just
reason to believe, tlie companion in his hours of devotion of
our Patron Saint, the Apostle Saint Patrick ; 2°. the MS. called
the CatJuich, or " Book of BattW; a MS. containing a copy of
the Psalms, which there is scarcely less ground for supposing to
have been actually traced by the pen of St. Colum Cilll
21
822 OF THB BBMAnrS OF THE EARLY CHRISTIAN PERIOD.
ligcT.xv. The DoMHNACH AiRGiD has been well described by my dear
Of the *^^ honoured friend, Dr. Petrie, the most accomplished anti-
DoMBMACR quarian whom Ireland has yet produced, and to whom, in so
AAnin. ^naiuent a manner, is due the revival of the cultivation of Irish
literature and antiquities.
This relic, like many others of its kind which we possess, but
which are of more modem date, presents two separate subjects
for our consideration, — the ancient manuscript itself, and the
shrine, casket, or box in which it is enclosed. These latter
are in such cases usually the works of various hands, and of
different centuries, bearing evidence of the veneration in which
the precious relics contained in them continued to be held by
successive generations, and often containing inscriptions in still
legible cheaters, recording the pious care of the prince, the
notle, or the ecclesiastic, who restored or repaired the orna-
mental cases in which their predecessors had enshrined the MSS.
The following description of the Domhnach Airaid is taken
firom Dr. Petrie^s communication to the Royal Irish Academy
(Transactions, Vol. xviii.) in which collection the Domhnach is
now placed.
" In its present state", says Dr. Petrie, " this ancient remain
appears to have been equally designed as a shrine for the pre-
servation of relics and of a book ; but the latter was probably
its sole original use.
*' Its form is that of an oblong box, nine inches by seven, and
five inches in height.
" This box is composed of three distinct covers, of which the
first, or inner one, is of wood, — apparently yew ; the second, or
middle one, of copper, plated with silver ; and the third, or
outer one, of silver, plated with gold.
"In the comparative ages of these several covers, there is
obviously a great difference. The first may probably be co-
eval with the manuscript which it was intended to preserve;
the second, in the style of its scroll, or interlaced ornament, in-
dicates a period between the sixth and twelfth centuries ; while
the figures in relief, the ornaments, and the letters on the third,
or outer cover, leave no doubt of its being the work of the
fourteenth century.
" This last, or external cover, is of great interest, as a spe-
cimen of the skill and taste in art of its time in Ireland, and
also for the highly finished representations of ancient costmne
which it preserves. The ornaments on the top consist chiefly of
a large figure of the Saviour in cdto relievo m the centre, and
eleven figures of saints in basso relievo, on each side, in four
oblong compartments.
OF THE BBMAINS OF THE EARLY CHBI8TIAN PEBIOD. 323
" At the head of the Saviour there is a representation of the lect.xv.
dove, or Holy Ghost, enamelled in gold; and over this a small ^^^^^
square reliquary, covered with a crystal, and which probably i>oKHicAcn
contains a supposed piece of the true cross. Immediately over ^^^^'
this again is a shield, on which the implements of the passion
are emblazoned in blue and red paste ; and above this tnere is
another square reliquary» similarly covered with crystal, but of
smaller size. The smaller figures in relief are, in the first com-
partment, the Irish saints Columb, Brigid, and Patrick ; in
the second, the apostles James, Peter, and Paul ; in the third,
the Archangel Michael, and the Virgin and Child ; and in the
fourth, a bishop presenting a cumdach, or cover, to an eccle-
siastic— a device which has evidently a historical relation to
the reliquary itself, and which shall be noticed hereafter. There
is a third ngure in this compartment which I am unabW to
explain"^.
** The rim", continues Dr. Petrie, " is ornamented on its two
external faces with various grotesque devices, executed with very
considerable skill, and the angles were enriched with pearls,
probably native, or other precious jewels. A tablet on the rim,
and at the upper side, presents the following inscription in the
monkish character usca in the thirteenth and fourteenth cen-
turies:
"'JOHS: p KAKBRI: COMORBANUS: S: TIGNACII PMISFT ;
or, thus, with the contractions lengthened :
"* JOHANNES O KARBRI COMORBANUS [successor] SANCTI
TIGIIERNACU PERMISIT.
"Another inscription, in the same character, preserves the
name of the artist by whom those embellishments on the outer
case were executed, and is valuable as proving that this in-
teresting specimen of ancient art was not of foreign manufacture.
It will be found on a small moulding over one of the tablets :
"'JOHANES: 0 BARRDAN: FABRICAVIT.
" The front side of the case presents three convex patercB,
ornamented in a very elejjant style of art with figures of gro-
tesque animals and tracenes : they are enamelled with a blue
paste; and have, in the centre oi each cup, an uncut crystal,
covering relics like those on the top. An interesting feature on
this side is the figure of a chief or nobleman on horseback, with
sword in hand. It exhibits with minute accuracy the costume
of the nobility in Ireland during the fourteenth century.
" The ornaments contained within the rim, on the back, or
opposite side, are lost, and their place has been supplied by the
recent repairer with figures which originally belonged to the
right and left sides'".
21b
AX&OID.
324 OF THB REMAINS OF THE EABLY CHBISTIAK PERIOD.
LECT.arv, " On the right hand side, the upper compartment presents a
^^^^ figure of St. Catherine with those of a monlc in the attitude of
DuMHMACH prayer on the left, and a boy incensing on the riffht : these
latter figures are not in relief, but are engraved on the field of
the tablet. The second, or lower compartment of tliia side is
lost.
" On the left hand side, the upper compartment presents the
figure of an ecclesiastic seated on a chair or throne, his left
hand holding a small cross, and his right hand raised in the act
of giving the benediction ; figures incensing are engraved on the
field. This principal figure probably represents St. Hoc Car-
thainn, or St. Tighemach. The under compartment exliibits a
figure of St. John the Baptist holding in his left hand a round
medallion or picture of the Lamb, and in liis right hand a
scroll, on which are inscribed the words, ' Ecce Agnus Dei'. A
figure of the daughter of Herodias, with the heaa of St. Jolm
on a salver, appears engraved on the field.
" The bottom, or back of the case is ornamented with a large
cross, on which there is an inscription in the Gothic or black
letter. This inscription is of a later age than those already
noticed, but I am unable, from its injured state, to decipher it
wholly. It concludes with the word ' Cloacliar\ the name of
the see to which, as I shall presently show, the reliquaiy ori-
ginally appertained.
"I now come to the most important portion of this re-
markable monument of antiquity, — the treasure for whose
honour and preservation so much cost and labour were ex-
pended. It is a Latin manuscript of the Gospels ; but of what
text or version I am unable, in its present state, to ofier an
opinion, as the membranes are so tenaciously incorporated by
time that I dare not venture, through fear of injunng, to se-
parate them. These Gospels are separate from each other, and
three of them appear to be perfect ; but the fourth, which is the
Gospel of St. Matthew, is considerably injured in the beginning,
and from this two leaves have been detached, which have en-
abled us to ascertain the subject of, as well as the form of letter
used in, the manuscript, — namely, the Uncial or corrupt Roman
character, popularly called Irish, and similar in appearance to
the very ancient manuscripts of the Gospels preserved in the
library of Trinity College. That it is of equal antiquity with
those manuscripts, — which are of the sixth century, — 1 have
little doubt ; and from evidences wliich I shall pi*esently adduce,
I think it not unlikely to be of an even earlier age, — perhaps
the oldest copy of the Sacred Word now existing.
** The inscriptions on the external case leave no doubt that
OP THE REMAINS OF THE EARLY CHRISTIAN PERIOD. 325
the Doinhnach belonged to the monastry of Clones, or see of lect.xv.
Clogher. The John O Karbri, the Comharha^ or successsor of ^^^^^
St. Tighemach, recorded in one of those inscriptions as the DoanKAcn
person at whose cost, or by whose pennission, the outer oma- ^***™-
mental case was made, was, according to the Annals of the Four
Masters, Abbot of Clones, and died in the year 1353. He is
properly called in that inscription Comorbanus, or successor of
Tighemach, who was the fii-st Abbot and Bishop of the Church
of Clones, to which place, after the death of St. Mac Carthainn
in the year 506, he removed the see of Clogher, having erected
a new church which he dedicated to the Apostles Peter and
Paul. St. Tighemach, according to all our ancient authorities,
died in the year 548.
" It appears from a fragment of an ancient life of St. Mac
Carthainn^ preserved by Colgan, that a remarkable reliquary waa
given by St. Patrick to that saint when he placed him over the
see of Clogher". Thus far Dr. Petrie.
I have myself referred to an authentic copy of the Tripartite
Life of the Saint, in Gaedlilic, in my possession, and as every
Particular relating to this remarkable relic must be interesting,
extract the passage in which its presentation to St. Maa
Carthainn is related, of which the following is a literal transla-
tion. [See original in Appendix, No. XCVI.]
" St. Patrick", says this ancient author, " having gone into
the territory of tfi Cremhthainn, founded many churches there.
As he was on his way from the north, and coming to the place
now called Clochar^ [in tlie modern county of Tyrone,] he was
carried over a stream by his strong man Bishop Mac Carthainn^
who, while bearing the saint, gi'oaned aloud, exclaiming Uch !
Uch!
" ' Upon my good word', said the saint, ' it was not usual with
you to speak that word'.
" ' I am now old and infirm', said Bishop Mac Carthainn^ * and
all my early companions on the mission you have set down in
their respective churches, while I am still on my travels'.
" * Found you a church then', said the saint, * that shall not
be too near us, [that is, to his own church of Armagh,] for
familiarity, nor too fur from us for intercourse'.
"And the saint then left Bishop Mac Carthainn there, at
Clochar, and bestowed on him tlie Uotnhnach Airgid, which had
been given to him, [St. Patrick,] from Heaven, when he was on
the sea coming to Erinn"".
And now to return to Dr. Petrie's observations: "On these
evidences", he continues, " we may, I think, with tolerable cer-
tainty, rest the following conclusions :
326 OP THE REUAmS OF THE EARLY CHRIBTIAK PERIOD.
LECT.xv. " 1. That the Domhnach is the identical reliquary given by
Of the St. Patrick to St. Mac Carthainn.
DoMHiTACB " 2. Ab the form of the cumdach indicates that it was in-
^^^°*' tended to receive a book, and as the relics are all attached to
the outer and least ancient cover, it is manifest that the use of
the box as a reliquary was not its original intention. The na-
tural inference therefore is, that it contained a manuscript which
had belonged to St. Patrick ; and as a manuscript copy of the
Grospels, apparently of that early age, is found within it, there
is every reason to believe it to be that identical one for which
the box was originally made, and which the Irish apostle pro-
bably brought with hmi on his mission into tliis country, it is
indeed not merely possible, but even probable, that the ex-
istence of this manuscript was unknown to the monkish bio-
graphers of St. Patrick and St. Mac Carthainn, who speak of
the box as a scrinium or reliquary only. The outer cover was
evidently not made to open ; and some, at least, of the relics
attached to it, were not introduced into Ireland before the
twelfth century. It will be remembered also that no supersti-
tion was and is more common in connection with the ancient
eumdacha, than the dread of their being opened.
"These conclusions will, I think, be strengthened con-
siderably by the facts, that the word Domhnach, as applied
either to a church, as usual, or to a reliquary, as in tliis instance,
is only to be found in our histories in connection with Saint
Patrick's time ; and that in the latter sense, — ^its application to
a reliquary, — it only once occurs in all our ancient authorities,
namely, in the single reference to the gift to St. Ma^y Cai'thainn;
no other reliquary in Ireland, as far as can be ascertained,
having ever been known by that appellation. And it should
also be observed, that all the ancient relics preserved in Ire-
land, whether bells, books, croziers, or other remains, have in-
variably, and without any single exception, been preserved and
venerated only as appertaining to the original foimders of the
churches to which they belonged.
" I also avail myself of this opportunity to add, that, having
been favoured recently by Mr. Westenra with a loan of the
Domhnach for further examination, I requested my friend, the
Rev. Mr. Todd, to examine the detached membranes of the
manuscript, and to give me his opinion respecting the antiquity
of the version, and the age of the writing, as far as the frag-
ments would permit such opinion to be formed.
^ " I now add his transcript of what was legible, together with
his remarks ; and I am authorized by him to state, that although
he at first thought the contractions used in the fragment, — and
OF THE BSMAINS OF THE EARLY CHRISTIAN PERIOD. 827
especially the (;) in the contraction nsq ; — to argue a later date lkct.xv.
than the historical evidences indicated, ne has since seen reason
to change his opinion. While this sheet was passing through DoxHirAai
the press, he took the opportunity of reconsidering the subject ^"*"*-
by a careful examination of the valuable manuscripts of the
Gospels preserved in the Library of Trinity College ; and he
now thinks that the contractions of the Dornhnach manuscript
^ht have been in use in the fourth or fifth centuries",
ti these views of Dr. Petrie I entirely concur, and I believe
that no reasonable doubt can exist that the Dornhnach Airgid
was actually sanctified by the hand of our great Apostle.
This national relic is now in the rich collection of the Royal
Irish Academy ; and it deserves to be stated that its preservation
in Ireland is due to the liberality of the present Lord Rossmore,
who purchased it from Mr. George Smith at a cost of £300, Mr.
Smith having procured it in the county Monaghan. At a sub-
sequent perioa Lord Rossmore resigned his purchase to the
Royal Irish Academy.
The next ancient relic I propose to notice is the Oathach, ^ISlca.
the heir-loom of the great Clann Conailly handed down from
Saint Colum CilU through the line of the CDomknaill^ or
O'Donnells, for a period of 1300 years.
The Cathach consists of a highly ornamented shrine or box,
enclosing a fragment of a copy of the Psalms on vellum, con-
sisting of fifty-eight leaves, written on both sides. All the
leaves before that which contains the 31st Psalm are gone ; but
the leaves from this to the 106th Psalm still remain. The
writing is of a very ancient character.
Like that of the Dornhnach Airgid^ the shrine of the Cathach
is evidently the work of several successive periods. A partial
casing of solid silver was added so recently as the year 1723 by
Colonel Domhnall ODomhnaill (or Donnell O'Donnell).
The history of this relic is in all respects very remarkable.
The name given to it has been a matter of perplexity to several ;
and Sir Wmiam Betham, who published an account of it in his
Irish Antiquarian Researches, says :
" I have not been able to find out why it got the name of
Caah^ which is not an Irish word, nor have those learned Irish
scholars I have consulted, discovered a word from which this
name has been formed, unless it is a corruption of the word
Ccw, a box".
How far this conjecture is from the truth we shall pre-
sently see.
In tracing the history of this interesting relic it will be ne-
328 OF THE REMAIK8 OF THS EARLY CHRI8TUK PERIOD.
LECT. XV. cessaxy to state, that Saint Colum CiUi was of the same race as
Of the *^® dlann Donilinaill^ being CTeat-grandson of Conall Gulban,
Catuacb. son o[ Niall Ndoi-ghiallach [JNiall of the Nine Hostages], who
was monarch of Eiinn in a.d. 428.
The manner of the transcription of this copy of the Psahns,
and the origin and signification of the name by which the relic
is still known, are so well given in the hfe of the saint by
Maghnus CT Domhnaill^ that I may best describe them by givinff
you here a pretty full abstract, in translation, of the passage. It
IS interesting in another point of view also, as illustrative of some
portions of the life of tne saint but little known to the readers
of printed works.
On one occasion St. Colum CilU paid a visit to St. Finnen
o£ Drom Finn [in Ulster], and while on the visit he borrowed
St. Finnen's copy of the Psalms. Feeling anxious to have a
copy of the book, and fearing that if he asked liberty to take
one he might be refused, he continued to remain in the church
after all the people left it every day, and then sat down and
made a humed copy of the book, but not before he was ob-
served by one of St. Finnen's people, who reported it to the
saint, who took no notice of tne matter until he found the
copy had been finished, and he then sent to St. Colum for it,
alleging, that as the original was his, and he had given no per-
mission to copy it, the surreptitious copy also was his by right.
St. Colum CilU refused to comply with the demand, but
offered to refer the cause of dispute to the monarch of Erinn,
Diarmaid Mac Ferghusa Gerrbneoil. St. Finnen agreed to this,
and both parties repaired to Tara, obtained an audience of the
king, and laid their case before him. The monarch Diarmaid
then gave the remarkable judgment which to tliis day remains
a proverb in Erinn, when he said, le gach boin a boinin^ that is,
* to every cow belongeth her little cow (or calf), — and in the
same way, to every book belongeth its copy, and accordingly',
said the king, *the book that you wrote, O Colum Cille, belongs
by right to Finnen'. ' That is an unjust decision, O Diarmaid' j
said Colum CilU, * and I will avenge it on you'.
Now, at this very time a dispute occurred between a son of
the king of Connacht, who had been a hostage to the monarch,
and the son of the king's cliief steward, on the green of the
king's palace, while at a game of hurling, during wliich dispute
the young prince struck his antagonist with his hurley, and killed
him. Seeing what he had done, the young prince fled imme-
diately for sanctuary to St. Colum CilU, who was still in the king's
presence. The king was quickly apprised of what had happened,
and gave instant orders to have the youth arrested ana forth-
OF THE REMAINS OF THE EARLY CHRISTUN PERIOD. 329
with put to death, for having desecrated the precincts of the royal lbct. xv.
palace, against the ancient law and usage. The prince was at ^^^^^
this time clasped in the arms of St. Colum Cill4, but he was Cathach.
torn from his grasp, carried beyond the prescribed boundary of
the court, and put to death. The king Knowing well that this
imusual insult to Colum Cilli would greatly add to his anger,
ordered a guard to be placed on him, and not to allow him to
depart from Tara imtil his excitement had become moderated.
Nevertheless Colum CilU passed out of the court witliout the
king's leave and unperceived by any one, " the justice of God
havmg thrown a veil of imrecognition around him". He was
soon missed, however, and a strong guard sent after liim to
bring liim back.
Colum CilUy we are then told, dispatched his attendants by
the usual route to the nortli, but toot himself a path over the
mountains north of Tara; and whilst thus traversing the wild
mountains alone, he composed and sung that remarkable poem
of confidence in the protection of the Holy Trinity, the Father,
and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, of which a fine copy with
an English translation has been published in the Miscellany of
the Irisn Archaeological Society. This poem contains seventeen
quatrains, and begins thus [see original m Appendix, XCVH.] :
Alone am I upon the mountain.
O King of Heaven, prosper my way.
And then nothing need I fear,
More than if guarded by six thousand men.
The authority from which I quote then proceeds to say, that
Go<l carried Saint Colum CilU in safety over the mountains,
and into his native country of Tirconnel [now Donnegall].
Here, we are informed, he complained to his powerful
friends and relatives^for he was of the race of Tir Chonaill
[Tirconnell] directly, and the men of 77r Eoghain [Tyrone]
were his cousins. These warlike tribes immediately took up his
cause, and marched with him into a place called Cuil-Dreimni
[between SHgo and Dromclift"], where they were joined by
£ochaiclh Tirmcliania^ the king of Connacht, whose son had
been so unmerciiuUy put to death by the monarch Diarmaid.
The monarch having been duly apprised of the revolt of his
northern and western provinces, mustered a large force, marched
at their head into Connacht, and pitched his camp in the vicinity
of that of his enemies. A battle ensued on the next day, in
which the royal army was routed with a great loss, and the
monarch returned discomfited to Tara.
The king, however, soon after made his peace with St.
Colum CilU and his friends : but the saint himself did not feel
330 OF THE REMAINS OF THE EABLT CHRISTIAN PEBIOD.
ucT.xT. easy in his conscience for having been the cause of the blood-
^ ^j^ shed at the battle of Cuil DreimnSj and, to relieve his conscience,
Caxbacb. he went to confession to St. Molain of Damh-Inis [now * De-
venish', in Loch Erne]. St. Molaiai then passed upon him the
penitential sentence to leave Erinn forthwith, and never again
to see its land. Tliis penance St. Colum soon performed, by
sailing to the coast of Scotland with a large company of eccle-
siastics, ecclesiastical students, and others. They landed on the
island of /, or JSy, where they established themselves ; and that
hitherto obscure island soon became the glory of the west of
Europe, under the still venerable name of lona.
Lastly, we are told (in the same Life already referred to)
that this book was the Catliach (or Book of the Battle) on
account of which the battle was Ibught, and that it was the
chief relic of St. Colum CilU in Tir Clumaill; that it was covered
with silver, and that it was not lawful to open it (the covering) ;
that if carried three times to the right around the army of the
Cinel Conaill, at going to battle, it was certain they would return
victorious ; and that it was upon the breast of an hereditary lay
successor, or of a priest without mortal sin (as far as he could
help), it was proper the Caihach should be carried around that
army. [Sec same Appendix.]
This sacred relic appears at all times to have received the
Eeatest veneration from the noble family of the O'Donnells of
onnegall, who for the last seven hundred years have been the
most important branch of the line of the descendants of Conall
Gulbariy the remote ancestor of this and the other great families
of Tirconnell. This Conall, who was the son of the monarch
Niall the Great, was converted by St. Patrick. It has been
stated, on the authority of a tradition in the O'Donnell family,
that at tlie time of his conversion Conall had received the saint's
benediction, together with a special mark of favour ; for that
the saint inscribed a cross with the spike or heel of his pastoral
staff (the celebrated JSachall losa, or staff of Jesus) on his
shield, and recommended him to adopt the motto of ^' Li hoc
signo vinces", which the O'Donnells accordingly retained down
to the time of the dispersion of the clann in the seventeenth
century. This was in fact the belief of the O'Donnells and old
families of Tir Chonaillj from the close of the sixteenth century
down, at least. The belief was first put forth in a poem by
Eoghan Ruadh Mac-an-Bhairdj who took it from the 138th
chapter of Jocelyn's Life of St. Patrick. Jocelyn, however,
does not apply the passage to Conall Gulban. The Tripartite
life of the Saint applies it to Conall the son of Amhalgaidh,
king of Connacht, who at the same time received from the
OF THE REMAINS OF THE EABLT CHRISTIAN PERIOD. 331
saint the name of Conall Sciaih Bhachall^ or Conall of the lhct. xv.
Crozici-Shield. This Conall's race is not now known. ^^ ^^
This book of St. Colum CilU must have been encased in Catbacb.
an ornamented shrine at some early period ; but we find that it
was further cared for at the close of the eleventh century, by
CatJibliarr O'Donnell, chief of Tirconnell, and Donnell O'Raf-
ferty, abbot of Kells (in Meath), who was one of the O'Raffertys
of Tirconnell, and thus eligible to succeed his family patron-
saint, Colum CilU, in any of the many churches founded by him
throughout Erinn, one of which was the important church of
Kells. This O'Rafferty died in the year 1098 ; and Cathbharr
O'Donnell died in the year 1106 ; so that the magnificent silver-
gilt and stonenset case, which now surmounts the older cases of
this most ancient and interesting relic, must have been made
some time before the year 1098, in which tliis abbot of Kells
died. The authority mr these dates is found on the shrine itself,
in the following words [see original in Appendix, No. XCVIII.] :
" A prayer for Cathbharr O'Donnell, by whom [that is, by
whose desire and at whose expense] this shrine was made ; and
for Sitric, the son of Mac Aedha LMac Hugh], who made it;
and for Domhnall Ua Robhartuiyh [Donnell O'Rafferty], the
Comharba [or Successor] of Cenannus [Kells], by whom it was
made [that is, at whose joint expense with that of O'Donnell
it was made]".
TTie last mark of devotion conferred on this relic was a solid
silver rim or frame, into which the original slirine fits. This rim
contains an inscription, from which it appears that it was made
in the year 1723, by order of Daniel O'Donnell, who, there is
reason to beUcve, fought at the battle of the Boyne, after which
he retired to the continent. At his death, or some time pre-
viously, it appears, he deposited this important heirloom of his
ancient family in a monastery in Belgium, with a written in-
junction that it should be kept until claimed by the true repre-
sentative of the house of O'Donnell ; and here it was discovered
accidentally in or about the year 1816, by a Mrs. Molyneux, an
Irish lady who had been travelling on the continent, and who,
upon her return home, reported tlie circumstance to Sir Neal
O'Donnell of Westport. This gentleman had asserted his claim
to the chieftainship of his name and race, under the authority
of the late Sir William Betliam, Ulster King-at-arms ; and thus
prepared, he applied for the Cathach, through his brother, the
late Conall O'Donnell, then in Belgium, who succeeded in ob-
taining it accordingly.
From Sir Neal O'Donnell, the Cathach descended to his son,
the present Sir Richard O'Donnell of Newport, county Mayo ;
332 OF THE REMAINS OF THE EARLY CHRISTIAN PERIOD
Of the
Catoach.
or the relio
caUed the
who With characteristic liberality has left it for exhibition among
the many congenial objects of Christian, historical, and anti-
quarian reverence, preserved in the Museimi of the Royal Irish
Academy.
The fragment of the original " Book of Battles", contained in
this shrine, is of small quarto form, consisting of fifty-eight
leaves of fine veUum, written in a small, uniform, but rather
hurried hand, with some slight attempts at ilhimination: and
when we recollect that this fraraient was written about thirteen
hundred years ago, by one whose name, next to that of our
great apostle. Saint Patrick, has held the highest place in the
memory of the people of liis own as well as ol foreign countries,
we have reason indeed to admire and reason to be proud of the
intense and tenacious devotion which could, under most un-
favourable circumstances, preserve even so much of so ancient
and fragile a monument.
While speaking of relics so remarkable as those of the
Domhnach Air g id and the Cathach, rendered sacred in our eyes
by the touch of our national apostle and Saint Colum Cilld, I
cannot omit altogether to mention that I have met with two
notices of certain objects, likewise said to have been in the
churches of these saints, and bearing their names, though at
periods subsequent to their own time.
The precise nature of these objects I am yet imable to deter-
mine. But it may not be without use to call attention to the
matter, as it is possible that those more intimately acquainted
with ancient ecclesiastical remains in other countries, may be
able to form some opinion of the probable nature of those to
which I refer. They are mentioned under the name of Cuile-
badh, Cuilebaidhy or Cuilefadh,
The very beautiful (but wild and fanciful) legend in which
the Cuilefadh of Saint Colum CilU is described is of great an-
tiquity. Its language is very ancient and difficult, but the whole
presents an excellent example of that combination of highly
poetic imagery, and deep, though simple piety, so common in
our early Gaedhlic compositions. Wild as this legend may seem,
I cannot myself doubt that it is but the development of some
record of one of the many voyages of our early missionaries.
It cannot be doubted that at a very early period the Christian
fidth was carried by missionaries fi-om our shores far into the
regions of the north. And it is admitted by several writers that
books and other remains of the early Gaedhlic propagators of the
Gospel were found in Iceland in the eleventh century. Taken
by itself, the legend of the Cuilefadh would be interesting ; but
OF THB REMAINS OF THE EABLY CHBISTIAN PERIOD. 333
as illustrative of these observations, and regarding it therefore as lect.xv.
based on fact, it must be considered of real importance ; and, for
both reasons, I tliink it will be worth while to introduce an called the
abstract of it here. ^"^^
On the death of the monarch Domhnall, son of Aedh, son of
Ainmiri (a.d. 639), liis eldest son, Donnchadh (or Donach),
became king of the Cinel Conaill; and his younger son, Fiacha,
became king of tlie Fer Rots. Fiacha much oppressed his sub-
jects ; and his oppression was at length the cause of liis death
at their hands. It is stated that in the second year of his
reign, he held a meeting of his people at the mouth of the
river Boyne, and that during the holding of that meeting a wild
deer, started by them, was followed by the king's guards ; where-
upon the men of Ross, enraged at such an assertion of " prero-
gative", killed the king himsell\vith his own weapons. Fiacfia^a
brother, Donnchadh^ came upon them in revenge ; but he stayed
his vengeance until he should consult liis Anmchara (literally,
" soul's iriend"), the Comharba (Successor) of Saint Colum CilU^
to whom he sent a message to lona, to ask his advice on the case.
The Comharba of St. Colum Cilli sent over two of his con-
fidential clerics, Snedligus and Mac Riaghla, Avith his advice;
which was, that Donnchadh should send sixty couples of the
men and women of Ross, in boats, out upon the sea, and
then leave them to the judgment of God. The exiles were ac-
cordingly put into small boats, laimched upon the water, and
watched, so that they should not land again.
The priests, Snedhgus and Mac Eiaghla, having discharged
their own duties, set out upon their return to lona. As they
were |>assing along over the sea, they determined to go of their
own will on a wandering pilgrimat!:e, and leave to Providence
the direction of their course ; praying, at the same time, to bo
carried to wherever the sixty banisTied couples had found a
resting place. They then ceased to work or direct their boat;
and tlie wind carried them north-westwards, into the ocean.
The legend then proceeds with a fanciful account of how
they were driven to several wonderful islands, some inhabited,
and some uninhabited. In some they were received with
friendship, in others with hostility. After being carried to
several of these islands, however, the wind at last blew them
to one, in which there was an immense ti-ee, on which were
perched a flock of beautiful white birds, with a chief bird, hav-
ing a golden head and silver wings. This great bird related
to them the history of the world, from its beginning ; the Birth
of Christ, of Mary the Virgin : His Baptism, Passion, and Re-
surrection; as well as His coming to the judgment. And,
334 OF THB REMAINS OF THE EARLY CHRISTIAN PERIOD.
UBCT.xv. when the great bird had concluded, all the rest lashed their
Of the relic ^^^ ^*'^ *^^®"^ wings, Until the blood gushed from them, out
cjjifd^ of terror of the day of judgment. And the great bird gave
one of the leaves of the foliage of tliis great tree to the priests ;
and this leaf was as large as the hide of a great ox ; and he
ordered them to carry it away, and lay it on Saint Colum
Cill^s altar. '* And it is St. Colum CUlis Cuile/aidh at this day
in Cennanas [or Kclls]".
** Sweet was the music of these birds'', continues the story,
" singing psalms and canticles in praise of the Lord, for they
were the birds of the plains of Heaven ; and the leaves or body
of the tree upon which they were, never decay. And the
clerics left the island, and were driven by the wind to another
island ; and, as they were approaching the land, they heard the
sweet voices of women smging; and immediately they re-
cognized this music, and said, ' That is the Sianan [or sweet
plaintive song] of the Women of Erinn' : and, having come to
land, they were joyfully received by the women, who spoke to
them in their own language, and conducted them to the house
of their chief, who told them he was the chief of the banished
men of Erinn. The clerics then returned safely home".
It is to be remarked that after every little prose article, in
this curious piece on the adventures of tne clerics, the incidents
arc simimed up in verse ; from which it may be inferred that
the whole story was originally written in verse. The tale from
which I have abstracted the account is preserved in the MS.
H. 2. 16, Library of T.C.D.
It is further to be remarked that in the short metrical sum-
mary of tliis legend, there is no mention that the great leaf, or
Cuuefadh^ was placed on the altar of St. Colum Cille at Kells ; and
from this circumstance we may fairly assume that the verse is
older than the prose, and that what was originally a short nar-
rative poem was at a subsequent period broken up and interpo-
lated with a prose commentary. That this was done some time
after the year 1090, before which the Cuilefadh was not at
Kells, will appear quite clear from the following curious entry
in the continuation of the Annals of Tlghemach at that year.
[See original in Appendix, No. XCIX.'
" 1090. The sacred relics of St. Colum CillS, namely, the
Clog na Righ [or Bell of the Kings], and the Cuilebaighj and the
two gospels, were brought from Tirconnell, and seven score
ounces of silver ; and it was Aengus O'Domhnallain that brought
them from the north".
It may be asked, to what place they were brought. This,
OF THB REMAINS OF THE EARLY CHRISTIAN PERIOD. 335
I think, is sufficiently shown to have been Kells by the follow- lbct. xv.
ing entry, which I take from the Annals of the Four Masters, ^^^^^,^0
at the year 1109 : — called the
" Oengus O'Domhnaillain, chief spiritual director and chief ^*^^*^
elder of St. Colum Cillea people, died at Kells".
His name, likewise, appears as a witness to a charter of land,
in an entry in the great Book of Kells, in Trinity College.
The Cuilefadh of St. Patrick, or of Armagh, is alluded to in
the Annals of the Four Masters, at the year 1128, where men-
tion IS made of a young priest who had been carrying it being
killed by an assault of the O'Rourkes of Briefni^ on the Cornh-
arba or Primate of Armagh, when returning from Connacht
with his offerings.
A third CuiUfadh is spoken of in connection with another
Seunt, — Saint JEimhin, from whom the modem town of Monas-
ter-evan takes its name. It is referred to in a vellum MS. of
the year 1463, in the Royal Irish Academy (43. 6 ; p. 17).
[See Appendix, No. C]
Such arc the only notices of this imknown object that I am
acquainted with.
The DomJinach Airgid and the Cathach may be assigned, re- of nrtons
gpectively, to the fifth and the sixth centuries ; and in every point an/Iis.
of laew they must be regarded as objects of extraordinary into- ^^^
rest and great archaiological value- Several similar relics, but
of a less considerable antiquity, still exist in various parts of the
country and in the hands of different owners. There are also
some in England and on the Continent.
Several forms of shrine are to be met with ; one of the most usual
is in the shape of a square, usually flat, box ; another resembles
in figure the outlines of a church, as in the instance of the beautifiil
httle shrine in the possession of Mr. W. Monsell, M.P., now de-
posited in the Museum of the Royal Irish Academy ; and it is
to this latter more especially, I believe, that the name of Domh-
nach applies, though the present case of the Domhnach Airgid^
BS we have seen from Dr. Petrie's description, is a square box.
Of the other enshrined manuscript relics with which I am
acquainted, I shall only mention a few of the most remarkable.
" Dioma's Book", an illuminated manuscript of the gospels,
made by a scribe of that name (and made it is said for St. Cro-
nan of Koscrea, who died in the beginning of the seventh cen-
tury), was preserved in that neighbourhood till the early part
of the present century. This relic is now in the hbrary of
Trinity College, which also possesses another shrine and book,
336 OF THE REMAINS OF THE EARLY CHRISTIAN PERIOD.
LiecT.xT. those namely of St. Moling of Tigh Moling [now St. Mullins],
Of Tarioua "^ *^® county Carlo w.
othershriaes Besidcs thcsc, we have the shrine of St. Molaiae^ in the
JSidf"^ possession of Mr. Charles Haliday ; another shrine in the pos-
session of the Eari of Dunraven ; and that known as the Mio-
aach^ now In the College of St. Columba, near Dublin.
The Mioaach was one of the three insignia of battle which
Saint Cairnech of TuiUn [now Dulane, near Kells, in Meath],
appointed to the Clanna Neill, "t.^. to the clanns o{ Conall
and of Eoghaii" [the O'Donnells and O'Neills] ; the other two
being the Caihach of which I have already spoken, and the
Cloc Phatraic or Bell of St. Patrick. [See Appendix, No. CI.,
for the whole passage from H. 2. 16. T.C.D.] The word Mio-
sack means literally " Monthly**, or, " of Months" ; and the relic
was probably a Calendar.
Dr. O'Connor, in the Stowe Catalogue, describes, and gives a
plate of, a shrine, then in the possession of the Duke of Bucking-
nam, but now amongst the maccessible treasures of Lord Ash-
bumham.
A shrine and manuscript are said, by the same authority,
to have been discovered m Germany by Mr. Grace. Dr.
O'Connor supposes this shrine to have been carried to the Irish
monastery of Katlsbon by some of those Irish ecclesiastics who
carried donations thither in 1130 from Torloch O'Brien, king
of Munster, as stated in the " Chronlcon Ratisbonense", or
Chronicle of Ratisbon.
Of the M- Next to this class of venerable relics, we cannot pass without
muiriet, " a notlcc, howcvcr brief, the other numerous objects of ecclesi-
cfoSera, astlcal art which have come down to us, such as Reliquaries,
SuTJSb.***** Bells, Crozlers, Crosses, etc., etc. Many of these articles exhibit
•erred to ui, a high degree of skill in the workmanship, great beauty of
design, and most delicate finish of all the parts.
No descriptions would be adequate to convey to you any idea
of these singularly beautiful remains of our ancient Irish art.
But, fortunately, description Is the less necessary, as in the rich
collection of the Royal Irish Academy, which is alwaj*^ open
to the public, some of the choicest specimens of tliese relics
may be examined at leisure by all interested in antiquarian
studies. And as these remains are of value, not only for their
own intrinsic excellence, but as throwing light on the condition
of the arts in Ireland at remote and but little known periods ;
and as they likewise often furnish valuable testimony of the
genuineness of our manuscript records, which, in their turn,
may be so effectually employed to illustrate the hlstoiy and
OF THE REMAINS OF THE EARLY CHRI^JIAN PERIOD. 337
uses of several of these objects; I trust that many of my lect.xv,
hearers, especially those who are students of this University, ^^^
•■11 1 •• 1 -^r ^ • ^ • t i Oftliean-
will be constant visitors to that great Museum, which, mdeed, cient Reu-
must henceforward be the chief school for the genuine study of SeiS**
Irish ecclesiastical archaeology, as well as of Celtic antiquities cfSlS^'etc,
in general. ■**" p"^
Many beautiful and ancient relics, however, still remain in
private hands ; and perhaps the most remarkable of all these is
the Bell of St. Patnck with its magnificent shrine, now in the
possession of the Rev. Dr. Todd, and which, we have every
reason to beheve, is actually the Finn Faidheach^ or "sweet-
sounding", that was once used by the Saint himself, and which
was made for him by Mac Cecht, one of his three smiths.
Another Bell, which is also believed, and not without reason,
to have belonged to St. Patrick, is in the choice and beauti-
ful collection of Dr. Petrie. It is in bronze, and not enshrined.
Mr. Cooke of Birr, also, was the fortunate possessor of a beauti-
fully enshrined bell, known as the Beaman Culann, (or the
gapped bell of St. Culann,) since sold by him to the British
Museum. And in the collection of the same gentleman there is a
bronze bell, which he states to have been found in the holy well
of Lotlira^ in Ormond, and which, there is ground for believing,
is the bell which Saint Ruadlian of Lothra rang as he made the
circuit of Tara, when he cursed that ancient residence of the
Irish monarchs in the sixth century, after which it was deserted.
Many other bells of great interest and antiqui^ still exist,
the history of which is scarcely less deserving of notice; but
time will not allow me to dwell on them here.
Several shrines and reliquaries also remain. The chief of them
are : that of St. Manchan of Liath Manchain in Westmeath ;
tliat of St. Maodhooy which belonged to the O'Ruaircs of
Breifni^ but was lately in the possession of his Grace the Most
Rev. Dr. Slattery, late Archbishop of Cashel ; and the beautifid
shrine of St. CaUlbiy now, or lately, in the hands of Dr. Petrie.
Another class of ancient reliquaries is that amongst the most
beautiful of which is the Lamh Lachtain, or Shrine of the Arm
of St. Laclitain^ in bronze, inlaid with silver, and presenting
four exquisite patterns of tracery inlaid. This beautiful reliquary,
which (Lites from the early part of the twelfth century, has, it is
to be regretted, become lost to Ireland, and passed into English
hands. A somewhat similar reliquary, but not of the same ela-
borate workmanship, is in the possession of the Lord Bishop of
Down, the Right Rev. Dr. Denvir.
Our collections of antiquities contain several beautiful cro-
zieis, many of which arc of a very early period. Amongst
22
338 OF THE REMAINS OF THE EARLY CHRISTIAN PERIOD.
LKCT. XV. these may be particularly noticed a fragment of the crozier of
Of the an- I^^^^^t which, perhaps, is the oldest we have, and which,
cicntRcii- thel^ is reason to believe, belonged to St. Colum CillS himself,
bSIS^ the founder of the church of Durrow ; it was presented by him
CroMe^etft, ^ Cormac, his dear friend and successor.
"*"*Sto ^^^ ^^^^ older, and asserted to have been brought into Ire-
land by St. Patrick, existed in Christ Church m this citv,
till the year 1522, when it was destroyed by an infuriated mob.
This crozier was known as the Bachall losa, or Staff of Jesus,
a name accounted for by a curious legend preserved in the Tri-
partite Life of the Samt. Under this name it is constantly
referred to in ancient Irish writings. [See Appendix, No.
CIL]
A very ancient crozier, said to have belonged to St. Finn-
bharr (of Termonbarry, in Connacht), — and believed to have
been made by Conlaedh, the artificer of St. Biigid of Kldare,
early in the sixth century, — is now in tlie Museum of the
Royal Irish Academy, as well as a beautiful crozier of about the
year 1120, which, tnerc is reason to believe, belonged to Clon-
macnoise.
In the collection of Dr. Petrie, so often alluded to before,
there are some very beautiful examples of croziers, of exquisite
workmanship, and undoubtedly of very high antiquity. There
IS also one m the possession of the clergymen of Clongowe's
Wood College, which, there is reason to believe, was once
the crozier of St. Mary s Abbey, Dublin.
Passing over that now at Lismore Castle, and that of St
Blathmac, and others in the Royal Irish Academy, the most
highly-finished of all will be found to be that now tne property
of nis Eminence the Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster. This
crozier bears a Gracdhlic inscription, which identifies it with the
Church of Kells, and assigns it to the middle of the eleventh
century.
Various other objects of great interest, — as the Cross of Conga
[Cong]; the Fiacail Phadraig (the Tooth of St. Patrick) ; the
mias Tighemain (the Paten of St. Tigheman, dug, it is said,
out of the grave of that saint in an island in Loch Conn, and
now in the possession of the Knox family, of the county of
Mayo), — would require observation, did our limits admit of it.
But it is not to be imderstood that in this notice of our anti-
quarian remains I mean to do more than call attention to their
great importance, and the aids which they furnish us in so many
ways in the study and illustration of the manuscript remains of
OUT ancient Graednlic literature, and more especially of that part
of it which relates to early Christian times.
1-' "
f'
\
LECTURE XVI.
rDtttTered Uith SO, 18U.]*
EccLEgiJiSTiCAi^ MSS. Of the Early Liyes of the Saints of Erinn. Of the
Tripartite life of St. Patrick. Of the contents of the Leahhar M6r Dana
Doighri^ now commonly called the Leahhar Breac,
We come now to the ancient books and compositions,— of which
we still have so great a number remaining m the Gaedhlic lan-
guage, some of them, indeed, of extreme antiquity, — ^relating to
sacrcd and ecclesiastical subjects. Amongst the most important
of these are the numerous tracts known as the Lives of the
Saints, several Martyrologies and Festologies, and many works
in prose and verse on various sacred subjects.
Of the curious and valuable historic tracts, once very nume-
rous, called Lives of the Saints, we have still left to us a good
many. Of these, some are written on vellum; and some on
paper, copied from ancient vellum books. Amongst those
written on vellum, we have three lives of Saint Patrick ; namely,
one known as the Tripartite Life, in the British Museum ; one
in the MS. commonly called the Leahluxr Breac^ but properly
the Leahhar M6r Duna Doigliriy in the Royal tish Academy;
and a third in the Book of Lismore, at Lismore Castle.
Of the Lives of St. Colum Cilli we have also three written on
vellum, namely, one in the same Leahhar Mdr Duna Doighr^^
in the Royal Lrish Academy ; one in the Book of Lismore ; and
O'Donnell's great Life of his Patron Saint and illustrious rela-
tive, now in the Bodleian Library at Oxford.
Of St. Brigid we have two ancient Lives on vellum ; namely,
one in the same Leahhar M6r Duna Doighri^ in the Royal Lish
Academy, and one in the Book of Lismore ; there is another on
paper (about 140 years old) in the Royal Irish Academv.
Of St. Senan^ of Iniscathaigh (now called Scattery Island, in
the Lower Shannon), there is a Life on vellum in the Book of
Lismore, and another on paper, which is much more copious
in incidents, in my own possession. This latter copy was made
about the year 1720, from an original now I fear lost, by An-
drew Mac Curtin, a native of the coimty of Clare, and one of
the best Graedhlic scholars then living.
* See note at p. 820.
22 b
340 OF THE EARLY ECCLESIASTICAL MS8.
LECT. XVI. Of St. Flimen, of Clonard, there is a Life on vellum in the
Of the an- Book of Lismorc.
dent uvi Of St. Finnchu, of Brigobhann, in the county of Cork, there
S££m!*"** is also a Life on vellum in the Book of Lismore.
Of St. Ciaran, of Clonmacnois, there is a Life on vellum
in the part of the Book of Lismore which is now in the city
of Cork; (see ante, p. 197).
Of St. MochiuXy of Balla, in the coimty of Mayo, there is a
Life on vellum in the same part of the Book of Lismore.
Of St. CailUrij o( Fidhnacha (in the county of Leitrim), there
is a Life on vellvun in the Royal tish Academy.
Of St. Ceallach, the son of Eoghan Bel, King of Con-
nacht, we have a Life on vellum in the Royal Irish Academy ;
and one in my own possession, which I transcribed some years
go from an ancient vellum manuscript, the property of James
arinus Kennedy, Esq., Dublin.
Of the Life of St. Moling, of Teach Moling (now St. Mullins,
in the coimty of Carlow), there is a copy in my own possession,
made by me some years ago, also from Mr. Kennedy's ancient
vellum manuscript.
Of the Life of St. Brendan, of Clonfert, there is a copy on
velliun in the part of the Book of Lismore which is now in
Cork.
We have on paper in Dublin, the Life of St. Patrick by Joce-
lyn, of St. Brigid of Kildare, and of St. Colum CiUi; the Lives
of St. Ciaran of Saighir (in the King's County) ; St. Declan
of Ardmore (in the coimty Waterford); St. Finan o{ Ard-Fi-
nain (in the county of Tipperary) ; St. Finan Cam of Cinn
Eitigh (in the King's County); St Finnbharr of Cork; St.
Mochuda of Raithin and Lismore ; St. MaodJiog, or Mogue, of
Feama Mhor, or Ferns (in the coxmty of Wexford) ; St. Caernh'
gJiin (or Kevin) of Gleann da Locha (or Glendaloch) ; St. Mo-
laisi of Damhinis (or Devinis in Loch Erne); and of St.
Grellan of Cill Chlrmini (in the county of Gralway).
We have in Dublin, — ^in the Royal Irish Academy, and in my
possession, — copies of all the Lives eniunerated in this list ; and
there is in the British Museum another collection of Lives of
Irish Saints, some on vellum, and some on paper.
There is another fine collection of Lives of Irish Saints in the
Burgundian Library at Brussels, collected by the venerable
Friar Michael O'Clery, the chief of the Four Masters, about the
year 1627. This collection consists of 39 different Lives, among
which are a few of those that we have here.
It is only a few years since these remarkable tracts of the
Lives of the Irish Saints were looked upon with distrust and
OF THE EARLY ECCLESIASTICAL MSS. 341
contempt both by Protestant and Catholic writers on Irish His- lbct.xvi.
tory. Even Dr. Lanig^an, a clear and able, but often tooQft,,^^„.
dogmatic writer, in his Irish Ecclesiastical History, never misses dent urU
an opportimity to scoff at the venerable Father John Colgan's 2f Siim?°**
creduli^ in giving to the world, in liis Acta Sanctorum Hiber-
niae, a few ofthese Lives in their original simplicity and fidelity
of detail. Dr. Lanigan, as it seems, would have nothing
published but what might seem to his own mind demonstrably
consistent with probabiUty: he would publish no legends of
miracles and wonders ; and he would give no view of the social,
political, and religious state of society obtained through the
medium of this most valuable class of ancient Irish writings.
Dr. Lanigan would expunge from these tracts everything that
was repuffnant to what Ii£ called "reason"; thus assunung to
himself the very important office of censor, and leaving the
world to rest satisfied with what he decided to be true history.
This mode of treating history has been tried by several writers
and in several countries. Ancient records have been digested,
the thread of continuous history carried down from time to time,
unincumbered by collateral details of fable, and all fact clothed
in legendary form rejected. These details, having the brand of
" worthlessness" and " fiction" stamped on them by some great
authority, were deemed unworthy of examination, and in course
of time were allowed to moulder and perish; carr^^ing with
them into oblivion, however, much of the broad plain history
of the ordinary life and acts of the great body of the world s
inhabitants, and leaving in its place only the limited picture
of tlie world's great personages and rulers.
Colgan and Keating, both of them Irish priests, have been or the
immercifuUy dealt witli by our writers of the last two hundred of coFSn
! rears, on the very unfounded assumption that both these truly "»^^«*"°«-
earned men believed themselves everything which appears in
their writings. This can scarcely be called a fair proceeding,
when we remember that Keating never professed to do more
than abstract without comment what he found before him in
the old books ; and that Colgan had not promised or undertaken
to give a critically digested History of the Lives of the Irish
Saints at all. In fact Colgan, like Keating, shnply undertook
to pubUsh through the more accessible medium of^the Latin lan-
guage, the ancient Uves just as he found them in the Gaedhlic.
And it would be more becoming those who have drawn largely
and often exclusively, on the writings of these two eminent
men, and who will continue to draw on them, to endeavour to
imitate their devoted industry and scholarship, than to attempt
to elevate themselves to a higher position of literary fame by
342 OF THE EABLT ECCLESIASTICAL MSS.
LECT.xvi. a display of critical pedantry and what they suppose to be in-
dependence of opinion, in scofling at the presumed credulity of
dent Uvea thosc whosc labouTs havc laid in modem tmies the very ground-
SSii^^ work of Irish history.
But what, after all, is the reason of the very decided attempt
to throw discredit on the Lives of the Irish Saints ; and why
are they condemned as the contemptible and fabulous produc-
tions concocted in latter ages, that they are often supposed to be ?
No one who examines for himself can doubt that many holy
men, at the first preaching in Erinn of the glad tidings of sal-
vation by Saints talladius and Patrick, founded those countless
Christian churches whose sites and ruins mark so thickly the
surface of our coimtry, even to tliis day, still bearing, through
all the vicissitudes of time and conquest, the imchanged names
of their original founders.
Of St Adam- St. Adamnan, an Irishman, and the tenth abbot of lona after
o"t ci£m Saint Colum CilU^ the founder of that great seat of piety and
^^^^ learning, wrote a life, in Latin, of his great predecessor and
patron. St. Adamnan died, according to the Annals of the Four
Masters, in the year 703. This Life, therefore, must have been
written some time in the seventh century, say in about three
fenerations after the death of Saint Colum Cille; Father Colgan
as published this life in his Trias Thaimiaturga, and although
it is as full of wonders as any of the other Lives, yet it certainly
cannot be placed in a Ust of lives written in the latter ages.^*|
Be this as it may, however, the acknowledged fact that St. Adam-
nan wrote a life of his relative, predecessor, and patron, in three
generations, at most, after the death of the latter, is sufficient
authority for the antiquity of the practice of writing or compil-
ing such works, at this, if not at an earlier period. And as
there were in Erinn in the fifth, sixth, and seventh centuries,
many men as holy and almost as distinguished in their lives as
St. Colum cms, and as the churches tliey founded continued
to be occupied and governed by men as eminent and devoted
as St. Adamnan, there is no good reason to doubt that the very
ancient Lives of St. Brigid, St. Ciaran of Saighir, St. Ciaran
of Clonmacnois, St. Finnbharr of Cork, St. Finnen of Clonard,
and many others, were written by their bnmediate successors in
their respective churches.
The idea of writing the Lives of the Saints of Erinn first ori-
^nated, it would appear, with St. Fiacc, the celebrated poet,
who was converted by St. Patrick, and consecrated the first
««> Thifl most intepesting work has been ably edited, since the above Lecture
WM deUvered, by the Rev. W. Reeves, DJD., M.EJ.A., for the Iriah Archseo-
logical and Celtic Society.
OF THE BARLT ECCLESIASTICAL MSS. 343
Bishop of Lelnster. His chiircli was at SWhhti (Sletty) in the lect. xn.
present barony of Idrona and county of Carlow. This bishop ^^^
Fiacc wrote a metrical life of his great patron Patrick, some cient*i^et
time between the years 538 and 558 ; withm which period Diar- Sf &?nn?*°**
inaid Mac Ferghma Cerrbheoil reigned as Monarch of Erinn, in jfiJ^^f^'*
whose time Tara was cursed and deserted, — a fact alluded to as Patrick.)
foretold only in this poem, and which is itself an illustration of
the veracity of our ancient writers in this respect. [See Ap-
pendix, No. CHI.]
We have it on the authority of the Tripartite itself, that St.
Patrick s life and miracles were collected by no less than six
different writers, not including Fiacc of Sleibhti; among
whom were St. Colum CilU who died a.d. 592, and probably
the St. Ultdn who died a.d. 656. We have it on the authority
of the Liber Hymnorum (a composition, I believe, of the tenth
century at least), that the Life and Acts of St. Brigid of Kil-
dare were collected and written by St. Ultdrij who died,
probably, as already observed, in the year 656.
It is not to be expected, however, that these curious narra-
tives of the lives and acts of the original founders of the Catho-
lic Church of Ireland should have come down to our time in
their primitive form, or without occasional expansions of some
sunplc facts into fictions ; but that the miracles and wonderful
works ascribed to the saints are mere fables, of comparatively
modem times, certainly cannot be insisted on, since we find the
same or similar acts recorded in the oldest lives of St. Patrick,
St. Brigid, and others, as in those which might be called later
lives. The "Book of Armagh", which is generally believed to
be as old as the year 807, — but which, I conceive, is probably
older than the year 727, — this very ancient book contains an ex-
tract from the Tripartite Life of St. Patrick, which records
some wonderful miracles of the Saint, which, if not found in
such ancient authorities as this, would be set down by modem
writers. Catholic as well as Protestant, as but silly inventions
of the twelfth, thirteenth, and fomteenth centuries.
To the truly philosophical writer and reader the Lives of our
Saints will present little that is inconsistent with the necessary
condition of neglected history and biography, but much that is
valuable as presenting a clear, and I doubt not, veritable view of
tlie actual state of society in all the relations of domestic, political,
and religious life, in those remote ages of our history ; and he will
scarcely feel called upon to discuss the precise time at which the
Almighty withdrew the grace of miraculous manifestations from
the chosen propagators of His divine law.
When foreign mvasion and war had cooled down the fervid
344 OF THE EABLT ECCLESIASTICAL MSS
LKCT.xvi. devotion of die native chiefs, and had distracted and broken up
Of the an *^® ^^^S established reciprocity of good offices between the
cient uris Church and the state, as well as the central executive controlling
of Eriim?*"*' power of the nation, the chief and the noble began to feel that the
lands which he himself or his ancestors had offered to the Church
might now with little impropriety be taken back by him, to be
applied to his own purposes, quieting his conscience by the ne-
cessity of the case. When such a state of things as this did
actually come to pass, during and after the Danish wars, it was
no wonder if the Airchinnechs (or " Erenachs'') of these church
lands, who were seldom if ever ecclesiastics, were induced to
take up the lives and acts of their patron saints, recopy them
from mouldering tomes, and incorporate with the old text fabu-
lous incidents of fearfid struggles between the original patrons
and the neighbouring chiefs of his day, in which the latter were
always sure to come off woi-st. I do not say that incidents of
this kind were not foimd in the very oldest of these lives, but I
am in a position to show that such mcorporations were actually
made in the eleventh and twelfth and even later centuries.
But, as to the genuineness and antiquity of many accounts
of real miracles, full evidence is furnished by several ancient
works. Thus, the Tripartite Life of Saint Patrick contains an
account of one which we find copied imperfectly into the Book
of Armagh. The following is the passage which relates this
curious incident, — one which I introduce for the piurpose of
illustration, as it shows how even a very old work may be
corrected by one still more ancient. [See original in Appendix,
No. C1V.]_
" One time", says the author of the Tripartite, " that St.
Sechnall [Secundinus], of Domhnach Sechnaill [now Dun-
shaughlin, in the county of Meath] went to Armagh, Patrick
was not there. He saw Patrick's servants having two chariot
horses unyoked. And Sechnall said : It were fitter to give these
horses to Fiacc the bishop. [The reason for sending the chariot
to Fiacc was, according to the Life, because he had a painful
sore on his leg.] Patrick arrived at these words, and heard
what was said. Patrick then yoked the horses to the chariot,
and sent them forth without anv one to guide [or take charge
of] them ; and they went straight to St. Mochtas hermitage m
Louth, where tiiey stopped that night. On the next day they
cfflne to DomJinach Sechnall [Dunsnaughlin]. They then went
to cm AtuaUle^ &om that to Cill Monachj and from that to
SUifjhti^ \m Carlow]^, to Bishop Fiacc'\
Now this legend is quite intelligible in the Tripartite, but in
the Boi>k of Annagh it is not so. And the latter version, I think
OF THE EARLY ECCLESIASTICAL MSS. 345
it not improbable, was constructed on the former in some such lect.xvi.
manner as that I have above indicated. oftheanci-
The Tripartite Life of St. Patrick, to which we have so often cnt uvea of
made allusion, has been long known to the writers on Irish ec- Ertnn- V "o
clesiastical history, through Father John Colgan's Latin transla- u^^^'
tion of it in his Trias Thaumaturga, published at Louvain in Patrick.)
the year 1647.
After this publication, the original tract appears to have been
lost, as no mention of Father Colgan's, or of any other copy of
it, occurs in any book or writing that I have seen or heard of, nor
did 1 ever know of any person who saw it, or had even heard
of its existence since Colgan's time. To those — and they were
many — who had faith in Colgan's honesty, the total disappear-
ance of this most important tract became a source of uneasi-
ness ; and with others an idea had at length sprung up, though
I believe not publicly expressed, that it was doubtful whether
Colgan, in his translation, had done justice to the original, and
whether he had not left out many things that might vitiate the
authenticity of the tract, as well as the pecuUar religious doc-
trines expressed and implied in it. This state of imcertainty,
however, exists no longer, as an ancient copy of this most
ancient and important tract has been recently discovered by
me among the vast literary stores of the British Museum.
In the month of May, 1849, I was summoned over to give
evidence before the Public Library Committee of the House
of Commons. After having been examined on two successive
days before that body, I determined to pay a short visit to the
British Museum, wliich I had never before seen ; and on being
properly introduced to Sir Frederick Madden, that learned ana
pohte officer at once gave me the most fi'ee access to the Mu-
seum collection of Irisli manuscripts. Among the voliunes laid
before me, my attention was at once caught by a thin book of
large quarto size in a brass cover, not a shrine, but a mere cover
of the ordinary shape and construction. On examining this
cover, I found it composed of two plates of brass, projecting
nearly half an inch over the edges of the leaves at the front and
ends, and connected at the back by a pair of hinges, thus giving
the volume perfect freedom of opening on a principle not much
put in practice by ordinary bookbinders. The brass was rather
clean, and had a modem appearance. The plates measured
about twelve inches in lengtn, nine in breadth, and three-
eighths in thickness. The front plate had a plain cross etched
on it about eight inches long, with arms in proportion. I im-
mediately guessed that the book within was not one of any
insignificant character, and I hoped indeed that it might be
346 OF THE EARLY ECCLESIASTICAL MSS.
LECT. XVI. some one of the many ancient works which, I well knew, had
been long missing. Full of expectation, I opened the volmne,
raVuvMof *^^ threw my eyes rapidly over the first page; from which,
E^i ^^°Sh' though much soiled and almost illegible, I discovered at once
•Ti^Jirtitc'* that I had come upon a life of St. Patrick. Being well ac-
paWdL)** quainted with all the Irish copies of this Life known to exist
here at home, I immediately found this to be one that was strange
to me, and it at once occurred to me that it was a copy of the long-
lost Tripartite. Under this impression, I called for Colgan's
Trias Thaumaturga, which havmg got, I at once proceeded
to a comparison ; and, although I am but little acquamted with
the Latin language, I soon found my expectations realized, for
it was unmistakeably a fine old copy of the Tripartite Life of
St. Patrick. The Tripartite occupied onginally twenty folios or
forty pages of this book ; but of these, the second and sixth folios
were cut out at some imknown time long gone by.
The volume, besides our saint's life, contains fragments of
two ancient liistorical tales, namely, Fledh Bricrinn^ or Brickrin's
Feast, and the Tain Bo Chuailgni^ mentioned in a fonner lec-
ture ; but these tracts are written in a different hand fix)m the
Tripartite, and must have been originally part or parts of dif-
ferent books.
The following translation of a notice at the end of the Tri-
partite gives the precise year in which it was transcribed. [See
original in Appendix, No. CV.]
" The annals of the Lord Jesus Christ, in the year that this
life of Patrick was written, were 1477; and to-morrow night
will be Lammas Eve, and it is in Baile an Mlwinin I am. It
was in the honse of W Troighthigh this was written by Domhnall
Albanach G Troighthigh^ and Deo Gratias Jesus'*.
There are so many places in Ireland called by the name of
Baili an Mlwinin (that is, the village or place at or of the
little boff), that it would be impossible, with only this mere ac-
cident of the name, to identify it. The 0^ Troighthiglis were,
however, originally natives of the coimty of Clare, either in or
near Corcomroe; and they were a clann of some note at an
early period in the history of that district, as appears from an
entry m the Annals of the Four Masters, at the year 1002 :
" ConchobhaVy the son of Maelsechlainn, lord of Corcomroe,
and Aicher O Troighthigh^ with many others, were slain by the
men of UmhalV\
This Conchobhar, son of Maelsechlainn^ was the founder of
the family name of O'Conor of Corcomroe.
With the former history of this volume we are quite un-
acquainted. We only know that it passed from us some twenty-
OF THE EARLY ECCLESIASTICAL MS8. 347
five years ago, in the tine collection of GaedLlic MSS., sold by lect. xvi.
Mr. James Hardiman to the British Museum ; and that it forms of theand-
No. 93, Egerton, in Mr. Hardiman s catalogue, where it i8®J*yj5^®^
set down as, " Life of St. Patrick, and other legends and his- Eiinn. (The
torical tracts on vellum in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries '. iSi^t
The antiquity of tliis Life, in all its .parts, may be well imder- p^^^cIu)
stood from the fact that, in the middle ages, it required an in-
terlined gloss, by the most learned masters, in order to make it
intelligible to their pupils and to other less learned readers. I
have myself fortunately recovered an ancient copy of those
glossed passages (in MS. H. 3. 18. T.C.D.), by which I am
enabled to form an opinion of the antiquity of tne text, which
it has not perhaps fallen to the lot of other GaedhUc scholars to
do. The antiquity of the tract may be also inferred from
Michael O'Clery's introduction to his Glossary of obsolete
Gacdhlic words, published in Louvain in the year 1643, in
which he classes the old Life of St. Patrick with several other
ancient tracts which required explanations ; explanations which
it had received from various eminent scholars, even down to his
own time : indeed any one intimately conversant with ancient
Gaedhlic writings will perceive at once that this tract is one of
great antiquity. This Life is written with frequent alternations
of Gaedhlic and Latin sentences, the latter sometimes explained
by the former ; but, generally, the narration continues on through
both.
Tliere can be Uttle doubt that the short sketch of St.
Patrick's life, written into the Book of Armagh, was taken
from this tract, for some reason that we cannot now discover ;
and there can be, I think, as little doubt that the annotations of
Tirechan on St. Patrick's Life, found, in Latin, in the same
Book of Anna^h (and which Tirechan says, he obtained fi-om
the books and trom the Ups of his predecessor, St. Ultan, whose
disciple he was, and who died, probably, a.d. 656), — there can
be little doubt, I say, that these notes were taken, so far, from
St. Ultan's >vritten Life of our apostle, as well as from his verbal
account of some information obtained or remembered by him
after the compilation, as it is mentioned in the present tract, of
our saint's life and acts. [See Appendix, No. CVL]
I have said that I do not know of the existence, at present,
of any other copy of the Tripartite Life of St. Patrick, besides
that which 1 had thus myself the good fortune to identify in the
British Museum ; but, in Colgan's time, there were three copies
of this life, " the author of which", says Colgan, " as it would
appear, was St. Eimhin, or Evin" — [Colgan, vol. ii p. 169].
I snail here quote what he says of those MSS.
348 OF THE EARLY ECCLESIASTICAL MSS.
LBCT.xvi. " We give this life", says Colgan, ** from three very ancient
Of the and- ^raedhlic MSS., collated with each other, and divided by its
ent Uvea of authoT into three parte, with a triple preface, one prefixed to
Erin^^^i each ; concerning tne fidelity, the authority, and the integrity,
ilfe^? as well as the author, of wnich we shall inform the rea&r m
Patrick.) the following observations:
" The first thing that is to be observed is, that it has been
written by ite first author, and in the aforesaid manuscript, partly
in Latin, partly in GraedhUc, and this in very ancient language,
almost impenetrable, by reason of ite very great antiquity ; ex-
hibiting, not only in the same chapter, but also in the same line,
alternate phrases, now in the Latin, now in the Gaedhlic tongue.
" Li the second place, it is to be noticed that this life, on ac-
count of the very great antiquity of ite style, which was held in
much regard, used to be read in the schools of our antiquarians
in the presence of their pupils, being elucidated and expounded
by the glosses of the masters, and by interpretations and obser-
vations of the more abstruse words ; so that, hence, it is not to
be wondered at that some words (which certainly did happen)
from these glosses and observations gradually crept into the
text, and thus brought a certain colour of newness into this most
ancient and faithfin author; some things bein^ turned from
Latin into Gaedhlic, some abbreviated by the scnbes, and some
altogether omitted"^. •««••«•
"Fourthly", he says, " it is to be observed, that, of the three
manuscripte above mentioned, the first and chief is from very
ancient vellimis of the O'Clerys, antiquarians in Ulster; the
second, from the O'Deorans in Leinster ; the third, taken from
I know not what codex : and that they differ from each other in
some respects ; one relating more diffusely what is more close
in the others ; and one relating in Latin what in the others
was told in Gaedhlic ; but we have followed the authority of that
which relates the occurrences more diffusely and in Latin".
Colgan then proceeds to consider the question of the author-
ship of this Life of the Saint.
He considers it as certain that the author was by birth a native
of Erinn, and by profession a monk or priest. That he was a native
of Erinn he considers proved by his exact and singular skill not
only in the native tongue, but also in the proper names of men,
places, families, and territories. He beUeves that the author flour-
ished before the end, or about the middle of the sixth century,
and that he was St. Eimhin (Evin), who, Jocelinus (cap. 186)
says, wrote the acte of St. Patrick, partly in the Latin, partly in
the Gaedhlic tongue. As to the age or time in which the writer
flourished, Colgan draws several very ingenious argumente from
OF THE EARLY ECCLESIASTICAL HSS. 349
the internal evidences in the work itself. The chief of these rest lkct.xvt.
on passages in which it is implied that, at the period in which they ^^^^
were written, certain individuals, the dates of whose deaths we cnt uvm of
can refer with tolerable certainty to some time in the sixth cen- Erin2?*°ffhi
tury, were then living. Thus we find the following: — " There JJJJ'^J^sJf'
is in that place a town called Brettan, where Loam is [est] Patrick.)
Bishop". Again : — " Patrick came to the Church of Donoch-
more, where Munca is Bishop". In another place he says: —
•* But this son of Milco is Bishop Guasactus, wno is to-day [ho-
diel at Granard in the territory of Carbry". Again, speaking
of St. Fiacc, he observes : " But no one of them rose up to the
servant of God, except Dubhthach OLugair^ arch-poet of the
king and kingdom ; and one young man of his disciples, who
is to-day [home] in the church oiSleihhW [Sletty.]
As far as internal evidence can go, these passages, suppos-
ing them to be genuine, which I see no reason to doubt, cer-
tainly seem to imply that the writer lived in the times of which
he speaks. It must be admitted, however, that this mode of
spealcing in the present tense, used by distinguished ecclesiastics
of the filth and sixth centuries, continued to ha used in the eighth
and ninth, as may be seen in the notes upon the Festology of
Aengus Ceili D6y though that work itself was written but shortly
before the year 798.
For myself, I can see no reason whatever to doubt any state-
ment to the effect that the acts of so remarkable a personage as
St. Patrick were committed to writing, and that probably by
more than one person, during his own lifetime, and by several
hands in the periods immediately subsequent to it. And
when a work narrating the acts of the saint's life is handed
down to our times, accompanied by a very ancient tradition,
and also by written testimony of its authenticity from a
very remote period, I cannot see how we are warranted in
rejecting it as spurious, or in presuming that, at least, the
basis or framework of the narrative is other than what it
purports to be.
Colgan, in summing up his evidence about the Tripartite,
quotes the passage from Jocelinus, in which that writer says,
that St. Eimhin (Evin) wrote a life of St. Patrick, partly in
I^atin, partly in Gacdhlic, and distinguishes this life from those
by Samts Benignus, Mel, Luraan, and Patrick Junior. It
appears, therefore, that, at the time in which Jocelyn wrote —
namely, the year 1185, it was believed that a life of St. Patrick
then existed, which had been written by St. Eimhin (Evin).
Colgan says that he believes the copies which he used were
essentially the same as that seen by Jocelyn.
350 OF THE EARLY ECCLESIASTICAL MSS.
LECT. XTL As to the objections which may be urged that St. Eimhin
Of the and- ^^^^^ ^^* ^® ^^ author of the Tripartite, on the ground that
ent Lives of there arc cited in it, as the writers of St. Patrick's miracles, the
Erii^^OTit names of St. Colum Cilli, St. Ultan, St. Aileran or Eleran the
ijfe^t* Wise, St. Adamnan, St. Ciaran o{Belach Duin, St. Cohnan, and
Patrick.) Others, who Uved after the time of Eimhin (Kvin), while St.
Eimhin liimself is not mentioned at all, he offers a very obvious
explanation — that the passages in which they are mentioned
are interpolations.
It is only natural to suppose that additions were made, at
various times, by the different scribes, or, as we may call them,
editors, tlirough whose hands the original passed ; or that the
assertion has reference to lives compiled by those writers after
St. Eimhin^ eacli absorbing in his own edition all that had
been written by his predecessor, (such indeed the Tripartite in
its present form appears to be) ; or, possibly, St. EimliMs Life
had not been accessible to the compiler.
As far as my judgment and my acquaintance with the idiom
of the ancient Gaednlic language will bear me, I would agree in
Father Colgan's deductions from the text of the Tripartite ; but
I cannot get over the fact that compilers of the seventh century
are mentioned in the tract itself It is curious, however, that
John O'Connell, of Kerry, who wrote a long poem on the
History of Ireland about the year 1650, refers to " St. EimhMs
Life of St. Patrick", and thus supplies us with an additional
authority in favour of Colgan's opimon.
The first of the three parts gives an account of St. Patrick's
parentage, captivity, education, arrival in Erinn, and mission
to his former master in Ulster, his return to Tara, and conflict
with king LaeghairS's Druids, etc.; and the part ends with
those remarkable words, as if the author had preached as well
as written the tract : " The miracles will be only related so far
this day". [See original in Appendix, No. CVII.]
The second part describes the saint's journey into Connacht,
and his return by Ulster, north and east, after an absence of
seven years ; and it ends with the same words as the first : " The
miracles will be only related so far this day".
The third part describes the saint's mission and travels into
Leinster and Munster, with liis return and death at Armagh.
[See observations on the opening passage of this third part, in
Appendix, No. CVIII.]
It is much to be regretted that Father Colgan did not live to
publish his Life of St Eimhin^ the reputed author of the Tri-
OF THE EARLY ECCLESIASTICAL MSS. 351
partite Life of St. Patrick ; however, as lie has fortunately given lect.
XVI.
US his festival, the 22nd of December, we are able to identify
him and establish his period. en/iSvci^f
In the Festology of Aengus CMle D6 (or the Culdce), we ErinS!^aT?e
find that writer, at the 22n(l of December, beseeching the in- Llf*^t**
tercession of St. Eimliin^ "the white" or " fair", from tlie banks Pawck.)
of the river Barrow. Now, the saint Eimhin from the brink
of the river Barrow, was Eimhin^ the founder of the original
church or monastery of Mainister Eimhin [now Anglicized
MonasterevanJ, on the brink of the Barrow, in the Queen's
County. This St. EimJiin was a Munsterman, and one of the
four saintly sons oiEoglian^ son oi Murcliadh^ son of Muiredhach^
son o{ Diarmaid, son of Eoghan, son of Ailill Flann Beg, son
of Fiacha Muillethan, son of Eoghan Mor, son of Oilioll Oluim,
kin^ of Munster, who died a.d. 234. Eimhin was thus the
nintn in generation from Oilioll Oluim, which, by allowing
thirty years to a generation, will make 270 years. This, added
to the year 234, m which Ailill died, will bring us down to the
year 504, in which year, then, this St. Eimhin was probably
living ; so that he had, very probably, seen and conversed with
St. Patrick, who had died only eleven years before this time,
or in 493.
Admitting, however, that the Tripartite Life of our saint was
compiled by St. Eimhin, it must be evident to any one that he
could not have had full personal cognizance of all the incidents
in the saints career which are introduced into the work. He
must have had the assistance of pci-sons who had attended
Patrick in liis various missionary travels. And his dividing the
work into tliree parts, each beginning with an appropriate in-
troduction, and apparently read at fixed periods, — all this would
seem to show that, whoever the writer was, the life was written
and collated at interv^als of a year or periods of greater length.
There can, I think, be little doubt that the lives said to have
been written by Colum Cille, Ultan, Adamnan, and others,
were primarily drawn from this compilation, and expanded by
the addition or incorporation of local information, which escaped
the original collector or compiler.
In our present limits we cannot go farther into the considera-
tion of this very ancient and important branch of religious and
ecclesiastical Gaedhlic literature, which we have comprised imder
the general name of Lives of the Saints of Erinn. The most re-
markable of them is, without doubt, the Tripartite life of our
great apostle, whose antiquity and authority we have been just
discussing. But many others of great interest, and also bearing
evidences of great antiquity, remain for consideration at a fu-
ture occasion.
352
OF THE EARLY ECCLESIASTICAL MSS.
LECT. xvr.
Of the con-
tents of the
Leabhar
Mdrlhina
Doighri,
called the
i.tabhar
Breae,
We now turn to another class of religious compositions in the
Graedhlic language ; and of these the cnief collection is to be
found in the great volume commonly known by the name of
the Leabhar Breac.
We have in the course of these lectures often had occasion
to refer to an ancient Graedhlic MS., generally called Leabhar
Breac, or Speckled Book, preserved in the Library of the
Royal Irish Academy; and as it is in itself a composition
of great interest and importance, and as we shall often have
occasion to refer to it in future lectures, it seems to me that a
brief general notice of it will be appropriate here.
The proper name of this book is Leabhar M6r Duna Doighri,
or the great book of Diin Doighri,
Dun Doiahrd was the name of a place on the Gralway side of
the river Snannon, some distance below the present town of
Athlone, where the great literary family of the Mac jiEgans
had, from time immemorial, kept schools of law, poetry, and
literature. This book appears to have been written by some
member of that learned family about the close of the fourteendi
century. It is not a transcript of any one book, but, as will be
.seen, a compilation from various ancient books, preserved chiefly
in the churches and monasteries of Connacht, Munster, and
Leinster ; such as Mainister ua g-Cormaic (or Abbey Grormacan,
in the county Galway) ; Leacaoin, in Lower Ormond ; Cluain
Sosta (Clonsost) in the Queen's County ; Clonmacnois, etc.
The volume is written in a most beautiful style of penman-
ship, on fine large folio vellum. The contents are all, with one
exception, of a religious character, and all, or nearly all, in the
purest style of Graedhlic. Many of the tracts are translations
and narratives from the Latin. Among these are found a Scrip-
ture narrative from the Creation to Solomon; the birth, lite,
passion, and resurrection of our Lord ; and the lives, and man-
ner of death of several of the apostles ; various versions of the
finding of the Cross, etc. There are besides these several pieces
ancient sermons or homilies for certain days and periods of the
year — such as, sermons for Lent, Palm Sunday, Easter Sunday,
Pentecost, on the institution of the Holy Eucharist, and others of
a similar kind. In these sermons the Scripture text is always
given in Latin, and then freely and copiously expounded and
commented on in pure Gaedhlic; and in the course of these
expositions various commentators are often mentioned and
quoted. Besides these sermons, there are many small tracts on
moral subjects, illustrative of the divine teachings of our Lord.
St. SechnalVa Hymn, in praise of his uncle St. Patrick, is also
to be found there ; as well as the celebrated Altus of St. Colum
OF THE EARLY ECCLESIASTICAL MSS. 353
CiU^; a Lorica by Gildas (who is believed to have been a lect. xti.
Saxon saint) ; etc., etc. ofthccon-
Among the original Irish tracts in the Leahhar M6r Duna tent* of tiie
Doighre, are found Pedigrees of the Irish Saints, compiled it is mSt nina
bcUeved by Aengns CeiUDiy at the close of the eighth century, fl^'^'/uo
as well as his celebrated Litany of the Irish Saints ; ancient ^''^•w
abstracts of the Lives of Saints Patrick, Colum CilU, and Brigid
of Kildare ; a curious historical legend of Cathal Mac Finghuini^
king of Munster in the eighth century, of Mac ConglinnS, the
poet, and of the abbot of St. Finnbarr's monastery at Cork ; the
Alartyrology o£Aengu8 CeiliDc^ written chiefly at Tamhlacht (or
Tallacht, in the county of Dublin), before the year 798 ; ancient
copies and expositions of tlie Lord's Prayer and the Ten Com-
mancbnents ; ancient rules of discipline of the religious order ot
tlie CC'ilidhe Di^ vulgarly called Culdees ; ancient Litanies and
Liturgies, monastic Rules, Canons, sacred Loricas, and countless
other articles of the same tendency, — among them an ancient
rule and law for the observance of Sunday, or the Lord's day.
The Leabhar M6r Diina Doighri contains also a Life of Alex-
ander the Great, remarkable as being copied from the ancient
Book of the celebrated St. Berchin of Cluain Sosta (or Clon-
fiost), who flourished so early as in the seventh century.
But to enter into more minute details of the contents of this
curious And important volume, would carry me beyond my pre-
sent purpose, nor, indeed, I may add, is it competent for a lay-
man to deal with them in any but a very general manner.
Compiled, as it was, from many and most ancient sources, the
Leabhar MOr Dana Doighre is the most important repertory of
oiu: ancient ecclesiastical and theological writings in existence ;
but it is not by any means our only resource for varied and
valuable information on these subjects.
I3csides the Martyrology of Acngus, contained in this volume,
we have the Marty rologies of Marianus Gorman ; the Martyr-
ology of Tamhlacht (or Tallacht) ; the Martyrology of Cathal
MacGuire, now at St. Isidore's in Rome ; and the Martyrology
of Donncgall, compiled by the Four Masters.
Some of my young friends, for whose special instruction in of the study
these matters I am honoured with a chair in this University, may ent^* Ma«n-
hcre ask, what is the use or benelit of examining and studying **l?8*«i »»*
1 • 1-1 n »# 1 • o mi • • other Eccl©-
tiiese ancient tracts, which we call Martyrologies .'^ ihis is a »iajiticai
question which may be answered in a lew words. Passing q^^u^JJ^ ^*
over altogether lor a moment the value of such studies in a
religious point of view, we shall take them at their mere anti-
quarian or their purely historical value.
23
354 OF THE BABLT fiOCLESIASTICAL H3S.
LECT. xvL And we may posidvely affirm, tliat it is totally impossible to
Of the rtnd ^^''''''j ^ Understand, or to write, either the civil or ecclesiastical
of the and- history of Erinn, without a deep and thorough acquaintance
ofogiM'*2d" with those yet unpublished and unexplored dociunents. This
2wScS*^ is felt and acknowledged by several writers and historic inves-
Hss. in the tigators of our day. So that I have no hesitation in asserting,
that until these national remains are thoroughly examined by
competent and well-qualified persons, we shsll have no civil or
ecclesiastical history of our country worthy of the name. But
even as a matter ot individual pride and gratification, indeed as
a matter of intellectual enjoyment, could there be anything more
agreeable to a cultivated nund than to know the ongin and his-
tory of those countless monuments of the fervid piety and devo-
tion of our primitive Christian forefathers, which are to be found
in the ruined church and tower, the sculptured cross, the holy
well, and the commemorative name of almost every townland
and parish in the whole island? Few out of the many thou-
sands who see those places and hear their names know any-
thing whatever of their origin and history ; and yet there is
not one of them whose origin and history are not well pre-
served, and accessible to those who will but qualify themselves
to become acquainted with them, by a proper study of the rich
and venerable old language in which they are recorded.
Besides these martyrologies, and the many tracts on ecclesi-
astical subjects preserved m the Leabhar M6r Duna Doighri^
you can scarcely open an ancient Graedhlic manuscript wimout
meeting one or more pieces in prose or verse, illustrative of the
rt principles, particular doctrines, and moral application of
Christian religion, as brought hither fi-om Kome, and
preached and established in Erinn by St. Patrick, in perfect
connection with, and submission to, tne never-failing Cnair of
St. Peter.
Mine is indeed but a poor attempt at placing before you a
view of tiie extent and variety of this important class of our
ancient writings ; but it ought to be sufficient, in consideration
of the natural duty that every man owes to himself, to his
country, and to his race, to induce a more general and profound
acquaintance with these long-neglected sources of our History.
LECTURE XVII.
[Denrmd Jolj 10, 1856 J
EccuiSiAsncAL MSS. (continaed). Of the early Ecclesiastical Writings in the
Gaedhlic language. Of the Books of Pedigrees of the carlj Saints of Erinn.
Of the Martjrologies and Festologies. llie Saltair na Rann. The Mar-
tvrology of Marianus 0*Gorman. The Martyrology of Tdmhlacht, The
Felir^, or Festology, of Acngus CeiU Dl Of the Canon of Foihadh.
The still existing materials for our ecclesiastical history are not,
and could hardly be expected to be, as ample as those ot the civil
history of the country ; because the causes which led to the ne-
glect, destruction, or dispersion of both, affected the former more
severely. From the ^ear 1170 to the year 1530, this country
was engaged in an incessant war for its civil independence
against a powerful and perfidious foreiffn foe. From the year
1530 again to the year 1690, she mamtained a war for civil
and religious liberty against a fierce tyranny, characterized
by robbery as foul and religious persecution as unrclentinff as
any with which the page of Christian history is stained. And
from 1690 to 1793 (to come down no farther towards our
own times), she was doomed to be the victim of a system of
plunder still more completely organized and more degrading
to the people, — a system under which the robbeiy of mere
property was even less galling than the brutal "domiciliary
visits" and the various other personal insults and wrongs in-
flicted under the protection of local legal tribunals where
savage injustice invariably reigned, and the oppression of a
legion of spies and informers from whom nothing could be
concealed and in whose hands the slightest evidence of a sus-
picious character became the means of destruction to the per-
secuted Catholic.
In such a country the hand of the local tyrant, the village
Nero and his spies, of course fell heaviest of all on the ministers
of God, the natural preservers as well as recorders of the history
of the Church. And from about the year 1530, in the reign of
tlie English King Henry the Eighth, to the year 1793, the
Sriests of Ireland were ever subject to persecution, suppression,
ispersion, and expatriation, according to the English law ; their
churches, monasteries, convents, and private habitations, were
pillaged and wrested from them ; and a Vandal warfare was kept
up against all tliat was venerable and sacred of the remains of
23 b
356 OF THE EARLY ECCLESIASTICAL HS8.
LECT. xTiT. ancient literature and art which they possessed. When, there-
Cauaeiof the ^^^» ^^ make scarch for the once extensive monuments of
loM and di»- learning which the ecclesiastical libraries contained of old, we
friSi^iBMie- must remember that this shocking system continued for near
JjJJJJJJ^"* three hundred years ; and that during all that long period the
th*i **tth"* ^^^^87 — ^^^ natimil repositories of all the documents wliich be-
centoriea. longed to the history of the Church — ^were kept in a continual
state of insecurity and transition, often compelled to resort to
the continent for education, often forced to quit their homes
and churches at a moment's notice, and fly for their lives, in the
first instance, to the thorny depths of the nearest forest or the
damp shelter of some dreary cavern, until such time, if ever it
should come, as they could steal away to the hospitable shores
of some Christian land on the continent of Europe. Such were
the times and such the circumstances which led to the destruc-
tion and dispersion of the great mass of our ecclesiastical litera-
ture and history ; for we may be assured, and it is indeed matter
of proof, that whatever else the Irish priest carried with him in
his fliglit for his life, he rarely forgot, when at all possible, to
take with him his Gacdhlic booKS, along with the various
articles which appertained to the exercise of his sacred functions.
Tlius it was tnat so large a collection of these expatriated
books passed into Belgium, the chief part of which found their
way into the Franciscan College at Louvain. And there must
have been other collections in Belgium besides this ; for I am
acquainted with a manuscript book of historical and religious
poems (of which few are foimd anywhere else), containing more
than 10,000 quatrains, which was either compiled or transcribed
at Ostend in the year 1631, now in possession of the O'Conor
Don ; and another manuscript book of poems, less select, and
not so large, was compiled or transcribed m Lisle and Antwerp,
by the expatriated friar, Fcrgal O'Gara, in the year 1656, which
is now in the Library of the Royal Irish Academy (No. 22. 5.).
Of the originals of these two books no trace has been yet dis-
covered, nor indeed, I believe, has any extensive search been
yet made for them among the Belgian libraries.
Yet, notwithstanding tlie losses which our ecclesiastical books
must have suffered under the detestable war so long waged
against their conservators, still a comparatively large and im-
portant quantity of them remains extant, at this aay, in the
original Graedhlic, though scattered over Europe, and now
deposited in so many various and remote localities. And it
appears to me that I could not properly omit to devote a portion
of this course of Lectures to the separate consideration of these
andent writings, in reference to the materials which they con-
OF THE EARLT ECCLESIASTICAL MS8. 357
tain for tlie elucidation of the history not only of the Church LEcr.xvn.
in Ireland, but also of the nation itself. Anaiyri*
The most important ancient Ecclesiastical Writings in die of what
Gaedlilic known to me may be conveniently classed under ten thomoiit im-
distinct heads, not all of them, however, of equal importance to SrSSledidic
the special subject of our present studies. ST!^?**'
There are, first — Canons and Ecclesiastial Rules, drawn up
for the government and direction of bishops and priests, as well
as of some ancient regular orders.
Second — Monastic Rules of Discipline, interesting also as
containing a full and clear development of the religious doc-
trines believed and taught in these holy institutions.
Third — ^A remarkable tract, containmg the ancient ritual for
the consecration of a chiurch or oratory.
Fourth — An ancient tract explaining the ceremonies of the
Mass. (This tract contains a clear and beautiful statement of
the CathoUc doctrine of the Holy Eucharist.)
Fifth — Forms of Prayers, and Invocations to God and the
Saints ; among which is a beautiful Litany of the Blessed Virgin
Mary.
Sixth — Ancient Homilies and Seiinons, with commentaries
upon and concordances of the Evangelists. (Some of these ser-
mons are preserved in pure Gacdluic, and others of them are
composed of Gtiedhlic and Latin, for the better preservation
and discussion of the Scriptural texts and quotations.)
Seventh — Poems, doctrinal and moral, ascribed, on good
authority, to the saints and doctors of the Gaedhil; and
with these may be classed some ancient hjrmns, in Latin and
Gaedlilic, of undoubtedly remote antiquity.
Eighth — Ancient Lives of a great number of our Saints
(such as those of which I spoke in the last Lecture), full of
valuable and otherwise inaccessible information — genealogical,
historical, and topographical.
Ninth — Ancient Tracts respecting the genealogies and pedi-
grees of the Saints of Erinn.
Tenth — Martyrologics or Festologies, in prose and verse;
containing lists of the saints of Erinn, and sometimes of those
of the continent, arranged under their respective festival days ;
and with these, various genealogical, historical, and topogra-
phical illustrations.
The first seven of these di\'isions are of purely ecclesiastical
and theological interest. The last three are more directly con-
nected with the history of the country ; and it is to these, there-
fore, that I have, in the first place, to direct your attention.
In the preparation of a course of popular lectures like these,
358 OF THE EARLY ECCLESIASTICAL MSB.
LECT.xm, where the subject spreads over several centuries or ages, the
Ammge- IcctuTcr finds some difficulty in arranging his treatment of the
mentof the different portions in detail, so as that flieir discussion may come
lu jcct. ^thin the limits of the time prescribed to him ; and he is there-
fore obliged often to depart from the strict order of chronology,
and to group his subjects rather according to their importance,
and the convenience with which this may be treated in a given
time. This consideration has, I may say, compelled me to
depart from the strict order of chronology in approaching the
subject of the present lecture.
Of the and- To the ancicut tracts on the lives of the saints of Erinn,
ihl siInu*of and their value as genuine materials for the purposes of Irish
^^^^^ history, both civil and ecclesiastical, I have already on various
occasions in the course of these Lectures (but particularly in the
last), drawn your particidar attention. As to this copious de-
Sartment of our literature, then, I shall only say here that every
ay's reading and every day's experience convince me more
and more of the importance of recovering and bringing together,
from all sources, every fragment of those most precious rehcs of
a literature, a history, and a piety too long neglected, and often
but too lightly and carelessly talked of among us. To be sure,
there are many things in these ancient and simple biographies
calculated to excite tlie smile of the philosopher of the present
day. But is there nothing at first sight wearing the appear-
ance of the absurd or ludicrous, to be found in the records, every
year reverentially published, of the lives and labours in places
unknown to us of contemporary missionaries of our Church, —
nay even of the officers and affents of the Protestant missionary
societies of matter-of-fact England, — in this the second half of
the nineteenth century ? Let no one, then, be afraid or ashamed
of anything that may be found in these ancient and highly inter-
esting tracts ; and believe me when I assure you that, when pro-
perly studied, they will prove valuable subjects for the exercise
of true historical criticism and honourable and candid investiga-
tion; and they will be found far more available for the purposes
of true history than people generally seem inclined to beueve.
ofthePcdi- From the lives of the saints we pass to their Pedigrees and
oSJeatSgics Genealogies ; and though this may appear a subject of little
of triiSf.*"^ importance to us, who hve at so remote a period (from a thou-
sand or fourteen hundred years after the deaths of these holy
people), yet it will throw some light upon the history of the
time ; and it will be interesting, too, to observe that, in ancient
Erinn, the first, the most ardent, and the most enduring con-
verts to the tnie faith, were also the most learned, the most
intellectual, and the most noble in the land.
OF THB KARLT ECGLRSUBTICAL MSB. 359
And, in order that the perpetual memory of those distin- LEcr.xvn.
guished individuals, male and female, who were first prepared Q^t,,gp^.
by the grace of God to receive and retain the true faith in greetand
Erinn, should never be forgotten, the holy men who succeeded ©f thfsStatt
them (and who cherished their memories as the original reposi- ^^ ^^'^™"
tories and preachers of the Christian doctrine, the foundations
of the never-failing Catholic Church in Erinn) took especial
care that their names and their lineage should be handed down
with accuracy ; and this, not only as a proof of the identity of
the personages, and their connection with still-existing clanns or
tribes, but also as a memorial of the singular fact, in which
our Christian writers took a special pride, that in ancient
Erinn, at least, the first seeds ot the Saviour's doctrines were
received, cherished, and perpetuated, not, as in other countries,
by the lowest and most imcultivated, but by the highest and
most learned.
The oldest tract, or collection of the pedigrees of the saints of ^^„^e6t
Erinn, of which we have now any recognizable copy remaining, wcribed to
is that which is ascribed to Aengua CeiU Di^ commonly called cmii,
Aengus " the Culdee".
The genuineness of this composition is admitted by all wri-
ters of modem times, Protestant and Catholic ; by Ussher and
Ware, as well as by Colgan, etc. Of this remarkable tract,
there are several copies extant, but whether in the same state
of fulness, or with defections or additions, it is now impossible
to decide, in the absence of any copy so old as Aengus's own
time, which was about the year 780. The still-existing copies
are to be found in the great Book of Grenealogies, compiled by
Dubhaltach Mac Firbuigh^ as you have already learned, m 1650 ;
in the Book o{ Lecain, compiled in 1416 ; in the Book of Balli-
mote, compiled in 1391 ; and in the Book of Leinster, compiled
between the years 1120 and 1160.
Of all these, the copy in the Book of Leinster, while the
oldest, is also the best and most copious ; and it is the more
valuable that it almost invariably gives references to the situa-
tions of the churches of the holy persons whose pedigrees are
recorded, together with an account of the groups or associates
who occupied those churches at one time, and sometimes their
successors for a few generations.
These pedigrees, however, are not interesting merely as vene-
rable memorials of the persons whose names and lineage they pre-
serve, and as conveying with them (in the form of notes, etej so
immense an amoimt of ecclesiastical topography as they do. Tney
are also most important in another pomt of view ; that of fixing,
with sufficient exactness, the date of the foundation of all the
360 OF THE EARLY ECCLESIASTICAL MS8.
LECT.xTir. primitive churches of our country. It is an invariable rule
^ ^^^ with the sacred genealogist to carry every pedigree up to some
rediKrees remarkable personage, whose race and period are well ascei-
Atngut ** tained and uxed in the national annals and secular books of
CttUDd. genealogy; and thus, by referring to these pedigrees, you may
easily find the time at which any of the early saints of Erinn
flourished. As, for instance, St. Colum CilU is recorded to
have been the son o[ Feidlimidh, son of Fergus, son of Conall,
son of Niall " of the Nine Hostages", monarch of Erinn, who
was killed in the year 405. Now, by allowing the usual average
of thirty years to each of the lour generations from Niall to
Colum, making 120 years, and adding them to 405, we shall
find that Colum (who is known to have died in the year 592)
must have been bom about the year 520. He was actually
bom, as we know from other sources, in 515.
if^\^^^^ We come now to the tenth and last of the divisions in which
Fttstoiogiea. I havc classcd the ancient ecclesiastical manuscripts — I mean
those which are called the Mailyrologies or Festologies, in which
the names of the saints are classed under the days of the month
upon which their festivals were observed.
Of these martyrologics I am acquainted with four, of different
dates and different cliaracteristics, besides one which I know to
be in Rome, but which I have never seen. Of tlie four that I
am acquainted with, there are three in DubUn and one in the
British Museum ; and of these, three are written out on paper,
and one only on vellum ; three are in verse, and one in prose.
The latest of the four, in point of composition, is the one in
the British Museum [Egerton, 185]. It is a thin volume, of
small quarto size, in verse, written, with the exception of a few
pages, in the well-known, bold, and accurate hand of the great
genealogist, Duhhaltach Mac Firhisigh^ about the year 1650.
The volume consists of sixty-seven pages, of nve quatrains
or twenty lines each page. It is entitled Saltair na Mann, in
a good modem hand, and the title is in accordance with the
second quatrain, which begins [see original in Appendix No.
CIX.]:
" The Saltair of the verses shall be the name
Of my poem : it is not an unwise title".
Of the fkti- This title was given by the author, I should suppose, in imi-
rna un. ^^^j^j^ ^£ ^j^^ great Saltair na Rann of Aengus CeiU JDe; but
there is no resemblance between the two compositions, for tlie
work of Aengus consists of 150 poems on the lustory of the Old
Testajoient, written in the finest style of tlie Gaedhlic language
of the middle of the eighth century, whereas the present poem
OF THE EARLY ECCLESIASTICAL MSS. 361
consists but of 312 quatrains, written in the inferior GaedMic lect.xvii.
of the close of the sixteenth century, if not later. ^.^^ „ ,
. , . , , •' • or tne Sal'
According to the poet s arrangement, every quatrain com- tairnaiiann.
mences with the name of a saint, but sometimes there are three,
or even four, quatrains devoted to the one day, according to the
niunber of festivals that happen to fall upon it. Every saint
has always a scpai*ate quatmm devoted to nim.
Although this poem is written in the Gaedhlic language, it
is not, strictly speaking, a GaedliUc martyrology. All the
Gaedhlic saints that I could discover in it are, St. Patrick, St.
Brigid of Kildare, St. Ciaran of Saighir, and St. Ciaran of
Clonmacnois. It does not contain a quatrain for every day in
the year, like our other metrical maityrologies.
From page 11 to 54, the copy is written in Mac Firbis's
hand, and the remainder in a good but modem hand, but incor-
rect in orthography. The poem begins [see original in same
Appendix] :
** I will make a poem for the people of God".
The next martyrology in the ascending order of chronology, Of the Mar-
is that of Maelmaire (fa Gonnain^ commonly called Marianus Ma^^wi
VJOnuan. ^ (Marianiw
Tliis tract, which is m verse, was composed when Rudhraidhi Ownnan).
(or Roderic) O'Conor was monarch of Erinn ; Gilla Mac Liag
(commonly called Gelasius), Primate of Armagh; ^nUAedh (or
lliigh) 0* Caellaidhe, Bishop of Airghlall (Oricll), — say some
time between the years 1156 and 1173, when Mac Liag died.
O'Gorman, the author, was Abbot of Cnoc na n-Asjyalf or the
Hill of the Apostles [in the present county of Louth] ; and
according to tlie preface, the reasons which induced him to
write this Martyrology were : in the first place, to seek Heaven
for himself and for every one who should constantly sing it;
and secondly, to supply the names of a great number ol the
saints of Erinn and of the world, which Aengiis Ceile Di left
out of his Festology, and for whom the Church had ordained
festivals and Masses ; and because that Acngus had assigned
to several of those enumerated by him days of' commemoration
diflerent from those then appointed for them by the Church.
This poem is arranged in months, and consists of a stanza, of
an unequal number of lines, for every day in the year (but
tliere are two stanzas (or the first day of January) ; and into
each of these stanzas are introduced the names of the saints
wliose festival days happen to fall upon the day of the month
to whicli the stanza is assi<^ned. It happens very frequently,
too, that there are interlined and marginal notes to the text, re-
362 OF THE EARLY ECCLESIASTICAL MSS.
iJiCT.xyn. ferring to the situations of the churches of the saints whose
Of the Mar- i^wnes appear in the text.
Mae^i^ The poem consists of 2780 lines, begining [see original in
Ua^ai^main APPENDIX, No. CX.] :
SJSISI)' " Upon the high kalends of January,
The submission of illustrious Jesus to the law"
Of the The third of these Martyrologies is that which is generally
of r<SiS!S<L known as the Martyrology of Tamhlacht^ or Tallacht (near
Dublin). It is a prose list or catalogue of the saints of Erinn
and their festival days, as well as often of the names of their
immediate fathers and of their churches.
This tract has been generally believed to be the oldest
Martyrology of the Irish saints known ; and it is even stated
in Father Michael O'Clery's preface to Marianus 0'Gt)rman's
poem, that the celebrated Martyrology of Aengus CeiU Di
was composed from the Martyrology of Tamhlacht This,
however, must be a mistake ; for upon examining the Martyr-
ology of Tamhlacht^ I find the names and dates of two holy
men in it who must have died many years after Aengus him-
self, and who do not, of course, appear in his poem. These
are Blathmac^ the son of Flann, monarch of Emm, who died
for the faith, at the hands of the Danes, in the island of Hi, or
lona, on the 19th of July, in the year 823; and Feidhlimidh
Mac Criynhthainn, king of Munster, who died on the 18th of
August, in the year 845, according to the Annals of the Four
Masters, but whose festival is placed in the kalendar at the
28th of August. Now, according to the best accounts, Aengus
wrote his poem in or before the year 798 ; and, as far as I have
been able to ascertain, no saint is found in it who died after
that year. He himself must have died about the year 815 ; so
that it is quite impossible that he could have written his poem
from this tract, which comes down, at least, to the year 845.
Until lately, the Martyrologies of Tamhlacht and Marianus
O'Grorman were unknown in fieland, except by name. How-
ever, in the year 1847, the [late] Rev. Professor Matthew Kelly,
of Maynooth, procured a copy of the latter tract from the
Burgundian Library at Brussels [since published by the Rev.
Dr. Kelly, just before his death] ; and m 1849 the Rev. Dr.
Todd, to whom our native literature is so deeply indebted,
procured from the Belgian government the loan of the book
which contained this, as well as O'Gorman's and Aengus's
Martyroloffies, (all in Father Michael O'Clery's handwriting),
of which I made accurate copies for his private library.
The Martyrology of Tanmlacht is detective in a few places.
OF THE EARLY ECCLESIASTICAL USS. 363
but it will be easy to supply these defects from the other mar- LKCT.rm.
tyrologies.
The last, the most important, and the oldest, I am certain, is or the FotH
the Martyrology o£ Aengtia Ceile Di. otow^oir
Of this tract, there are six copies known to exist, four of ^JJJJJJ,
which are on vellum — namely, one in the Royal Irish Aca-
demy, Dublin; two in the Bodleian Library at Oxford; and
one, if not two, in the College of St. Isidore in Rome ; which,
with Dr. Todd's and the Brussels copies on paper, make up
six, if not seven.
The copy in the Royal Irish Academy is preserved in the
celebrated Leabhar Mor Duna DoighrS (commonly called the
Leahhur Breac), which was compiled about the year 1400.
There is a short history of the author, and the tract prefixed
to this copy, which commences, as such ancient Gaedlmc docu-
ments usually do, with giving the name of the author, the
time, the place, and the object of the composition. There is,
then, a short disquisition on this arrangement, in which the
usages of the philosophers and the order of the creation are re-
ferred to as precedents.
The author's name and pedigree are then given thus : — Aen-
gus, the son of Oengohaj son of Ohl^n^ son of ridrVy son of Diar-
muity son of AinmirS, son of Cellar , son of Oengus^ son oiNaU-
luaghy son of Caelbad [of the Rudrician or Ultonian race, who
was monarch of Erinn, and was slain a.d. 357], son of Crunn-
hadrai^ son of Eochaidh Cobai; f and see Appendix, No. CXI.]
The time at which Aengus composed his Festology was in
the reign of Aedh Oirdnidftiy who was monarch of Ennn from
the year 793 to the year 81 7.
Ihis monarch, in the year 799, raised a large army, with
which he marched against the people of the province of Lein-
ster, and proceeded as far as Dun Cuar, on the confines of that
province and Meath, where he encamped. The monarch, on
this occasion, compelled the attendance of Conmach^ the suc-
cessor of St. Patrick and Primate of Armagh, with all his
clergy, to attend this expedition. When the army rested, how-
ever, the clergy complained to the king of the hardship and
inconsistency of their being called upon to attend on such occa-
sions. The king listened to their complaint, and offered to lay
it before his own poet, tutor, and adviser, the learned Fothctdhy
and abide by his uccision, which was accordingly done. The
poet's views were favourable to the clergy, and he gave his
decision in a short poem of three quatrains, which are pre-
served in this preface, and of which the following may be
364 OF THB EABLT ECCLESIASTICAL H88.
ucTjcyn. taken as a literal translation [see original in ApPEin>lX, No.
Fotfiathna Thc Church of the Living God,
^*'**^'^ Touch her not, nor waste.
Let her rights be reserved.
As best ever they were.
Every true monk who is
Possessed of a pious conscience,
To thc Church to which it is due,
Let hini act as any servant.
Every faithful subject from that out.
Who is not bound by vows of obedience,
Has Uberty to join in the battles
0( Aedh the Great, son o( NialL
And by tliis decision the clergy were exempted for ever
after from attending military expeditions. This decision ob-
tained the name of a Canon ; and its author has ever sihce been
known in Irish history by the name of Fothadh na CatuHnd^ or
JFotliadh "of the Canon.
otiiMFair4 At the time of this expedition Aengus appears to have been
oio^rof residing at his church, at a place called Disert Betliech, which
CAwSk. ^y ^^ ^^^ north bank of the river n-JEoivj (or Nore), a few miles
above the present town of Monasterevin, in the Queen's County,
and not far from the place where the monarch Aedh had pitched
his camp. The poet FoUiadh, it appears, availed himself of
Aengus s contigiuty to show him the poem in which his deci-
sion was expressed, and received his approval of it before pre-
senting it to the king. The two clerical poets entered mto
bonds of amity and union on this occasion ; and Aengus having
then just fiiiisned his Festology, showed it for the first time to
JPothadh, who solemnly approved of it, and recommended it to
the perusal and pious recital of the faitliful.
Aengus had received his clerical education at the celebrated
church of Cluain Eidhneach (in the present Queen's County),
after which he travelled into Munster, and founded the church
o( Disert Aengusa (at a place situated near Ballingarry, in the
present county of Limerick), a church, the primitive belfiy or
round-tower of which remains even to tliis day.
On his return from Munster he went to the then celebrated
church of Tamhlacht (Tallacht, in the county of Dublin), over
which St. Maelruain then presided. Maelruain had foimded
this church (wliich he dedicated to Michael the Archangel) in the
year 769, on a site and endowment which had been offered "to
Grod, to IVIichael the Archangel, and to Maelruaiii'^ by Dontir
chadh, (or Donnoch), the pious and illustrious king of Leinster.
Here Aengus, for greater humility, presented himselftoil/a^^ruafn
OF THE EARLY ECCLESIASTICAL MSS. 365
as a servant-man seeking for service,and Jfae/rMainemployed him lbct.xvu.
to take charge of his mill and kiln (the ruins of which mill and Qf^nermri
kiln, in their primitive dimensions, I may here mention that I (or Feat-
have myself seen ; for it is only within the last five or six years AeS^
that these venerable remains have yielded to " the improving ^^^^
hand of modem progress"). Here Aen^is remained many years
faithfully and silently discharging the duties of his humble em-
ployment, until at last his learning and character were discovered
by an accident, and he was (of course) obliged to abandon the
lowly condition of life to wliich he had devoted himself.
Aengus had commenced his poem at Cuil Bennchuir in Ui
Failah6 (or OfFaly), continued it at Cluain JSidhnech, and
finished it during his servitude at Tamhlacht
The cause and object of writing tliis Festology are stated
thus : — One time that Aengus went to the church of Cuil Benn-
chair, he saw, he says, a grave there, and angels from Heaven
constantly descending and ascending to and Irom it. Aengus
asked the priest of the church who the person was that was
buried in this grave : the priest answered that it was a poor old
man who formerly lived at the place. What good did he do ?
said Aengus. I saw no particular good by him, said the priest,
but that his customary practice was to recount and invoke the
saints of the world, as far as he could remember them, at his
going to bed and getting up, in accordance with the custom of
the old devotees. Ah ! my God, said Aengus, he who woidd
make a poetical composition in praise of the saints should doubt-
less have a high reward, when so much has been vouchsafed
to the efforts of this old devotee ! And Aengus then com-
menced his poem on the spot. He subsequently continued it
gradually, and finished it as we have already seen.
This composition consists, properly, of three parts. The first
is a poem of live quatrains, mvoking the grace and sanctifica-
tion of Christ for the poet and his undertaking.
The second is a poem, by way of preface, consisting of 220
quatrains, of which 80 are prefixed, and 140 postfixed to the
main poem.
The third is the Festology itself, consisting of 365 quatrains.
The Invocation is written in the ancient Conachlann, or
what modem Gaedhlic scholars call in English ** chain-verse" ;
that is, an arrangement of metre by whicli the first words of
every succeeding (quatrain are identical with the last words of
the preceding one. The following literal translation may not
be out of place here [see original in Appendix, No. CXUl.] :
Sanctify, O Christ! my words: —
O Lord of the seven heavens !
366 OF THB EARLY ECCLESIASTICAL MSS.
LECT.xm, Grant me the gift of wisdom,
Of the FMr4 ^ Sovereign of the bright sun !
oio ^Vti ^ bright sun, who dost illuminate
Aenmu The heavens with all thy holiness !
^^ O King who govemest the angels I
O Lord of all the people !
0 Lord of the people I
0 King all-nghteous and good !
May I receive the full benefit
Of praising Thy royal hosts.
Thy royal hosts I praise.
Because Thou art my Sovereign ;
1 have disposed my mind,
To be constantly beseeching Thee.
1 beseech a favour from Thee,
That I be purified from my sins
Through the peaceful bright-shining flock,
The royal host whom I celebrate.
The late General Vallanccy and Theophilus O'Flannagan
having met this poem, which is rather conspicuous, in tlie
Leahhar M6r Duna Doiahri (or Leabhar Breac), and finding
that the name of Christ, m the first line, is contractedly written
with CR and an horizontal dash over them, thought that they
had discovered in it an address to the sun, and a most im-
E)rtant remnant of the worship of that luminary in ancient
rinn ! The letters CR were the contraction for Ureaa^ which,
the learned general discovered, firom the books of the Brah-
mins of Lidia, and the Sanscrit, to be a name for the sun com-
mon to India and Ireland !
These views of the learned gentlemen, as well as a highly
poetical translation of the poor monk's poem, were embodied in
a small printed pamphlet, and addressed, " To the President and
Members of the Royal Irish Academy, as a proof of the ancient
History of Ireland", by General Vallancey.
I regret that space does not allow me to embody this short
pamphlet with the present lecture, as, perhaps, no better ex-
ample could be found to show the manner in which, among the
last generation, the character of an Irish historian and scholar
could be acquired by the pedantic use of the most fanciful col-
lation of our language and manners with the Sanscrit and
other Eastern languages or dialects. And I am sorry to say
that there are still among us writers who pass for historians and
antiqiiarians, but who stand much in need of the lesson contained
in this ridiculous example of Greneral Vallancey's astuteness.
But to return. The Invocation to our Saviour is followed,
OF THB EABL7 ECCLESIASTICAL MSS. 367
in Aengus's Festology, by the first part of the metrical preface, ^Jcr.xvn.
consisting, as has been abready stated, of 80 stanzas. These oftiM/v/ir^
verses are in the same measure, and of the same character, as <"^ ^'^
the Invocation, of which, indeed, they are a continuation. And, 2i«S«
in fact, the entire work may be treated as one continuous poem, ^^^ ^
divided into three parts or cantos ; for the last words of the In-
vocation are the first words of the first preface, and the last
words of this preface are the first words of the main poem, and
the last words of the main poem are the fiirst words of the post
or second preface.
The first, in beautiful and forcible language, gives a glowing
account of the tortures and sufferings of the early Christian
Martyrs ; how the names of the persecutors are forgotten, while
the names of their victims are remembered with honour, venera-
tion, and affection ; how Pilate's wife is forgotten, and the Blessed
Virgin Mary is remembered and honoured from the uttermost
bounds of the Earth to its centre. Even in our own coimtry the
enduring supremacy of the Church of Christ is made manifest ;
for Tara (says the poet^ had become abandoned and desert under
the vain-glory of its kmgs, while Armagh remains the popidous
seat of dignity, piety, and learning ; (Jruachain, the royal resi- '
dcnce of the kings of Connacht, is deserted, while Clonmacnois
resounds with the dashing of chariots and the tramp of midti-
tudes, to honour the shrine of St. Ciaran; the royal palace of
Aillinn, in Leinster, has passed away, while the church of St.
Briffid at Kildare remains in dazzling splendour; Emania, the
royal palace of Ulster, has disappeared, while the holy Coem-
ghins church at Gleann-da-locna, remains in full glory; the
Monarch Laeghaires pride and pomp were extinguished, while
St. Patrick's name continued to shine with growing lustre. And
thus does the noble poet go on to contrast the fleeting and for-
gotten names and glories of the men and great estabUsnments of
the great pagan and secular world, with tnc stability, freshness,
and splendour of the Christian churches, and the ever-green
names of the illustrious, though often humble founders.
The Feliri^ or Fcstological Poem, itself comes next. It con-
sists, as already stated, of 365 quatrains, or a stanza for every
day in the year. The Circumcision of our Lord is placed at
the head ol the festivals; and with it the poem begins, as
follows [see original in Appendix, No. CXIV .] :
At the nead of tlie congregated saints.
Let the King take the front place :
Unto the noble dispensation did submit
Christ— on the kalends of January.
The whole of this the chief poem, as well, indeed, as the
868 OF THE BABLT ECCLESIASTICAL HSS.
LECT.xvn. first preface, Is thickly interlined with an ancient gloss and
^^^^^^ commentary, on some difficult or obsolete words or passages,
(or Feat- and sometimcs with notes on the situations of the churches of
Aei^ the saints of Erinn, up to the authors time, with occasional
CHULi. passages from their Lives and Miracles. These notes are
carried all over the margin, and require long and accurate study
to connect them with their projxjr places in the text.
It will be seen, by and by, that this Festology is not con-
fined wholly to the saints of Erinn.
Our great apostle, St. Patrick, is commemorated at the 17th
of March, in the following stanza [see original in Appendix,
NcCXV.]:
The blaze of a splendid sun,
The apostle ol stainless Erinn,
Patrick — ^with his countless thousands,
May he shelter our wretchedness.
And at the 13th of April, Bishop Tiissach, one of Patrick's
most favourite companions, and his chief manufacturer and
omamentcr of croziers, crosses, shrines, and bells, and who at-
tended him at his death, is thus commemorated [see original
in Appendix, No. CXVI.] :
The kingly Bishop Tassachj
Who actministered on his arrival,
The Body of Christ — the truly powerful King —
And the Communion to Patnck.
In the third division of his work, Aengus recapitulates the
preceding canto or Fcstilogium; he explains its arranffement,
and directs the faithful how to read and use it ; and he says
that though great the number, he has only been able to enume-
rate the princes of the saints in it; he recommends it to the
pious study of the faithful, and points out the spiritual benefits
to be gained by reading or reciting it; he says that he has tra-
velled far and near to collect the names and the history of the
subjects of his laudation and invocation; that for the foreign
saints he has consulted St. Ambrose, St. Jerome, and Eusebius ;
and that from " the covmtless hosts of the illuminated books of
Erinn" he has collected the festivals of the Irish saints. He
then says that, having already mentioned and invoked the
saints at their respective festival days, he will now invoke them
in classes or bands, under certain heads or leaders ; and this he
does in the following order: the elders or ancients, under
Noah; the prophets under Isaiah; the patriarchs under Abra-
ham; the apostles and disciples under Peter; the wise or
learned men imder Paul; the martyrs under Stephen; the
spiritual directors under old Paul; the virgins of the world
OF THE EARLY ECCLESIASTICAL US6. 369
under the Blessed Virgin Mary; the holy bishops of Rome lect. xvn.
under Peter ; the bishops of Jerusalem under Jacob or James ; T^
the bishops of Antioch also under Peter ; the bishops of Alex- (or Feato- *"
andria under Mark; a division of them under Honorati; s^^Aml^
division of learned men under the gifted Benedict ; all the ^^*'^ ^^•
innocents who suiFered at Bethlehem, under Gcorgius; the
priests under Aaron ; the monks under Anthony ; a division of
the saints of the world under Martin ; the noble saints of Erinn
under St. Patrick; the saints of Scotland under St. Colum
CilU; and the last great division of the saintly virgins of
Erinn, under the holy St. Brigid of Kildare.
Tlie sacred bard continues then, in an eloquent strain, to be-
seech the mercy of the Saviour for himself and all mankind,
through the merits and sufferings of the saints whom he has
named and enumerated, through the merits of their dismembered
bodies; their bodies pierced with lances; their woimds; their
groans ; their relics ; their blanched countenances ; their bitter
tears; through all the sacrifices offered of the Saviour's own
Body and Blood, as it is in Heaven, upon the holy altars;
through the blood that flowed from the Saviours own side;
through His humanity; and through His divinity in imity
with tlie Holy Spirit and the Heavenly Father.
At the end of this long invocation, the poet says the
brethren of his order deemed all his prayers and petitions too
little ; — whereupon he says that he will change his course, so
that no one may have cause to complain. He then commences
another eloquent appeal to our Lord, for himself and all men,
beseeching mercv according to the merciful worldly interposi-
tion of the divine mercy in the times past; — such as the
saving of Enoch and Elias from tl\e dangers of the world ; the
saving of Noah from the deluge ; the saving of Abraham from
the pfagues and from the hand of the Chaldeans ; the saving of
Lot from tlie burning city ; Jonas from the whale ; of Isaac from
the hands of his father. He beseeches Jesus, through the inter-
cession of His Mother, to save him as Jacob was saved from the
hands of his brother, as John [Paul] was saved from the venom
of the viper. He returns again to the examples of the Old Testa-
ment, beginning with the saving of Da^^d from the sword of
Goliath; of Susanna from her dangers; of Nineveh from des-
truction ; of the Israelites from Mount Gilba [Gilboa] ; of
Daniel from the lions' den; of Moses from the hands of Faro
[Pharaoh] ; of the three youths from the fiery furnace ; of To-
bias from his blindness ; of Peter and Paul from the dungeon ;
of Job from demoniacal tribulations ; of David from Saul ; of
Joseph from the hands of his brethren ; of the Israelites from
24
370 OF THE EARLY ECCLESIASTICAL MSB.
LECT.xvn. the Egyptian bondage ; of Peter from the waves of the sea ; of
^**u »^.v ^ John from the fiery caldron; of Martin from the priest of the
(orFMt idol. He beseeches Jesus agam, through the intercession of the
Aen^^ Heavenly household, to be saved as He saved St. Patrick from
CHU /M. {jrj^Q poisoned drink at Teamhar (or Tara) ; and St. Coemhghin
[Kevin] of Gleann da locha from the perils of the mountam.
I have trespassed on your patience at such unreasonable
length, with the details of this extraordinary poem, merely for
the purpose of showing you that the gifted writer could not be
set Qown as a mere ignorant or superstitious monk, but that he
was a man deeply read in the Holy Scriptures, and in the ci\nil
and ecclesiastical history of the world, and more particularly
that part of it which was contained in what he so enthusias-
tically calls " The Host of the Books of Erinn".
It is no part of the purpose of these Lectures to enter into
doctrinal discussions on the merits of our ancient sacred
writings ; but taking tliis Festology of St. Aengus as a purely
historic tract, largely interwoven with the early history of
Erinn, civil and ecclesiastical, I almost think no other country
in Europe possesses a national document of so important a
character.
When we look at the great number of the early Catholic
Christians of Erinn, who are introduced by name into this
tract, with their festival days, and with most copious references
to the names and exact situations of the primitive churches
founded by them, — and when we find that if not all, at least,
nearly all these churches may be, or have been already iden-
tified by means of it, — its value can hardly be overrated.
It was during the progress of the late Ordnance Survey of
Ireland that this tract came first into notice; and it is no
ordinary satisfaction to me to have to say, that I was the first
person in modem times that discovered the value of its con-
tents, when under the able superintendence of Colonel Larcom
and Dr. Petrie, I brought them to bear, with important re-
sults, on the topographical section pf that great national un-
dertaking.
Such was the attention attracted by the Festology of Aengus,
at that time, that the Boarxl of Trinity College, at the sug-
gestion of the Rev. Dr. Todd, employed me to inake a fac-
simile copy of the Leahhar Mor l)una DoiglirSy or Leahhar
BreaCy in which it is contained, for the College Library ; and
on the breakinij up of the department of the Ordnance Survey,
to which I had been for seven years attached (and my con-
nection with which, I may add, was suddenly and, as I felt then
OF THE EIRLT ECCLESIASTICAL MSS. 371
and feel now, wrongfully terminated), our spirited fellow-citizen, LEcr.zvii.
my friend Mr. George Smith, of whom I have already had
occasion to make honourable mention in connection with the Sf/pcat-
Annals of the Four Mastci*s, employed me to transcribe the Jjj^i,®'
Festology a^ain, from tlie original book, with a view to its pub- aai dl
lication. This, however, was not a fac-simile copy, which it
would indeed be practically useless to print, even if such a thing
were possible, because the tract consists, properly, of three
parts ; namely, the text of the poem, the interlined gloss, and
the interlined and marginal topographical and other notes. I
copied these three parts distinctly, lengthened out all the con-
tractions, and disposed them in tneir relative positions, in such
an order and arrangement as met with the full approval of the
late Very Rev. Dr. O'Renahan, President of Maynooth Col-
lege, the Rev. Dr. Todd, Dr. Petrie, and Dr. John O'Donovan.
And, having so transcribed and arranged it, I made a literal,
and I trust an accurate, translation of llie whole.
In the year 1849 I had occasion to spend some months in
London, m the British Museum, havmg my copy of the
Festology with me. In the course of the summer of that year
Dr. Todd went to London, and we went together to Oxford,
where we spent four days in comparing my transcript with the
Oxford copies, and adding, as far as time would permit, such
various readings as we believed desirable and useful. The
Eublication of the edition so prepared has not yet, however,
een undertaken; and the transcript and translation remain
with Mr. Smith, waiting for, what I trust is not far distant, a
more favourable season to present to the literary world the
long-celebrated Feliri of Aengus CeiU Bi.
24 b
LECTURE XVni.
[DeUr«red July 1&, ISa&j
EccLESiASTTCAL MSS. (continued). The Canons. The Ecclesiastical and Mon-
astic Rules. Ancient Treatise on the Mass. Ancient Prayers and Litanies.
Of the (so called) Prophecies. The *' Dialogue of the Two Sages". The
* Prophecies' attributed to Conn. The * Pxx)phecy' attributed to Art.
In the present Lecture, I propose to conclude my short account
of the ecclesiastical MSS., by a very cursory sketch of those
of purely ecclesiastical interest; and I shall then proceed to
the important subject of the historical pieces called the Prophe-
cies. You will bear in mind the classification already made
of these ecclesiastical MSS.
And first, of the Canons :
The ancient Canons preserved among the ecclesiastical
writings in the Gaedhlic language, and with which I happen to
be acquainted, are few and brief, and oftener foimd recited in
monastic rules than standing by themselves.
There arc some important Ecclesiastical Canons included in
the general institutes of the nation, to which, pending the
inquiries of the Brehon Law Commission, I do not wish to
allude further ; but I may mention the following canons among
those preserved in the Leahhar Mor Duna Doighre (sometimes
called the Leahhar Breac), in the library of the Rojral Irish
Academy : Canons concerning absence from Mass upon a Sun-
day ; concerning confession and absolution ; concerning the re-
ciprocal duties of the parish priest and his flock ; concerning the
punishment of a bisliop who confers holy orders on an un-
qualified candidate; concerning the duties of the episcopal
oflSce ; concerning the education of persons for the priesthood ;
concerning the dedication of cliildren to the service of the
Church, and recalling them again.
Besides these canons of the ancient Catholic Church of
Erinn preserved in the Gaedhlic language, there are a great
number preserved in the Latin. Of tliese latter I shall present
you with one as a specimen, from the ancient Book of the
csmons of Armagh, and from that part of the same old MS.
which was copied from the book WTitten by St. Patrick's own
hand. I select it not only as an example ol its class among the
writings I speak of, but because it is one of especial interest,
inasmuch as it preserves to us the most perfect evidence of the
OF THE EARLY ECCLESIASTICAL MS8. 373
connection of the Catholic Church in Erinn with the See of LEc.xvm.
Rome, from the very first introduction of Christianity into the ~
country. cakosb.—
This canon has reference to matters of difficulty which might qIcSot*^? '
arise in any parish or diocese of the kingdom of Erinn, and JJs^pJ^JJ,^
which could not be settled by the local ecclesiastical authorities ; with the
all which cases were to be referred to the Primate of Armagh ; ^**^^ ^*®*
and if they could not be disposed of by him, they were then
to be sent for final determination to him who sat in the apostolic
chair of St. Peter at Rome. It is as follows:
" Moreover, if any case should arise of extreme difficulty,
and beyond the knowledge of all the judges of the nations of
the Scots, it is to be duly referred to the chair of the archbishop
of the Gaedhil, that is to say, of Patrick, and the jurisdiction of
tliis bishop [of Armagh]. But if such a case as aforesaid, of a
matter at issue, cannot be easily disposed of [by him], with his
counsellors in that [investigation], we have decreed that it be
sent to the apostolic seat, that is to say, to the chair of the
Apostle Peter, having the authority of the city of Rome.
" These are the persons who decreed concerning this matter,
viz. : — ^Auxilius, Patrick, Secundinus, and Benignus. But after
the death of St. Patrick his disciples carefully wrote out his
books''. [See original in Appendix, No. CXVII.]
Tliis most important Canon affords a proof so unanswerable
as to dispose for ever of the modern imposition so pertinaciously
practi:;oa upon a large section of our countrymen, as well as
upon fbrei™ers speaking the English language; namely, that
the primitive Church of Erinn did not acknowledge or submit
to the Pope 8 supremacy, or appeal to it in cases of ecclesiastical
necessity and difficulty. Nor is this canon, I may add, by any ,
means the only piece of important evidence furnished by our
ancient books on this great point of Catholic doctrine.
Tlie second class of these religious remains consist of the ^?/Jif.
Ecclesiastical and Monastic Rules. Of these we have ancient «<»! «nd
copies of eight in Dublin; of which six are in verse, and two rSliw.
in prose ; seven in vellum MSS., and one on paper.
Of the authenticity of tliese ancient pieces there can be no
reasonable doubt ; the languat^c, the style, and the matter, are
quite in accordance with the times of the authors. It is hardly
necessary to say that they all recite and inculcate the precise
doctrines and discipline of the CathoHc Church in Erinn, even
as it is at this day.
It would, as you must at once see, be quite inconsistent with
the plan of these introductory Lectures to enter into details of
374 OF THE EABLY ECCLESIASTICAL MSS.
LEcrvni. compositions of tliis kind ; and I shall therefore content myself
20 Of t,,^ by placing before you a simple list of them in the chronological
Eccie^iM- order of their authors, and with a very few observations on their
MoKAOTio character by way of explanation.
BcLEs. The first is a poem of 276 lines, by St. AilbhS of Imliuch
[Emly, in the present county of Tipperary], who died in the
year 541. It is addressed to Eugene, son of Sdran, priest of
Cluain Caelairiy in the same district ; and consists of lessons on
the duties oi* a priest, an abbot, and a monk, and on the rules
by which their lives oueht to be regulated.
The second in chronological order is, the Rule of St. Ciaran;
but whether of Ciaran of Saighir, or Ciaran of Cluainmacnoisj
who died in the year 548, I am not at present able to decide.
This is a poem of 64 lines, on clerical and devotional duties.
The third in chronological order is the Rule of St. Comhghall
of Beannchuir^ [Bangor, in the present county of Down,] who
died in the year 552. This is a poem of 144 lines, addressed
alike to abbots, to monks, and to aevout Christians in general.
The fourth is the Rule of St. Colum CilU^ who died in the
year 592. This is a short piece, of about three pages quarto, in
prose. It is a precept for the regulation of the life and time of
a religious brother who preferred solitude to living in com-
munity. He is recommended to reside in contiguity to a prin-
cipal church, in a secure house, with one door, attended by one
servant, whose work should be light, where only those should
be admitted who conversed of God and His Testament, and in
rcial solemnities only. His time was to be spent in prayers
those who received his instructions, and for all those who
had died in the Faith, the same as if they had all been his most
5 articular friends. The day was to be mvided into three parts,
evoted, respectively, to prayers, good works, and reading.
The works were to be divided into tJiree parts ; the first was to
be devoted to his own benefit, in doing what was useful and
necessary for his own habitation ; the second part to the benefit
of the bretliren ; and the third, to the benefit of the neighbours.
This last part of his pious works was to consist of precepts or
writing, or else sewing clothes, or any other profitable indus-
trial work: ** so that there should be no idleness", continues
the writer: ** ut Deus ait: non apparebis ante me vacuus". [See
Appendix, No. CXVIIL]
The fifth in chronological order, is the Rule of St. Carthacft,
who was famiUarly called Mochudu, He was the founder of
the ancient ecclesiastical city of Raithin [near TuUamore, in
the present King's County] ; and of the famous city of its M6r
tLismore in the present county of Waterford] ; he died at the
atter place on the 14th day of May, in the year 636.
OF THE EARLY ECCLESIASTICAL MSS. 375
This is a poem of 580 lines, divided into sections, eax^h lec. xvni.
addressed to a different object or person. The first division ^
consists of eight stanzas, or 32 lines, inculcating the love of Ecciesia*-
God and our neighbour, and the strict observance of the com- mosmo
mandments of God, which are set out generally both in word K""*
and in spirit. The second section consists of nine stanzas, or
36 lines, on the office and duties of a bishop. The third
section consists of twenty stanzas, or 80 lines, on the office and
duties of the abbot of a church. The fourth section consists of
seven stanzas, or 28 lines, on the office and duties of a priest.
The fifth section consists of twenty-two stanzas, or 88 lines,
minutely describing the office and auties of a father confessor,
as well m his general character of an ordinary priest, as in his
particular relation to his penitents. The sixth section consists
of nineteen stanzas, or 76 lines, on the life and duties of a
monk. The seventh section consists of twelve stanzas, or 48
lines, on the life and duties of the Cilidhi Di^ or Culdees.
The eighth section consists of thirty stanzas, or 120 lines, on the
rule and order of the refectory, prayers, ablutions, vespers, and
the feasts and fasts of the year. The ninth and last section
consists of nineteen stanzas, or 76 lines, on the duties of the
kingly office, and the evil consequences that result to king and
people, from their neglect or unfaithful discharge.
1 he sixth rule in chronological order, is the general Rule of
the Celidhi De^ vulgarly called ** Culdees". This is a prose tract
of nine small quarto pages, written or drawn up by St. Maelruain^
of Tamhlacht, [now Tallaght, in the county of DubUn,] who
died in the year 787. It contains a minute series of rules ior the
regulation of the lives of the Celidhi DS, their prayers, their
preachings, their conversations, their confessions, their commu-
nions, their ablutions, their fastings, their abstinences, their re-
laxations, their sleep, their celebrations of the Mass, and so forth.
The seventh in cnronological order is the Rule of the Gray
Monks ; but a chasm in the book has lefl us but the first stanza
of this rule.
The eighth and last in chronological order, is the Rule of
Cormac Mac Cuilennain^ king ^^^ archbishop of Cashel, who
died in the year 903. This is a poem of fourteen stanzas, or
56 lines, written in the most pure and ancient style of the
Gffidhlic languargc, of which, as well as of many other languages,
the illustrious Cormac was so profound a master. This rule is
general in several of its inculcations ; but it appears to have been
written particularly as an instruction and exhortation to a priest,
for the moral and spiritual direction and preservation of hmiself
and his flock.
376 OF THE EABLT ECCLESIASTICAL MSS.
LEc.xvui. The third of the classes into which I have divided this branch
8° Of an ^^ ^^"* ancient literature consists of a single piece, but one of
Ancient pecuHaT intcrcst. It is an ancient Treatise upon, or Explication of,
thrMiSfc" the symbolical ceremonies of the Mass, in Latin and Gaedhlic,
and a powerful exposition of tlie doctrine of the Eucharistic
Sacrifice.
I have akeady observed that these purely ecclesiastical writ-
ings scarcely come within the province of those materials of our
history, which form the subject of these Lectures. Nevertheless,
I am tempted, in consideration of the very nature of the institu-
tion within whose walls we are now assembled, so far to digress at
this place, as to give you the substance of this very curious treatise.
The passage which I have translated for you is short ; but, even
were it a httle longer, I think you would excuse me, when you
find in it a complete and undeniable proof of what it is the fashion
of Protestant writers to deny without any reason, namely, that
the belief of our Gaedhlic ancestors respecting the Real Presence,
and all the meaning of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, was, in
the early ages of the Church in Erinn, precisely the same belief
now held by ourselves, precisely the same belief inculcated then^
as now, by the Catholic Church throughout the world.
The following extract is literally ti-anslated from the tract I
have referred to. [See original in Appendix, No. CXIX.l
'* And this is the foundation of the faith which every Cnris-
tian is bound to hold ; and it is upon this foundation that every
virtue which he practises, and every good work which he per-
forms, is erected.
" For it is through this perfection of the faith, with tranquil
charity, and with steadfast hope, that all the faithful are saved.
For it is this faith, that is, the Catholic faith, that conducts the
righteous to the sight, that is, to see God in the glory and in the
dignity in which He abides. It is this sight which is oflfered
as a golden reward to the righteous after the Resurrection.
" The pledge for this sight which has been left to the Church
here for the present, is the Holy Spirit, which resides in, which
comforts, and which strengthens her with all virtues. It is this
Spirit which distributes His own peculiar gifts to every faithful
member in the Church, as He pleases and as they require to re-
ceive it from Him. For, it is by the Holy Spirit these noble
gifts following, are bestowed upon the Church, among men ; viz. ;
Baptism and Penitence, and the expectation of persecutions and
afihctions.
** One of the noble gifts of the Holy Spirit is the Holy Scrip-
tures, by wliich all ignorance is enlightened and all worldly
affiction comforted ; by which all spiritual light is kindled, by
OF THE EABLT ECCLESIASTICAL MS8. 377
which all debility is made strong. For it is through the Holy lec. xvm.
Scripture that heresy and schism are banished from the Church,
and all contentions and divisions reconciled. It is in it, well- Ancient
tried counsel and appropriate instruction will be found, for every X^""* "*
degree in the Chiu:cn. It is through it the snares of demons, and
vices are banished from every faithful member in the Church.
For the Divine Scripture is the mother and the benign nurse of
all the faithful who meditate and contemplate it, and who are
nurtured by it, until they are chosen children of God by its ad-
vice. For the Wisdom, that is the Church, bovmtifuUy distri-
butes to her children the variety of her sweetest drink, and the
clioicest of her spiritual food, by which they arc perpetually in-
toxicated and cheered.
"Another division of that pledge, which has been left with the
Church to comfort her, is the Body of Chiist, and His Blood,
which are oficred upon tlie altars of the Christians. The Body,
even, which was bom of Mary, the Immaculate Virgin, without
destruction of her virginity, without opening of the womb, with-
out presence of man ; and which was crucified by the unbeliev-
ing Jews, out of spite and envy ; and which arose after three
days from death, and sits upon the right hand of God the Father
in Heaven, in glory and in dignity before the angels of Heaven.
It is that Body, the same as it is m this great glory, which the
righteous consume off God s Table, that is, the holy altar. For
this Body is the rich viaticum of the faithful, who journey
tlirough the paths of pilgrimage and penitence of this world to
the Heavenly fatherland. This is the seed of the Resurrection
in the Life Eternal to the righteous. It is, however, the origin
and cause of falling to the impenitent, who believe not, and to
tlie sensual, wlio distinguish it not, though they believe. Woe,
then, to tlie Christian who distinguishes not this Holy Body of
the Lord, by pure morals, by cliaiity, and by mercy. For it is
in this Body that will be found the example of the charity which
excels all charity, viz., to sacrifice Himself, without guilt, in
satisfaction for the guilt of the whole race of Adam.
" Tills, then, is the perfection and the fulhiess of the Catholic
Faith, as it is taught in the Holy Scriptures''.
I may observe here thut the [late lamented] Rev. Dr. Matthew
Kelly (Prolessor of Ecclesiastical History in St. Patrick^s Col-
lege, Maynooth), to whom I submitted this piece, believed it to
l)c the Mass brought into Erinn by St. Patrick, diifering as it
does in some places, as to the order of the ceremonies, from any
other Mass that he had ever seen.
I may also observe that the GacdhUc part of the tract, though
modified in some respects from the peculiar ecclesiastical style
378 OF THE EARLY ECCLESIASTICAL HSS.
LEc. Tvui. of orthography of the eighth and nmth centuries, is still of the
8« Of an purest and most ancient Christian character.
Ancient I bclicve I may well be pardoned having gone so far out of
theMMs." my path on the present occasion, as to present to you this pas-
sage in full. I do so not only for its own sake, but in order to
lay before the Catholic University of Ireland a specimen of mat-
ter which appears to me to be of infinite value to the history of the
Church in this countiy, and of which there is a very large amount
§ reserved to us in the ancient writings just referred to. I cannot
oubt but that it is only necessary to call the attention of the
learned Catholic body to the existence of the wealth of evidence
and illustration concerning the faith of our ancestors, which lies
as yet buried in these great old Gaedlilic books, to cause effective
measures to be taken to make these useful to the religion of the
people to-day, by making known what they contain in full to
the world.
4? Of an To rcsimic. The fourth class consists also of a single piece,
form^of Con- namely, an ancient Formula of the Consecration of a new chiurch
a Church, or oratory.
This piece is important, no less for its antiquity, and with re-
ference to its doctnnal character, than for the historical evidence
it contains as to the form in which the primitive churches of
Erinn were built, wliich must, according to this tract, have always
had the door in the west end.
^ofAncient The fifth class of these religious remains consists of the
vocations, Praycrs, Invocations, and Litanies which have come down to
and utaniea. ^^ , these I shall sct down in chronological order, as far as my
authorities will allow me, and, when authority fails, guided by
my own judgment and experience in the investigation of these
ancient writings.
The first piece of this class (adopting the chronological order) is
the prayer of St. Aireran the wise (often called Aileran, Eleran,
and Airenan\ who was a classical professor in the great school of
Clonard, and died of the plague m the year 664. St. Aireran's
prayer or litany is addressed, respectively, to God the Father,
to God the Son, and to God the Holy Spirit, invoking them for
mercy by various titles indicative of their power, glory, and at-
tributes. The prayer consists of five invocations to the Father,
eighteen invocations to the Son, and five to tlie Holy Spirit;
and commences in Latin, thus : '* O Deus Pater, Omnipotens
Deus, exerci misericordiam nobis". This is followed by the same
invocation in the Gaedhlic; and the petitions, to the end, are
continued in the same language. The invocation of the Son
OF THE ElBLT ECCLESIASTICAL MSS. 379
begins thus : '* Have mercy on us, O Almighty God ! O Jesus '■to. xvm.
Christ ! O Son of the living God I O Son, bom twice ! O only goofAndeiit
bom of God the Father". The petition to the Holy Spirit be- JJg[S^ ^'
rins : ** Have mercy on us, O Almighty Gt>d ! O Holy Spirit ! and ut^in.
O spirit the noblest of all spirits !" [See original in Appendix, Jfsl jK"
No. CXX.] ^f»
When I first discovered this prayer in the Leabhar Buidhe
Lecaiuj (or Yellow Book of Lecain), in the library of Trinity
College, many years ago, I had no means of ascertaining or
fixing its date; but in my subsequent readings in the same
library, for my collection of ancient glossaries, I met the word
Oirchis set down with explanation and illustration, as follows : —
" Oirchis, id est, Mercy ; as it is said in theprayers of Airinan
the Wise: — Have mercy on us, O Gt)d the Father Almighty P
[See original in Appendix, No. CXXI.]
I think it is unnecessary to say more on the identity of this
prayer with the distinguished Aireran of Clonard. Nor is this
the only specimen of his devout works that has come down to
us. Fleming, in his CoUecta Sacra, has published a fragment
of a Latin tract oi Aireran, discovered in tne ancient monastery
of St. Gtill in Switzerland, which is entitled, " The Mystical
Interpretation of the Ancestry of our Lord Jesus Christ". A
rjrfect copy of this curious tract, and one of high antiquity, has,
believe, been lately discovered on the continent.
There was another A ireran, also called ** the wise", — who was
abbot of Tamhlacht [Tallaght], in the latter part of the ninth
century ; but he has not been distinguished as an author, as far
es we know.
The second piece of this class is the prayer or invocation of JJ*^^^^
Colau Ua Duinechifa, a cla^^sical Professor of Clonmacnois, who DuineeMa.
died in the year 789. This prayer is divided into two parts.
The first consists of twenty-eight petitions or paragraphs, each
paragraph beseeching the mercy and forgiveness of Jesus,
through the intercession of some class of the holy men of the
Old and New Testament ; who are referred to in the paragraph,
or represented by the names of one or more of the most dis-
tinguished of them. The first part begins thus: — *'I beseech
the intercession with Thee, O Holy Jesus ! of thy four evange-
lists who wrote thy gospel, namely Matthew, Mark, Luke, and
Jolm'\ The second part consists of seventeen petitions to the
Lord Jesus, apparently offered at Mass-time, beseeching Him to
accept the sacrifice then made, for all Christian churches, for
the sake of the merciful Father, from whom He descended
upon the Earth ; for the sake of His Divinity which the Father
had ovci'shadowed, in order that it might unite with His
380 OF THE EARLY ECCLESIASTICAL MS8.
LEc. xrm. humanity ; for the sake of the Immaculate body from which
floof Andent ^® ^^ fonned in the womb of the Virgin. The second prayer
Prayers, In- bcgius thus : — " O Holy Jcsus ; O Bcautiful Friend ; O Star of
IndLitaniefc thc Momiiig ; Thou full, brilliant Noon-day Sun ; Thou Noble
iSyerof ToFch of Kightcousncss and Truth, of Eternal Life, and of
"thrwiie"- ^^^^y-" [^^^ original in Appendix, No. CXXII.]
and the * The third piece of this fifth class is a beautiful and ancient
c^JS^Vl Litany of thc Blessed Virgin Mary, differing in many ways
Duinechda.) (^Qjxi her Lituuy in other languages, and clearly showing that,
t^y o?the* although it may be an imitation, it is not a translation. I
B. Virgin.) believe it to be as old, at least, as the middle of the eighth
century. It consists of fifty-nine Invocations, beginning ; " O
Great Mary ! O Mary Greatest of all Marys ; O Greatest of
women ; O Queen of the Angels", etc. ; and it concludes with
a beautiful and eloquent entreaty that she will lay the un-
worthy prayers, siglis, and groans of the sinners before her
own merciful Son, backed by her own all-powerful advocacy,
for the forgiveness of their sins. [See original in Appendix,
No. CXXIIL]
^5wjw^ The fourth piece of this class is the Litany of Aeiigus CUli
can bi J)i consequently datin^? about the year 798. This composition,
(circa 798). • • i ^ t "^ i >.** , . . •^ , r»» -i •
qmte mdcpendcntly ot its religious character, aiiords a most im-
portant corroborative piece of ecclesiastical liistory. It is men-
tioned by Sir James Ware in his " Writers of Ireland", as " a
book of litanies in which, in a long series of daily prayers, are
invoked some companies of saints, who were either school-fel-
lows under the same master, or who joined in society under thc
same leader, to propagate the faith among heathens; or, who
were buried in the same monastery, or lived in commmiion in
the same church ; or, lastly, who were jomed together by any
other like titles". So wrote Sir James Ware, a Protestant gen-
tleman of learning and intogiity. And when I quote this ac-
knowledgment of the authenticity of the litany, let me be
pennitted to add that of another Protestant gentleman of
at least equal depth of leai'ning and accuracy of discrimina-
tion; one still among us, and who I hope may long con-
tinue to enlighten us by his knowledge, to improve us by
his exquisite taste in the illustration of our ancient history, in
literature and in art, and to elevate us by the bright example of
a blameless life of incorruptible honour, a generous and manly
liberality of tone, and many active, imostentatious, but exalted
virtues ; I mean my dear and honoui*ed friend Dr. George Petrie.
Thus writes Dr. Petrie in his imanswerable Essay on the ancient
Ecclesiastical Arcliitecture of Ireland; a work with wliich I hope
all my hearers are familiar.
OF THE EABLT ECCLESIASTICAL MSS. 381
" Having now, as I trust, sufficiently shown that the Irish l«c. xvni.
erected churches and cells of stone, without cement, at the very gpo^^n^^t
earliest period after the introduction of Christianity into the Prayera,
country ; and if it had been necessary, I might have adduced a 2la*uun"i.
vastly greater body of evidence to substantiate the fact ; I may, S^*J[^"^
I think, fairly ask : Is it poa<ible that they would remain much ^<^'« ^.•
longer ignorant of tlie use of lime cement in their religious edi- "
fices, a knowledge of which must necessarily liave been imparted
to them by the crowds of foreign ecclesiastics, Eg}'ptian, Roman,
Italian, French, British, and Saxon, who flocked to Ireland as a
place of refuge, in tlie fifth and sixth centuries ? Of such im-
migration there cannot possibly exist a doubt ; for, not to speak
of the great number of foreigners who were disciples of St.
Patrick, and of whom the names are preserved in the most
ancient lives of that saint; nor of the evidences of the same
nature so abundantly supplied in the lives of many other saints
of the Primitive Irish Church ; it will be sufficient to refer to
that most curious and ancient document, written in the year 799,
the litany of St. Aengus the Culdee, in which are invoked such
a vast number of foreign saints buried in Ireland. Copies of
this ancient litany are foimd in the Book of Leinster, a MS. im-
doubtedly of the twelfth century, preserved in the library of
Trinity College, Dublin ; and in the Leahhar Breac [properly
the Leahhar M6r Dtma Doif/hre], preserved in the ril)rary of
the Royal Irish Academy: and the passages in it, relative to
the foreign ecclesiastics, have been extmcted, translated into
Latin, and published by Ward, in liis Life of St. Rumold, page
206 ; and by Colgan, in his Acta Sanctorum, page 539'' [535].^*'^
Tlie litan}^ of Aengus begins thus: " The three times fifly
Roman pilgrims, who settled in Ui MeU^ along with Notal and
Nemshenchaidh and Comutan, invoco in auxilium meum, per
Jesum Christum, etc.... The three thousand father confessors
who congregated in Munster to consider one question, under
Bishop I bar, — and where to the Angel of God was ascribed the
preat feast which St. Brigid had prepared in her heart for Jesus, —
invoco in auxilium meum per Jesum Christum. The other
thrice fifty pilgrims of the men of Rome and Latiiun who went
into Scotland, invoco in auxilium meum per Jesum Christum.
The thrice fifty Gaedhils of Erinn, in holy orders, each of them
a man of strict rule, who went in one body into pilgrimage,
(<y^ Inqtiiry into the Origin and Uses of the Round Towers of Ireland, p. 184.
One slight mistake Dr. Pctric has fallen into in this pansa^e, ii% to the tract in
the Ikjok of Leinster. The tract he alludes to there, is Aen^nis's Book of tlie
]'c<lipTee8 of the Irish Saints, and not hiB Litany, wfaicli vt found only in the
Leahhar Mur Dana Doighr^,
382 OF THE EABLT ECCLESIASTICAL MSS.
uBc. xvm. under Abban, the son of Ua Cormaic, invoco in auxilinm meum
per Jesiim Christum", etc. [See original in Appendix, No.
i;.^.rrcxxiv.]
ISdTLitOTics. -^^ *^"^ ^^^^ Aengns go on to invoke groups of men and
(The uuny womeu who Came into Erinn from all parts of the world, and
^ciiiTSi^ joined themselves to various religious persons and communities
throughout our land, to benefit by their purity of morals and exalted
piety ; as well as tlie countless groups of men, lay and ecclesias-
tical, who left Erinn on pilgrimages to the Holy Land, imder
SS. Ailbhe, Brendan, etc.; and others who went out to plant
and propagate their Christian knowledge and piety, in remote
and unfrequented countries, which had not yet been brought
within the mnge of the Lord's vineyard, or in which the seeds
of Christianity formerly sown had either run to extravagant
wildness or totally failed.
After invoking these various groups at considerable length,
he turns to the bishops of Erinn, whom he invokes in gi*oups of
seven, taking together those who either lived contempora-
neously or succeeded each other in tlie one church ; as the seven
bishops oi Drom-AurcliailU; the seven bishops of Drom Derce-
dan; the seven bishops of Tidach na n-Espuc^ or Hill of the
Bishops, etc. [I may mention to you that tliis Tulach na n-Espuc^
was lulla, near Cabinteely, in the county of Dublin; and that
it is stated in the Life of St. Brigid, that these seven bishops,
on a certain occasion, paid her a visit at Kildare, a circum-
stance which fixes the time at which they lived.]
The invocation extends to 141 groups of seven, or in all 987
bishops, ending with the seven bishops of Domhnach CJiainii
[probably the place now called Doneycamey, near Dublin].
ofthePmo- We now come to another and the last section of our Eccle-
SSS?U)^e siastical MSS., if we may include imder this title the writings
^iSS! ^' called Prophecies ascribed to the saints of Erinn.
Li openmg the subject of ancient Graedhlic Prophecies, it
might be expected that I should take a comparative glance at
the prophecies of other countries, as this would indeed be the
most learned and approved mode of introducing the subject;
but as I have hitherto in the progress of these Lectures confined
myself to a simple analysis of the historic and literary remains
of our own country, treated from the points of view offered by
internal evidence only, I shall follow the same rule in this
instance, and proceed to treat of our ancient prophecies, as they
are called, on their own authority and on their own internal
merits alone.
In the first place I have to tell you, that although those
ascribed to the saints form the chief part of our collection of
prophecies, there are a few referred to tmies anterior to the year
OF THE SO-CALLED PROPHECIES. 383
432, the year in which St. Patrick commenced his Chiistian lec. xvm.
mission in Erinn ; and their authorsliip is ascribed to persons
still involved in the darkness of paganism. As, then, it is my phecks m-
dcsign to take all the " Piophecies" in their presumed chrono- SiintoS*'**
logical order, I shall begin with those wliich are relented to our ^J^^
pre-Christian period.
The oldest prophecy, or rather prophetic allusion to fiitnre 21^ed
events in Erinn, that I can remember, is found in the ancient "Prophecies-
but little-known tract, which is entitled Agallamh an dd SetoeS
ShuadJiy or the Dialogic of the two Sages ^or Professors). The ^e**Prol
history given of this Dialogue is shortly this. ghecy"inthe
Adhna, a distinguished Connachtman, was cliief poet of Ulster of the*¥So
in the reign of Conor Mac Nessa (about four hundi-ed years '^""•^
before St. Patrick's anival). Adhna had a son, Neidhe, who,
after having been carefully instructed in the prescribed lite-
rary coiurse of the period by his father, was then sent by him into
Scotland, to add to his stores of native knowledge all that could
be acquired at the famous academy oi Eochavdh Echbhedil, in
that country. During NUdhea sojourn in Scotland, his father,
Adhna, died, smdAthaimS, the celebrated poet and satirist, was
raised to his place of cliief poet of Ulster. An account of these
important changes having, however, reached young NSidhi in
Scotland, he immediately returaed to Erinn, and went straight
to the palace of Emania. He entered the royal court at once
under protection of his well-recognized poet's tonsure, and
made directly for the chief poet's chair, wmch he found vacant
at the moment, with the arch-poet's Imglien, or official gown,
lying on the back of it. (This gown of the arch-poet is de-
scribed as liaving been one ornamented with the feathers of
beautiful birds.) Neidhd, finding the chair accidentally vacant,
sat in it and put on the gown. A thairni soon after made his
appearance, and seeing his appointed mantle and seat occupied
by a stranger, he immediately addressed him in these words:
*' Who is the learned poet upon whom the Tuighen with its
splendour rests?" [See original in Appendix, No. CXXV.]
This led to a long, learned, and animated contest in literature,
poetry, philosophy, Druidism, etc., in which NUdhi showed
himself fully qualified to retain the position which he had tem-
porarily assumed ; but, in obedience to the beautiful patriarchal
law of reverence for seniority which pervaded all conditions of
society in ancient Erinn, having firat established his superior
qualifications, he then voluntarily vacated the cliair, put off the
splendid gown, placed it on the shoulders o^l AtliaimS, and, in
tlie absence of his father by death and of his later preceptor by
distance, he adopted him as his father and preceptor.
384 OF THE SO-CALLED PROPHECIES.
LEc. xnn. This strange piece is couched in very ancient language, some-
of the "^hat resembling, indeed partaking largely of the character of,
w-caiied ^ the aucicnt text of the Brehon laws ; but every plirase, almost
antertorto* cveiy word, throughout the whole, is explained in the version
st^PaTrict which is preserved to us, by an ancient interlined gloss, still in
(The '.'Pro- ancicnt, but much more accessible language.
*' Dialogue We have shown in a former Lecture, on the authority of the
at^".)''* ancient Book of UachongbhiHl, that the obscurity of the lan-
Siage in wliich this dialogue was carried on, in the presence of
ing Conor and the nobles of Ulster, was the immediate cause
of taking from the Poets the exclusive right which, down to
that time, they had enjoyed, of interpreting the ancient laws
of the country, and of opening their study to all such men
of all grades as should incline to make the law their profession.
This dialogue is also quoted at the word Teathra ("the Sea'"),
and at the word Tuighen (" the Gown") in Cormac's Glossary ; a
compilation of the close of the ninth century. Yet, although the
mere literary part of the tract may, perhaps, be referred to tlie re-
markable period of Conor Mac Nessa's reign, it is too much to ex-
pect that the precise reference to the precise discipline and doc-
trines of the future Christian Church of Erinn, which it is made
to contain prophetically, could have been really predicted by
persons not yet rescued from the darkness of Paganism. The
passage occura thus : The Dialogue is carried on by way of ques-
tion and answer : A tliairni puts the question, and I^ttidhe answers.
After a variety of questions relating to literature, poetry, Druid-
ism, astronomy, ethics, etc., Athairni asks Neidh^ whether he
has any knowledge of the future state of Eriim ; Neidhe onswais
that he has, and lie then goes into a long review of what is to
happen in church and state, to the end of time. There would
be mortalities of cows all over the world ; Kings would be few ;
Professors of the various arts would be mere imitators; Pagan
enemies would waste Erinn, so that dignity of birth or extent
of wealth would serve nobody. [This no doubt alludes to the
Danish invasion in the eighth century.] Kings would be wan-
derers ; religion extinguished ; the nobles crushed down ; the ig-
noble raised up, and neither man nor God would be honoured or
worshipped ; clerical orders and functions would be cast off, and
hypocnsy and delusions assumed; musicians would be meta-
morphosed into clowns ; the churches would become subject to
the lords of the lands ; pupils would neglect to maintain their
tutors in dieir old age. There would come, after tliis, great
mortalities; lightnings, and thunder; unnatural seasons; a
vengeful slaughter for three days and three nights; and this
would be the fiery plague of the festival of St. J olm the Bap-
OF THE SO-CALLED PBOPHECIBS. 385
tist, which would destroy two-thirds of the people of the world, LEcrvnii
and one-third of which should fall upon the animals of the sea q, ^^^^
and the trees of the forest. After those years of sorrow, the so-caiied
foreigners would come in their ships to Inhher Domnainn [now anterior to
the Bay of Malahide, on the coast of the county of Dublin]. st*ftSidL
This was to be the Roth Rdmhach, or "Rowing Wheel", (of ^Vi^J^
which more hereafter); and it would fly off to the Coirthi ""dimIoi^
CndmhchoiUi^ or Rock of Cndmhchoill (of which more here- si^".)*^^
after), where it would be broken; — that is, where the enemies,
(of whom, as of a plague, it was the poetic^d designation,) would
be overthrown and almost anniliilated, as well as their " stammer-
ing foreign women, that is, Saxon women, who would bear
chddren to their own fathers". The destruction and desertion of
the great palaces and cities of Erinn was to take place, — ^namely,
Emania, m Ulster; Tara, in Meath; Cruachain, in Connacht;
Cashel, in Munster ; and Aileach, in Dcrry ;— after which the sea
would come over Erinn, seven years before the day of judgment.
This part of this so-called prophecy appears to me curious,
because it seems to bring the author s time down to the tenth
century, when the Danes were accustomed to run over here
from England, with their Saxon bond wives and bond women.
But I need not dwell longer upon it at present.
The second personage belonging to the pre-Christian period, "P";??^®-
to whom I have found any existing propnecy ascribed, is no criSed to
other than the celebrated Conn " of the hundred battles", mon- luSidwd*^**
arch of Erinn, who was slain in the year of our Lord 157, or^^*^**
275 years before the arrival of St. Patrick.
Conn's name is connected with two distinct prophecies, —
one delivered by liimsclf, and entitled the BaiU Chuinn, or
Conn 8 Ecstacy ; the other delivered to him, and entitled the
Baile an Scdil, or the Champion's Ecstacy. The word BaiU^
wliich means madness, distraction, or ecstacy, is the ancient
Gacdhlic name lor a Prophecy.
Of these two ** Prophecies" nothing seems to have been
known to Gaedhlic scholars and historians, for some centuries
back, more tlian the quotation from the BaiU Chuinn found in
the Tripartite Life of St. Patrick, as published by Father John
Colgan, in his Trias Thaumaturgas, in the year 1647, (a quota-
tion wliich was reprinted by Dr. Petrie, in his History and An-
tiquities of Tara, published in the year 1839, in the I8th volume
of the Transactions of the Roval Irish Academy). Even at the
time that Dr. Petrie wrote fiis iniportant Essay on Tara, the
serious examination of our ancient Gaedhlic manuscripts was but
in its infancy ; and when tliis Baile Chuinn was discovered in the
Tripartite Life of St. Patrick, it was not known who Conn, the
25
886 OF THE SCHSALLBD PBOPHXCIBfl.
LEc. xvin. author of It, was ; nor at what time he flourished ; nor whether
it contained any more than what is there quoted ; it was only
Bo^ited believed that he must have been some ancient Druid. Neither
Mtwlorto* could the most minute research among our extensive collection
the time of q£ manuscripts in Dublin tliiow any lii^ht on his history. How-
Sfc Patrick *^ . . - , . ^'' ^ /»ioji^. titi
(••Prophe- ever, on my visit to London m the summer oi 1849, 1 had the
Sibed*to good fortune to discover an ancient copy of the entire prophecy,
hSi^^'** of which an extract only is quoted in the Tripartite Life.
Batacs.) The piece is a short one, filling but one column of a small
folio page. It is entitled Bailc Chuinn Ched'Chathaigh ; that is,
* the Ecstacy (or Prophecy) of Conn of the hundred battles'. The
manuscript is written on vcUum, and was compiled or transcribed
in Burren, in my native county of Clare, by Donncl O'Davoren,
about the year 1590. It will be found in the British Museum,
classed, " Egerton 88". The transcript appears to have been made
from some ancient decayed manuscript, and with some carelessness,
many words being carelessly spelled or contracted. The style
of the composition is affectedly irregular and obscure, and can-
not be taken as evidence of the remote antiquity to which it is
referred. It will appear from what follows, tliat the piece pro-
fesses to have been originally written forty nights before Conn's
death. The ** Prophecy", wliich is written in prose, has refer-
ence to the succession of the kings of Tara ; and Conn com-
mences with his own son, Art, of whom he disposes in the
following few words :
" Art will succeed at the end of forty nights ; a powerful
champion, who shall die at Mucruimhf; . [see original in
Appendix, No. CXXVI.] The Prophecy then runs rapidly
down to Mac Con, the successor of Art; Cormac the son of Art,
and successor of Mac Con ; CairbrSj the son of Cormac, killed
at the battle of Gabhra; Fiacha Sraihhtini^ the son oiCairhri;
Muiridhach^ the son of Fiacha; and passing over Eochaidh
Muighmheadfuiin, the son of 3fuiredhach, it comes do^vn to liis
son again, Niall of the Nine Hostages ; and then to Laeghairt^,
the son of Niallj who was monarcli when St. Patrick arrived.
Here the prophet foretells the coming of our great apostle, in
words which stand as follows, with their ancient explanations :
" With Laeghair^ the violent will the land be humbled by the
coming of the Tailcenn, that is, Patrick ; houses across, that is
churches, bent staffs, which will pluck the flowers from hi^h
f)laces". [See original in same Appendix.] A somewhat dif-
erent and better version of this prediction is given in the ancient
Tripartite Life of St. Patrick, where it is quoted, without gloss,
from the Baile Chuinn; it runs thus: "A TaiUenn shall come,
he will erect cities, churches, music houses, with gables and
OF THE SO-GALLBD PB0PHBCIB8 387
angles ; many kin^ will take up pilgrim staffs". [Sec original ucc. xrm.
in Appendix, No. CXXVII.l The word Tailcenn (or Tailgenn), ^ .^
, . , \ J • ■" • 1 • • V . -'' Of the
which occurs here, and m vanous places in our ancient writings, »o-c«iied
means the reverend person, — to whom all men would bow the MteiiOT?©*^
head in reverence. [See same Appendix.] For the precise st*p^S?ct
meaning of every word in this ancient strain I have succeeded ("Pjophe-
in procuring from ancient manuscripts the most undoubted au- criSwito
thority ; and this is rather remarkable, since the version of it hStoi'**
given by Father John Colgan in Ids Latin translation of the »**"«*)
Tripartite Life, is inaccurate and incongruous/**^
After bringing the predictions down to king LaeghairS, and
the coming of St. Patrick, as we have just seen, the royal
*' prophet" is made to continue the list of his successors in tho
sovereignty, sometimes by name, and sometimes by description,
down to the tliree Nialls, the last of whom, Niall Glnn-duhh^
was killed in battle witli the Danes, near Dublin, in the year
917; and from that down, by description, to a king described
as the false fratricidal king in whose reign the Saxons were to
come. Now, this fratricidal king of Tara was, without doubt,
Domnall Breaghach O'ifamlsechlainn, who, in the year 1169,
murdered liis cousin Diarmaidy the rightful king of Tara, and
set himself up in his place. And this was the precise year in
whicli the Anglo-Normans (or Saxons, as they arc called here),
first invaded Ireland ; so that, whatever degree of credit might
be due to the early part of this strange prophecy, the latter
part savours strongly of a foregone knowledge of historic facts.
It is unfortunate that no vestige of the original history of
this prophecy has come down to us : what the immediate in-
citing causes to it were, and to what extent it ran at the time
that it was first introduced into the ancient Tripartite Life of
St. Patrick. Tliat some such account existed, there is good
reason to believe; and upon the character of it would very
much depend whether the so-called prophecy, or any part of it,
was to be received as authentic or not. I'hese observations
will be better understood from the following fanciful history and
description of tlie Baile an Scdil, the other ancient prophecy
witli which the name of king Conn is connected. Tlie history
is prefixed to the copy of this prophecy in the British Museum
MS. (Harleian, 5280), and nms m the following style: —
One morning Conn repaired at sunrise to the battlements of the
Ri liaith, or Royal Fortress, of Tara, accompanied by his tliree
^***^ It rung as foUows : " Adveniet cum circulo tonsus in capite, ciyuB acdes
ad instar acdium Romanarum: cfficiet quod cellae futurse sint in pretio et
sstimatione. JEden ejus erunt angustae et angulatad et fana mueta pedum
pastorale dominabetur" — Triai Thaum., p. 123.
25 b
388
OF THE SO-CALLED PROPHECIES.
LKC. xvni.
Of the
■o-called
••Prophede*'
anterior to
the time of
St Patrick.
C Prophe-
elee**aa-
cribedto
Conn of tba
Hnndred
Battlei.)
Druids, Mael, Bloc, and Bluicni^ and his three poets, Elhain,
Corb, and Cesarn; ifor he was accustomed every day to repair to
this place with the same company, for the purpose of watching
the nrmament, that no hostile aenal beings should descend upon
Erinn unknown to him. Wliile standing in the usual place
this morning, Conn happened to tread upon a stone, and imme-
diately the stone shrieked under his feet, so as to be heard all
over Tara, and throughout all Bregia, or East Meath. Conn
then asked his Druids why the stone had shrieked, what it's
name was, and what it said. The Druids took fifty-three days
to consider ; and at the expiration of that period returned the
following answer : " Fal is the name of the stone ; it came from
Inia Fail, or the island of Fal; it has shrieked imder your
royal feet, and the number of slirieks which the stone has given
forth, is the number of kings of your seed that will succeea you
till the end of time ; but", continued the Druid, " I am not the
person destined to name them to you". [See original in Ap-
pendix, No. CXX VII I.]
Conn stood some time musing on this strange revelation;
when, suddenly, he found himself and his companions en-
veloped in a mist, so thick, that they knew not where they
were, so intense was the darkness. They had not continued
long in this condition, imtil they heard the tramp of a horse-
man approaching them ; and immediately a spear was cast three
times in succession towards them, coming nearer to them each
time. The Druid then cried out : " It is a violation of the
sacred person of a king to whoever casts [on the part of any
one that casts] at Conn in Tara". The horseman then came
up, saluted Conn, and invited himself and his companions to
his house. He led them into a noble plain, where they saw
a royal court, into which they entered, and found it occupied
by a beautiful and richly dressed princess, with a silver vat full
of red ale, and a golden ladle and a golden cup before her. The
knight, on entering the palace, showed his guests to appro-
priate seats, and sat himself in a princely chair at the head
of the apartment ; and then, addressing himself to Conn, said : —
" I wish to inform you that I am not a living knight ; I am
one of Adam*s race wno have come back from death ; my name
is Lugh Mac Ceithlenn, and I am come to tell you the length
of your own reign, and the name and reign of every king who
shall succeed you in Tara ; and the princess whom you have
found here on your entrance, is the sovereignty of Erinn for ever".
The princess then presented to Conn the bare rib of an ox,
and the bare rib of a boar. The ox's rib measured four-and-
twenty feet in length ; and when both its ends were laid on the
ground, it formea an arch eight feet in height. She subse-
OF THE SO-CALLED PROPHECIES. 389
quentljr presented him with the silver pail and the golden ladle lec. xmi.
and cup. The princess then took up the ladle, filled the cup, ^^ ^^^
and said: " Who shall this cup with the red ale be given tor socaued
The knight answered : " Give it to Conn of the Hundred Battles aSSiSrto*
(diat is, he shall gain a hundred battles) ; fifty years shall he st.*PaTii<i'
have reigned, when he will be slain at Tuath Amrais". The ^'Pr"Ph«-
princess said again: " Who shall this cup with the red ale be crib©dto
g.ven to?" "Give it", said the knight, "to Art, the son of gTd^^'
onn : he shall have reimed thirty years, when he shall be ^^**«»-)
slain at Magh MticruinM \ And tnus does the princess con-
tinue to put her questions, the knight always giving the name
of the succeeding king, the Icngtn of his reign, and the place
and manner of his death, down to Laeghaire^ the son of JViall,
where the knight answers : " Give it to Laeghairi of the many
Conflicts, who shall devastate the Life [Liffey, that is, LeinsterJ,
and many other territories. Five years shall he have reigned,
when a stranger company shall come, among whom shall be the
Tailcenn, that is, Patrick, a man of great dignity, whom God
will honour, who will light a great torch which shall illuminate
Erinn even to the sea. Laeghaire shall be slain on the bank of
the CaisS, Kings and many champions will be brought to take
up the pilgiiin's staff by the preaching of the TailcennT,
The prophecy is then continued in the same way down to the
monarch Fergus, the son of Maeldtiin, who was to be slain in
the Battle of Abnhain, on a Friday, an occurrence wliich took
place in the year 718. And here our copy unfortunately breaks
off, otherwise we should be pretty well able to fix the probable
date of the oiiginal composition of this piece.
That this piece, however, whatever was its date, was a well-
known tract, and of authority for the succession and reigns of
the monarchs of Erinn in the middle of the eleventh century, is
clear, as we find it quoted as an autliority by Flann, of Monas-
terboice (who died in 1056), in tlie 16th stanza of his poem on
the succession of the Kings of Tara, when speaking of the
monarch Eocliaidh Muidhrnhedhoinj who died in the year of our
Lord 365, in the eighth year of his reign. Thus writes Flann
[See original in Appendix, No. CXXIX.] :
Died, after being kinged by the hosts.
The smooth and stainless Eocliaidh Muighmliedlidin^
Here was verified (whatever other cases may be,)
That which was written in the Baile an Scdil.
This is an important reference to the Baili an Scdil. It is
pretty clear that Flann did not believe in its inspiration, and
that he had not found its historic details as accurate, in all in-
stances, as those which related to Eochaidh MuighmJiedhdin,
890 Of THB 80 CALLED PROPHECIES.
LEc. xTm. A fine copy of Flann's poem is preserved in the Book of
Q^ ^j^^ Leinster, compiled about eighty years after his death. It be-
•o-c«iied gins [see same Appendix] :
«SS? to*" " The Kings of Tara who were animated by fire".
st.*piSi<SL ^ think it quite unnecessary to offer any obser\'ation on the BaiU
r ftopue- an Scdtl itself, after having placed before you a fair version —
cribed to indeed a literal translation nearly — of the purely fabulous accoimt
HMdred**** of ite origin, which has come down to us, and which must certainly
BAttiM ) \yQ ag qJ J ^8 thc prophccv itself. And notwithstanding that the
BaiU Chuinn is quoted m the most ancient copies known to us
of the Tripartite Life of St. Patrick, still it is impossible to assign
to it any higher degree of antiquity or authenticity than to the
other. Indeed, both seem to have been manufactured by tlie
same hand, one being a mere echo of the other, but with some
additional details, as far as our imperfect copy of it comes down.
It would be absurd to beUeve that either Conn himself, or his
doubtful informant the Seal (both pagans), could have received
any divine revelation, or coiud, even with druidical aid, have
fiven us the precise name, length of reign, niunber and names of
attles, as well as the place and manner of death, of every king
of Conn's race, who would occupy Tara, from the year of our
Lord 157, down to the Saxon or Anglo-Norman invasion of
Ireland, in the year 1169! How, then, it may be asked, did
this prophecy come to be introduced into our most ancient
copies of the Tripartite Life ? To this question, I can only state
my opinion in answer; an opinion founded, however, on the
thoughtful reading and study for many years of the character
and possible authenticity of such old compositions of a so-called
" prophetic" character as have come under my notice. Allow me,
then, to say, that we have no really ancient copy of the Tripartite,
that is, any copy older than, or even as old as, tne twelfth century ;
and (if we had copies to refer to in succession from the sixth
century to the twcll'th, when the prophecy would, if perfect, we
presimie, have ended,) I have for my part little doubt tliat
could we with certainty discover the fiist copy in which the
Baile Chuinn occurs, we should find it not older than tlie year
1169 ; that is, presuming that the present is the original version
of the prophecy.
It is a very remarkable fact, however, tliat Macutenius, who
collected or wrote a short tract on the life of St. Patrick before
the year 700, introduces an ancient pagan prophecy of the
coming of our apostle, of wliich he gives the Latin, but that he
makes no mention, nevertheless, of the BailS Chuinn. Probus
also, who wrote a Life of St. Patrick in the tenth century, it is
believed, quotes the same pagan prediction, and gives a Latin
OF THE SO-CALLED PROPHECIES. 391
translation of it, but has no reference to the BaiU Chuinn; and lec. xnn.
Jocelyn, who wrote his Life of St. Patrick about the year 1185, ~T
gives the same pagan prophecy, but not a word about the other, so-otiied
I shall now pass from the BaiU Chuinn^ for the present, to i^[2l5?to*^
take it up again when I come to speak more particularly of the gj^pjjj^^^
pa^an prophecy just referred to. ("Prophecy"
The practice of ascribing predictions of the coming of St. 2h?"ihe***
Patrick to persons who lived some centuries before that event, JfcSfn"'-^
was not confined to the case of Conn of the Hundred Battles, ^^^ a.*©.
or his gifted friend from the land of spirits, the ScdL We find, ^
in tlic ancient historic tract on the Battle of Magh MucruiinfiS
(which was fought in the year of our Lord 195), a " prophetic"
poem, ascribed to the monarch Art, the son of Conn, who was
slain in that battle. This poem is preserved in the ancient vel-
lum MS. called the Leahhar na h-uidhrS, compiled before the
year 1106, a book which has been so often spoken of in the
course of these lectures. There is a short prose introduction
headed, *' The Prophecy and Christian Belief of Art the Lonely",
which states that the prophecy was the result of a vision which
Art saw while enjoying a sleep on the top of his Vumha Selga^
or Inmting-mound, a short time before the battle, while hunting
at Tredit (the place now called Trevit, situated about three
miles east of Tara, in the coimty of Mcath).
In this vision Art is said to have seen the coming of St.
Patrick ; the gi-eat cliangcs which his mission woidd bring about
In the condition of Erinn; the subsequent importance, as a
religious establishment, of Tredit, the place in which he then
hapi^ened to be, and where, by his own direction, his body was
carried from the battle-field and buried, in anticipation of the
future sanctity of the place.
The poem, which consists of 156 lines, was addressed to Den
Mvr, Art*s attendant, and begins [see Appendix, No. CXXX.] :
" Pleasant for Denna, tlie vehement",
This is one of the oldest poems that I am acquainted with,
and many of tlie words are explained by an ancient interlined
gloss ; but it is remarkable that it has no reference to those who
were to succeed Art in the monarchy, nor to the Danish or
Saxon invasions. I think it was wntten immediately at, or
about the time of founding the church of Treoit, and before
either of the invasions had occurred, and that, consequently,
the prophet was too honest to see farther forward into futurity.
In my next Lecture I shall proceed with some account
of the remainder of these so-called Prophecies, after which I
propose to take up those ascribed to St. Colum CilU and his
Buccessors.
LECTURE XIX.
[Dellrend July 17. 18fl«.J
The (so-called) Propuecies (continued). The Prophecies attributed to Finn
Mac Cumhaill Of the Magical Arts of Finn. Of the Pagan Prophecy of the
coming of St. Patrick, quoted by Macutenius. The Prophecies attributed
to St. Caillin, The Prophecies attributed to Beg Mac DL The Prophecies
attributed to St. Colum CUU. Of the spurious and modem Prophecies
attributed to this Saint
In our last Lecture we considered shortly the remarkable ^^ Dia-
logue of the Two Sages", the two " Prophecies" referred to Conn
of the Hundred Battles, and that ascritxjd to his son Ait, called
the Lonely. Before we pass to the Prophecies (as they are
called) attributed to the eariy Christian Saints of Erinn, we
have still to notice one or two other compositions which pass
under the same name, though belonging to an earlier era.
The next of our pagan " prophets" in chronological order is
no less a personage tnan the celebrated Finn Mac Cumhaill^ who
was slain in the year of our Lord 283, or 149 years before St.
Patrick's coming. It would indeed have been a great omission
on the part of our ancient chroniclers of the wonderful, if they
had failed to endow Finn with the gift of prophecy, along with
all his other surprising accomplishments.
I have in a former Lecture given a short account of the poems
in general which we find ascribed to Finn in our old manu-
scripts, and among them one foretelling the mission of St.
Patrick, the founding of a Christian church by St. Moling at
Ro8 Broc [now St. Mullins, in the county of Carlo w], and the
future renown of that place. Tliere are, however, b^des this,
two other " Prophecies" known to me as ascribed to Finn, one
of them of an ancient date, and the other not so old ; and there is
a third prophecy of Finn's, preserved among some poems and
prophecies ascribed to St. Colum Cilli, in a vellum manuscript
m tne Bodleian Library at Oxford; but I had not, when there,
time to examine it.
Of the two prophecies which I am about to describe, one is
Preserved in a vellum manuscript of the fifteenth century, in
le Library of Trinity College (Class H. 3, 17). It is very
short, and is written m irregularly measured prose, in ancient
language, and with an interlined gloss. It is headed : ** Finn,
the grandson of Baiscni cecinit, foretelling of Patrick, when he
OF THE SO-CALLED PROPHECIES. 393
slipped off the flag on which he afterwards came to Eriiin". lect. xix.
[See original in Appendix, No. CXXXI.] ^^ ^^^
The " Prophecy'', which consists of about thirty lines, begins »o-auied
with the following [see same Appendix] : — MtSorto*"
" It is not in the path of crime my foot has come. st^pSSd^
It is not a decline of strength that has come upon me, ("Prophe-
But it is the warrior's stone this stone rejects : crfbed to
He is a distinguished man for whom the stone rejects me, c^Zu!i%.
[a man] With dimities from the Holy Spirit" (t.^., the
dignity of a bishop).
It is impossible to imderstand the legend alluded to in this
veiy curious piece, in the absence of any more of its history ;
and the more so, that, as I am certain, the short heading is ae-
fective by two words ; for I should have but little difficulty in
identifying the legend, and inferring the history of the pro-
phecy, supposing it had run, for example, thus : " Finn, the
grandson of Baiscni cecinit, foretelling of Patrick, when he
[Finn] slipped off the flagstone upon which [the leper] came
afterwards to Erinn".
Tlie legend of the leper and the flagstone is this : When St.
Patrick was leaving the coast of Britam to come over to Erinn
on his mission, just as the ship had cast off from the shore, a
poor leprous man came on the beach, and begged earnestly to
be taken on board. Patrick was willing to put back and take
him up ; but the crew refused, and the ship moved on. The
poor leper still continued his entreaties; whereupon, Patrick
took his altar-stone (which, in the old writings, is called the
Stone Altar), and casting it on the water within reach of the
leper, desired him to sit on it and be quiet. This the leper
did, and immediately the stone moved, following the ship
throughout its course, until they reached the harbour of Wick-
low, where the leper was one of the first to land ; after which
the Saint again took possession of his " Stone Altar". This
stone is spoken of as an altar in the text of thisprophecy, and
with the promise, that as long as it lives in Erinn Patrick's
children in Christ will live in his doctrines. It is not im-
probable that there was an ancient legend, which is not now
known, of the history of this stone before Patrick consecrated
it to his holy purposes. In this, as in the former prophecies,
Patrick is called the Tailcenn, [See App., No. CXXVII.]
Assuming the foregoing, then, to be the true reading of the
legend implied in the heading, there remains still the other
legend to be accounted for ; that, namely, of Finn's slipping off
the flagstone ; a legend, of which I have never met with any
trace in my reading, though it has been rather extensive in this
394
OF THB SO-CALLED PR0PHECIB8.
LECT. nx.
Of the
so-c4lIed
**Proplie€lefl*
anterior tu
the time of
St. Patrick.
(" l*rophe-
eles" as-
cribed to
FhnnMae
CtimhaiU.)
particular direction. If, however, I were allowed to infer the
legend from the few facts mentioned in the opening lines of the
prophecy, I should say that it might perhaps have once run in
this stram : —
That Finn was hunting somewhere about Sliahh Mia (in the
county of Antrim), where St. Patrick, during liis early ca{)ti\T[ty
in Ermn, was employed to herd the swine ol his master Milchu ;
that Finn in his progress happened to tread upon a stone, from
which he sUpjwd in some remarkable manner ; that, on looking
at the stone, he discovered that it was one which offered a good
material for a weapon, — probably for one of those curiously-
fashioned weapons of which we have so many specimens of all
sizes in the Museum of the Royal Irish Academy, and wliich now
pass by the unmeaning name of celts (a kind of weapon, which
m ancient Gaedhlic was called Lia Milidh, or Warriors Stone),
and one or more of which every champion carried in his girdle
to be cast as occasion might require ; tliat Finn, in some unac-
countable way, failed to appropriate the stone ; that he then had
recourse to liis Druidic powers of divination to discover the
cause of his failure ; that he found the stone to be predestined
for a liigher and holier office than that of an offensive weapon
in the hands of a professional warrior, and that on tliat account,
it intuitively slirunk from his hand ; and finally that, long after-
wards, when Patrick was employed as a swine-herd on this
mountain, this stone ha\'ing attracted his notice, he took it up
without dilEculty, and earned it about him in his escape from
bondage, and ever after, until he was ordained a priest ; and
that then he formed it into the stone altar, which he carried
with him on his journey from Rome, and upon which the leper,
as we have already seen, accompanied him over the sea from
Britain into Erinn.
That some such legend as this had been (and probably is
still) in existence, on which this prophecy was founded, any one
who has paid much attention to the character of our old ro-
mances, will, I think, without difficulty feel disposed to believe.
But the matter certainly requires much further investigation.
There are two other prophecies of I\n7i Mac Cumhaill to be
found in modem Gaedhlic manuscripts ; but they are much in-
ferior in style to the pieces just described, and it will be seen at
once by the Gaedhhc scholar, that they must have been com-
posed centuries after the former.
The first of these is a poem of 188 lines, in which the poet
Oisin is made to repeat to St. Patrick a prophetic poem
which his father, FinUj had composed at Beinji Edmr (now the
Hill of Ilowth). St. Patrick addresses OUin as follows [see
original in Appendix, No. CXXXII.] :
OF THS SO-CALLED PB0PHECIE8. 195
O Ow/n, wilt thou relate unto us, lect, px.
Some of the prophecies of Mac Cumhaill^ —
Of what the gifted king foretold, iio-cmiied
He whom angels truly honoured. ImSiortT"
Oiain answers : I will relate to thee with pleasure, st*plltlid[
O Patrick, the chaste son of Calphumriy rProphe-
And thy heart will be sore from hearing cr^bedto
Of all the evils which are foretold. ^^ilty
Finn having one day sat in the east.
Over the sea at the hill of JUdar,
He saw a black cloud approach from the north.
Which, all of a sudden, darkened Erinn.
« » » » »
The hearty Caeilte then said
To noble Finn o£ Almhain:
Put thy thumb of knowledge to thy tooth.
And leave us not in ignorance.
Finn answers : Alas, my dearest CaeiltS,
The prophecy is far from thee, —
Barbarians from beyond the sea
Will one day confound the men of Erinn.
Finn goes on then to show that this black cloud meant the
Saxons, or Anglo-Normans, that
On a Thursday a man goes to invite them,
It will be a bad legacy to Erinn's land, —
ilac Murchadha, the dark demon,
His return shall be that of a ghost.
The invaders, according to this poem, were to despoil the
land of Erinn for the space of 400 years, but the space of time
varies in various copies. They were to receive several defeats,
and some of these defeats are plainly enough pointed out, — as,
for instance, where they were to be tluee times defeated by the
bnive Donn or lord of Ui Failyhe, now Offaly. This lord of
Olfalv must have been ATurchadh O'Conor, who defeated die
Enghi?h of Meath first in the year 1385, at the battle of
Cruachdn Bri Kile [now Crochan, a well-known place in the
present King's County] ; a second time in the year 1400, at the
battle of Geiaill [Geshill, in the same county] ; and a third time
at cm Eochain [somewhere on the borders of Meath and
Offaly], in the year 1414.
The foreigners were to receive another remarkable defeat at
Ceann Feahhrat (on the borders of the counties of Cork and
Limerick) ; and I believe that this was fulfilled in the year 1579,
when the two sons of the Earl of Desmond met Sir William
Drury, the Lord Chief Justice of Ireland, at Gort na Tir
396
OF THE SO-CALLED PROPHECIES.
I.ECT. XIX.
Of the
80-c»lled
*'PropheciM*
anterior to
the time of
St Patrick.
("Prophe-
cies" as-
cribed to
Finn Mac
CtunKaiU,)
The Legend
ofFinn'if
"Thnmbof
Knowledge**.
brad, in the county of Limerick, not far from Ceann Febrat,
and where the English captains, Herbert, Eustace, and Spris,
were killed, together with 300 of their men, immediately after
which Sir William Drury himself died.
After announcing these occurrences, the prophecy passes to
the battle of Saimjel £Singland, near Limerick], where an oak
of the house of O^Bnen was to lead the native clanns against
the enemy and defeat them with great slaughter, and then
would the five provinces arise and expel the strangers alto-
gether. This rising applies, doubtless, to the war of tlie latter
part of Elizabeth^s reign, and in which Hugh of Dcrry was to
take a chief and successful part. This was, of course, the great
Aedh Ruadh [Hugh Roe] O'Donnell, and the poem must, I
am very sure, have been written some few years previous to the
disastrous battle of Kinsale, in which Hugh was defeated and
compelled to fly to Spain, where, as you are aware, that illus-
trious chieftain soon afterwards died.
It would be easy to analyze this whole prophecy, correct its
incongruities, and fill in its dates and agents, if it were worth it;
but as it is evidently a composition of tlie close of the sixteenth
century (or a collection and continuation of some earlier local
fugitive stanzas carried down to that period), I do not deem it
worth any fiu-ther notice, and shall therefore pass to another
prophecy, ascribed, with equal veracity, to the same author.
This second is a poem of forty lines, addressed by Finn Mac
Cumhaill to some woman who recited a poem to him. The
warrior prophet promises the coming of St. JPatrick, who would
bless Ermn, — all lands would be measured by acres — the ^y
Saxons would be numerous — and he regrets liis o\vn inability
to take part in their expulsion. Another word, however, would
really be too much to waste on this piece.
The liistory of Finn Mac Cumhailh "Thumb of Knowledge",
as related in the ancient Tales, is a very wild one indeed ; but
it is so often alluded to that I may as well state it here. It is
shortly this : upon a certain occasion tliis gallant warrior was
himting near Slidbh na m-Ban, in the present county of Tip-
perary ; he was standing at a spring-well, when a strange woman
came suddenly upon him, filled a silver tankard at the spring,
and immediately afterwards walked away with it. Finn fol-
lowed her, unperceived, until she came to the side of the hill,
where a concealed door opened suddenly, and she walked in.
Finn attempted to follow her farther, but the door was shut so
quickly that he was only able to place his hand on the door-
post, with the thumb inside. It was with great difficulty he
was able to extricate the thumb ; and, having done so, he im-
OF THB SO-CALLED PBOPHBCIES. 397
mediately thrust it, bruised as it was, into his mouth to ease the lect. xix.
pain. No sooner had he done so, than he found himself pos- ^^^^
sessed of the gift of foreseeing future events. Tliis gift, how- j»caiied
ever, was not, we are told, always present, but only when he J^5?to
bruised or chewed the thumb between his teeth. (This legend ^^^^
is found in the vellum MS., H. 3. 18., T.C.D.) Such is the
veracious origin, handed down to us by the tradition of the
poets, of Finn Mac Cumhaiirs wonderful gift of prophecy !
The next and last of the so-called pagan prophecies, with "Prophecy
which I shall at present trouble you, consists of but a few words, Pitni't
which we generally meet in the form of a stanza of four lines, S?atSi*to
and relates exclusively to the coming of St. Patrick into Ireland. JJ ^in™"*
It is found in all the ancient copies of the Saint's life that I have Laegkatri.
met. The liistory of this prophecy is, like itself, short enough.
Three jrears before the arrival of St. Patrick in Ireland, on his
apostolic mission (that is, in the year 429), his coming was, it
is stilted, foretold as a fearful event to the pagan monarch Laegh-
airiy by his two chief Druids, Lochra and Lnichat Maely in the
following words [see original in Appendix, No. CXXXIII.J :
A Tailcenn will come over the raging sea, — [see p. 393.]
With his perforated garment, his crook-headed staff,
With his table at the east end of his house.
And all his people will answer, * amen', ' amen'.
The perforated garment is easily explained to be the Chasuble
of the Catliolic Friest; the crook-headed staff, the bishop's
Paf?toral Staff; and the table at the east end of his house, as tne
table of the Lord, the Altar of the Church.
Of the antiquity of this prophecy there can be no rational
doubt, as we find it quoted by Macutenius; who, as already
stated, wrote or transcribed some notes on the life of St. Patrick,
some time before tlie year 700, which are preserved in the
ancient Book of Armagh (fol. 2, page b, col a), in which he
says that the words of this little verse are not so plain on account
of the idiom of the language. . Macutenius does not give the
original words, and his Latin translation of them clearly shows
that he did not understand them. Probus also, who wrote a life
of St. Patrick in Latin, in the tenth century (it is believed),
quotes this prophecy, apparently from Macutenius, without the
original words ; but he gives us a still more inaccurate translation
than the former one. (See Trias Thaumaturgus, p. 49, col. a.)
Now of all the pagan predictions of St. Patrick's apostolic
mission, this alone has any colour of authenticity : not from any
tiling in its style or history, but from the fact that Christianity
was fully established and extensively spread on the continent
398 OP THE SO-CALLED PB0PHECIE8.
LKCT. xTx. ^and to some extent in Britain) in the reign of LaeghairS, and
"Pro hec " ^"^ ^® '^^^ probability that his druids were well acquainted,
of Saint if not with its doctrines, at least with its peculiar external fea-
coraing, at- tuics and ccremonics ; and so, that from the fact of its having
the i^uidJ approached their own shores, and probably landed on them too,
otfKiug they foresaw the ine^^table consequence of its spreading over the
entire land of Erinn, and the final overthrow of their own ancient
system and the various institutions founded upon it. This pro-
phecy would not apply as much to Palladius as to Patnck ;
because although the former came one year earlier, he failed in
his mission, whilst the success of the latter was complete and
permanent.
You may, if you wish, extend to Finn, Art, and Conn, the
possibility of an acquaintance with Christianity, as well as to
Laeghairea Druid ; but the probability is much more in favour
of the latter.
phecics" ^ We now pass from our pagan to our Christian " Prophets" ;
cribed to the and amongst these we shall begin with St. Caillin of Fidhnacha
Erinn. ^ (The Maighe Ridn (in the present county of Leitrim) ; who, according
of sSdJr*** * to his life, quoted in the Annals of the Four Masters, buried
Caillin.) the great Conall Gulban in his church in the year 464.
The Life of St. Caillin, of which there is a velliun copy of
the sixteenth century in existence, contains a poem of 816 lines,
ascribed to the saint himself, on the colonizations of Erinn, and
the succession of its monarchs down to his own time, in tlie reign
o£ Diarmaid, the son of Fergus Cerrhhedil, and in which he
" foretells" by name all the monarchs from Diarmaid down to .
Roderick O'Conor, in the year 1172. To this list he adds twelve
more, by fanciful descriptive names, the last of whom is to be
Flann Cethack, in whose time Antichrist is to appear on earth,
and of whom we shall have more to say a little further on. The
" Prophet" then gives a list of the O'Ruaircs, Lords of Breifni
(Breilny), his native territory ; coming down to gallant Ualgarg
ORuairc in the year 1241. Ten lords of the descendants of
Ualgarg were to succeed himself The last of these ten would
be Wiliiam Gorm (Blue William), who would plunder the saint's
church at Fidhnacha, after which tlie sceptre would pass from
his house. I have not been able to find any " Blue William
ORuairc"" in our annals ; but I find a William Ruudh (or red-
haired WiUiam) ORuairc, Lord of Breifni, who died in the
year 1430; and there is little doubt in my mind that this very
glaring forgery was concocted in or about this time. This poem,
which, as I have already said, contains 204 stanzas, or 816 lines,
begins thus [see original in Appendix, No. CXXXIV.] :
OF THE SO-CALLED PB0PHECIB8. 399
" Great Erinn, Island of Angels".
There are many more prophetic rhymes interspersed through
this Life of St. Caillin^ but they were all written by the same
' prophet' and at the same time as the first.
The next of our Christian " prophets" was Beg Mac Di^ who tij« "^rt<^
died in the year 556. He was the son of a Munstcr nobleman, Big Mac dl
and held the office of poet and prophet at Tara, in the reign of
the above king Diarniaid. He appears to have been a person
of an eccentric character, more remaikable for ready wit than
sound sense. He was a man, however, of a religious oisposition,
and well acquainted with St. Colum Ciili^ as well as with other
distinguished ecclesiastics and scholars of his time. There are
several fugitive stanzas, witty sentences, and prophetic sayings of
his, scattered through our ancient writings, specimens of which
may be seen in the Annals of the Four Masters, at the years 478
and 825. There is also what appears to be eitiier a short collection
or a continuous series of his prophetic prose sayings, preserved
in the ancient vellum MS. already spoken of, (Harleian, 5280),
in the British Museum. All the predictions in tiiis little tiuct,
which extends but about half a small folio page, arc of an un-
favourable chai*acter; they contain allusions to the Danish but
none to the Anglo-Nonnan invasion, which I think plainly
enough shows that they were written after the former, but before
the latter. Indeed, the time of writing could, I beUeve, be safely
deduced from the first sentence of the piece, wliich nms as follows
[see Appendix, No. CXXXV.l: " Wo is he who shall live to
see in tlie land of the Gacdhil, the son succeed the father in
[the primacy of] ArdmachaP [Armagh.] This allusion to the
son succeedmg the father at Ardmacha would, I think, bring
the composition of this prophecy down to about the year 940,
when tlie lay usurpation of the Primacy commenced, which
continued for 200 years afterwards ; but the allusion in the text
to Aemjhus Ua FUdnn^ successor of St. Brendan at Chiain Ferta
(Clonfert, in the county of Galway), brings the time of the
author clown to the year 103(), in wliich O Flainn died. Big
Mac De is quoted also in the tract on the Danish wars, preserved
in the Book of Leinster.
The next, and the most popular of all our "prophets", is St. JJJc'i'e^of
Colum Ci/lr. It would be difficult, indeed, to fix on the period Sf^nt Coium
at which prophetic savings fii-st began to be ascribed to this
saint ; but the oldest MS. in which I have found him quoted
as a prophet is the I^ok of Leinster, in a fragment of the his-
tory of tn<3 Danish wars preserved in that book, and which must
400 OF THE SO-CALLED PROPHECIES.
LBCT. XIX. have been compiled about the year 1150. The quotation con-
sists but of the following stanza fsee original in Appendix, No.
Ofthe-Pro- ^v WTm ^
pheciM" aa- O AA A V 1 . J :
Sfi^ I? '^'^ " Those sliips upon Loch Ree,
*Tro°he^* Well do the v magnify the pagan foreigners ;
of Saint They will give an Abbot to Ardmacha;
coiumam.) His will be the rule of a tjront".
This stanza has reference to the fleet of ships or boats which
the Danes placed on the Upper Shannon, by means of which
they plundered the churches and territories on both sides of the
river. This was about the year 840, when Turgesius was the
Danish leader, and when he made his wife supreme head of the
great ecclesiastical city of Clonmacnois, and afterwards promoted
himself to the Abbacy of Ardmacha^ as foretold (or rather, as I
believe, aftertold) in this stanza.
This stanza, however, is but a quotation from a poem of 360
lines, which now exists, and in which it makes the tenth stanza ;
or, what is more probable, tliis and a few more stanzas which
appear to belong to it, were seized upon at a later period, and
made the foundation of the present poem.
This poem, which St. Cotum CilU is said to have addressed
to his friend and companion St. Baoithin, at lona, begins
thus [see original in same Appendix] :
" Attend, O excellent BaoitJnn,
To the voice of my bell in cold lona,
Until I now relate to thee
All that shall happen towards the world's end".
The sujjposcd prophet then gives a gloomy account of what
was to bcfal the jLeath Chuinn, Conn's or the northern half of
Erinn ; and the death of Cormac Mac Cullinan, king and arch-
bishop of Cashel, in the year 903. Then comes the allusion to
the fleet of Loch Ree, or the Upper Shannon — quite out of its
proper place; after which the battle of Clontarf is foretold.
The prophet then passes down through some of the Leinster
and Munster kings and monarchs of Erinn to Muirclieartuch (or
Mortoch) O'Brien, who was to demolish Aileach, the ancient
palace of the descendants of Niall of the Nine Hostages (situated
m the present county of Derry) ; an event which occurred in the
year 1101. In this year, Murtoch O'Brien, monarch of Erinn,
marched with a large force over Eas Rtiadh (at Ballyshannon),
and from that to the above ancient palace ot Griandn Aili<fh,
which he razed to the ground, ordering his men to carry back
with them a stone of the building in every sack which had
been emptied of its provisions upon the march ; and with these
stones he afterwards built a parapet upon the top of his royal
OF THE SO-CALLED PBOPHECISS. 401
palace (which was situated on the site of the present cathedral lect. xix.
of Limerick), as a perpetual memorial of his victory over the oft^e" Pro-
ancient enemies of his house. phedet^w
[I may here observe that this was not a wanton deed ofsaintao?
destruction on the part of O'Brien, but a retaliation for some- ^^^^^
thing of a similar msult which the northerns had, two hun- ^2!m«Wi
dred years before that, offered to the Dalcassians, when they
made a sudden and unexpected rush into that countiy, and cut
down and carried away by force, from the celebrated woods of
Creatalachy [Cratloe, 1 beUeve], as much prime oak as roofed
and adorned the same palace ot A ileach.l '
The prophecy goes on then to foretell that this indignity to
the northerns should be avenged by Aedh (or Hugh), the
valiant king of Tirconnell, who was to appear in 136 years
after (that is, in the year 1237), and who was to be slain at
Dublin by the sea-king, the son of Godfrey, after a reign of
twenty-one years, that is, in 1258. Either the prophet or his
transcriber of the poem is here, however, out in his calculation.
No Hugh O'Donnell of Tirconnell bore sway at or about the
year 1258; nor have we any record, as far as I know, of any
northern prince avenging the destruction of Aileach about this
time, nor for 341 years after; that is, till the year 1599, when
the great Red Hugh O'Donnell made a sudden irruption into
Thomond, and plundered and ravaged the northern and north-
eastern parts of it. And it is a remarkable fact that the fulfil-
ment of this very prediction was at that time applied to him by
the Dalcassian poet,3/aot7?n Og Mac Br uaidead ha [M&c Brod^l,
w^hose cattle O'Donnells people had carried off, but whicn
O'Donnell, on the poet's demand, restored in full, whereupon
the poet said [see original in Appendix, No. CXXXVII.] :
" It was destined that, in revenge of Oileachj
O Red Hugh ! the propliet foretold.
The coming of thy troops to the land of Magh Adhair;
From the north is sougnt tlie relief of all men".
The prophecy then goes on to say that, in thirty years after,
Aedh (but this is ccrtamly a different Hugh, and this part of
the poem is misplaced) Cliahhghlas (or Hugh the gray-bodied)
would assume the rule of Erinn ; after whom there would be
but seven successors to the end of time, with twenty-seven
years between each; that the last of them would be Flann
Ciothach, in whose time would come the Brat BaghacK or
Flag of Battles, and the Roth Ramhach, or Rowing Wheel.
This " rowing wheel" was to be a ship containing one thousand
beds, and one thousand men in each bed; alike would this
strange ship sail on sea and on land, nor would it furl its sails
26
402 OF THE SO-CALLED PROPHECIES.
LECT. MX. until it was wrecked by the Pillar-stone of Cndmhchoill. They
Of the" Pro- ^^^^^ then be met by the brave chief of Cndmfichoillj who
phecies" as- would cut them all on, so that not one of them should ever
Sninta ot * cross the sea again. After this there would come a fleet to /n-
"jS-opheSi" ^^ Domhnann [the present bay of Malahide, in the county of
Jjsaint Dublin]. This fleet was to consist of one thousand ships of all
"* kinds. These would capture the cattle and women of Erinn ;
and in the excess of their pride and confidence they would
move on to Tara, where they would be overtaken by tne king,
Flann Ciothach [recte " Ginac/i", or the voracious]. A battle
would ensue at the side of Rdith Chormaic, at the hill of Tara,
and at the ford in the valley ; where almost a mutual annihi-
lation of the contending forces would occur ; but the foreigners
would be routed and followed to their ships, of which one barque
only would escape over the sea. The foreigners, however, woiild
leave twenty-seven families behind them, who were to mix with
the natives, but who would be all destroyed (by the fiery bolt)
at the festival of John the Baptist, which was to happen upon
a Friday, and which would destroy three-fourths of all men
until it reached the Mediterranean sea.
This part of the poem is evidently transposed, and should
have come in at or about the foiu*tcenth stanza ; but it com-
mences now at the sixty-seventh, and continues to the eighty-
seventh stanza. And though this may appear to be a matter of
very little moment, I shall presently show that restoring it to
its proper place and time is a matter of the greatest importance
in deafing with a curious subject which has not hitherto under-
gone any thoroughly critical examination.
As to the first prediction, that is, the coming of what is called
the Brat Baghach or Flag of Battles, it is evident enough that
this was to be a fleet of the Danes or Northmen, who were to
be broken against the pillar-stone of Cndmhchoill. Now Cndmh-
choill was an ancient wood situated near the present town of
Tipperary ; and the history of the pillar-stone which stood in it,
as it is handed down to us, is shortly tliis : — 3fogh Ruith^ the
Archdruid of Erinn, having, as we have seen in a former Lec-
ture, exhausted the druidic knowledge of the best masters in
Erinn and Scotland, travelled with his daughter into Italy,
where they put themselves under the tuition of Simon Magus,
and assisted liim in his contention with the apostles. And it
was with their assistance that Simon was said to have built tlie
Roth RamJiachy or " Rowing Wheel", by means of which he
Bailed in the air, to show that his miraculous powers were greater
than those of the apostles. The Druid and his daughter (whose
name was Tlachtgd) returned home afterwards, the daughter
OF THE SO-CALLED PBOPHECIES. 403
carrying with her what remained of the materials of the Rowing lect. xix.
Wheel, which appears to have consisted of two pieces of rock, one „
of wliich she set up in Forchairthinn (somewhere in the neigh- pheciet'* •»-'
bourhood oiRdlth CAwm/iaiZZ [Rath Coole, I think, in the present SS25*''*
county of Dublin], and the other at Cndmhchoill ^m Tipperary). f^Jh^H
These rocks or pillars, it was said, retained their share of theofs»Jnt
destnictive influence of the " Rowing Wheel", as every one who
looked at them was struck with blindness, and every one who
touched them, with death. The reason, we are further informed,
why this fearful Rowing Wheel was to pass with destruction
over Europe in the latter times, was, because there was a pupil
from every nation in Europe at the school of Simon Magus, assist-
ing him in his contention with the Apostles [see same App.].
Now the three events predicted here appear to me to have oc-
curred in the years 941, 979, and 1096, and were, I am very sure,
well known mstorical facts at the time that this poem was written.
The first, the destruction of the Rowing Wheel, was, I
believe, the great battle of the wood of Salchdid (or Solly head,
about three miles to the west of the present town of Tipperary),
near enougli to Cndmhchoill for the verification of a post-pro-
phecy. This battle was fought in or about the year 941, by
Mathghamhain Mac Cinneidiffh [iVIahon the son of Kennedy],
king of Munster, and his brother Brian, afterwards the great
Brian Bdroimhe (then but in the sixteenth year of his age),
against the Danes of Munster; and in it the terrible Danish
chiefs, Treitilly liuamann, Bernard, Maurice, and Torolbh, the
most cruel and barbarous of all the Danish chiefs, were killed,
together with two thousand of their bravest men. A large
party of the Danes retreated after it into Limerick, pursued by
the victorious brothers with the brave clanns of the Dalcassians,
and here again a great slaughter of the Danes took place ; all
their strongholds and fortifications were won and biuned down,
their houses and treasures pillaged, and their whole power and
force, quite unexpectedly, annihilated for the time.
The verification of the second predicted event, namely, the
battle of Tara, will, I tliink, be clearly recognized in the allow-
ing pa.«sage from the Annals of the h our Masters : —
*' A.D. 978. Tlie battle of Tara was gained by Maehech-
lainn, son of Domhnallj over the Danes of Dublin and of the
Islands, and over the sons of Amlaff" in particular, where many
were slain, together with Randall, son of Amlaff, heir to the
sovereignty of the Danes ; Conajnhail, son of GiUa-Arrij the
orator of Dublin ; and a dreadful slaughter of the Danes along
with them. * • • • • After this, Amlaff went over
the sea and died at lona**.
26 b
404 OF THE SO-CALLED PBOPHECIES.
LKCT. XIX. It is remarkable that this is the only battle of which we have
Of the "Pro- ^^^ Tccord, as havinjj been fought at Tara within the Christian
phtciea'at- era; and it is a singular coincidence, or, if you please, verifica-
sainSof **** tion, of this would-be prophecy, that Amlaff, the chief of the
TropiiccS* I^^nes, should have dcpaited from Erinn after his overthrow in
of Sttint this battle, and, of necessitv, with but a small company, probably
but one ship, as the prophecy has it.
As regards the third prediction, namelv, the twenty-seven
Danish families who were to remain after the battle of Tara (in
Dublin of course), and who were to be destroyed by the terrible
visitation of the Festival of John the Baptist, when it should fall
upon a Friday in a leap year. This long-dreaded occurrence of
the festival happened in the year 109G, according to the follow-
ing entry in the Annals of the Four Masters : —
" A.D. 1096. The festival of John [the Baptist] fell on Friday
this year; the men of Erinn were seized with great fear, and
the counsel taken by the clergy of Erinn, with the successor of
St. Patrick at their head, in order to save them from the mor-
tality which had been predicted to them from a remote period,
was to command all in general to observe a three days total fast,
from Wednesday till Sunday every month, and a fast every day
till the end of a year, except on Sundays, solemnities, and great
festivals ; and they also gave alms and many offerings to (jod,
and many lands were granted to churches and ecclesiastics by
kings and chiefs : and so the men of Erinn were saved for that
time from the fire of vengeance".
So far the dreaded terrors of this festival passed harmlessly over
in 1096 : but not so in the previous year ; lor we find that *' there
was an awful pestilence all over Europe in general in this year
(1095), and some say that the fourth part of the men of Erinn
died of this plague". Now, among the great number of distin-
guished persons who died of this pestilence, we find the names of
jDunffhus, Bishop of Dublin, and Godfrey Maranach, Lord of
the Danes of Dublin and the Hebrides ; and when we find that,
although the fourth part of the men of Erinn were carried off
by this distemper, the number recorded is less than twenty ; and
when we find that the Danes of Dublin supply their two most
distinguished men to the list, I suppose we may fairly conclude
that the destruction of the other classes among them was almost
total, and so far I believe our prophet's predictions were verified
with sufficient accuracy for his purpose, and I am sure to his
perfect knowledge.
As I shall have occasion to touch again on the festival of St.
John, I shall now pass from it, and ask your attention for a few
minutes, while I endeavour to show my reasons for tliinking
OF THE SO-CALLBD PROPHECIES. 405
that this is not a genuine poem, — that (I think) it never was lect. xix.
written by St. Colum CilU. or the "Pro
I must acknowledge at the outset that the want of an ancient phecies"
and correctly-arranged copy (the present being a modem one the s«inti*of
on paper, and much confused, if not interpolated) renders any »?J^ijeciMi*
discussion on its real antiquity and authenticity very difficult; ??**"*„,
but as no other copy is nearer to us than Oxford, where one on
vellum of the sixteenth century is preserved, but which has not
been yet critically examined, I shall have to deal with the pre-
sent copy as I find it.
It must be admitted as I have already shown, that one stanza
of this, or some such poem, ascribed to St. Colum Cilli^ one which
forms the tenth stanza of the present copy, is that quoted along
with St. Berchdna in the foUo of the tract on the Danish Wars,
remaining in the Book of Leinstcr ; and that there appears to
me no difference in style of construction, or character of the lan-
^agc, between this and the other stanzas of the poem. Neither
IS the style or language more antiquated than many poems written
in the fourtecntli and fifteenth centimes. The entire poem after
all deals only (and that very defectively) with that period of our
Sinuine history which extends from the year 842, m which the
anes first appeared on Loch Ribh [Loch Ree, in the Upper
Sliannon], to the destruction of Ailech by Muircheartach (or
Mortoch) O'Brien, in the year 1101, that is 259 years ; all the rest
of the poem consisting of mere general speculations on the future.
Now it requires, I should think, but little argument to show
the improbability, to say the least of it, of St. Colum CUli
sitting down in his church at lona on the night of the 9th day of
June, in the year 5i)2, in the 77th year of his age, but one week,
and that to his own knowledge, before his death, and there
composing a poem of 90 stanzas, or 360 lines, on a few occur-
rences which were to happen in Ireland between the years 842
and 1101. For, after all, this very long poem deals but with a
very few facts ; such as that Connac Mac Cullinan was to be
killed in battle on Tuesday (in the year 903); that a Danish
fleet would appear on Loch Ribh (in 842) ; that the " Rowing
\Vheel" and the ships of Inhher Domnann would come and be
destroyed ; that Brian Bdroimhe would be killed at the battle
of Clontarf ; then the statement of the promised destruction of
the people whenever the festival of St. John should fall upon a
Friday (which, however, was not fulfilled) ; and lastly the de-
struction of the palace of Ailech by Mortoch O'Brien in 1101.
Tlie promised revenge for Ailech, which was to happen in 125
years after its destruction (tliat is, in the year 1226), never was
fulfilled; which shows clearly, in my mind, that at whatever
406 OF THE SO-CALLED PROPHECIES.
LBCT. XDL time — and it could not be very remote — the first part of the
Of the "Pro- P^^™ ^^ written, this latter part must have been composed
phccics" a»- some time after the destruction o£ AiUch in the year 1101.
Saints of * At the winding up of the poem, the Saint is made to propose
"ProphecS" ^ Icavc to the men of Erinn certain relics of his own to protect
ojsaint them from all future dangers. These relics were his A Itus, his
'*^ Vespers, his Amhra (or Elegy), and his Mesca (or " Intoxica-
tion"), which is the name of the present poem, said to have
been written by him a week before his death. Now, the Altus
is the well known Latin poem on the Trinity, written by
St. Colum Cilli at lona, when he received the present of the
^•eat rich cross which Pope Gregory the Great had sent him.^*'^
he second relic, his Vespers, I never read of save in this tract ;
unless indeed it were his well known copy of the Psalms, for
centuries celebrated as the Cathach, now the property of Sir
Richard O'Donnell, and at tliis moment to be seen m tlie Royal
Irish Academy. The tliird relic, his Amhra (or Elegy), of
course had not been written until after his death; so that he
could scarcely think of bequeathing it, though he was aware that
it was to be written. The fourth relic, his Mesca (or " Intoxi-
cation"), is the present poem. And I bcHeve I may conclude
my observations upon it by expressing my own certain convic-
tion that no part of it was written for at least 400 years after
the death of the Saint.
The second so-called prophetic poem ascribed to St. Colum
Cill4j with which I am acquainted, is one of twenty-two
stanzas or eighty-eight lines, addressed also to St. Baoithin;
the following is the first stanza [see original in Appendix,
No. CXXXyill.]:
" Listen to me, O pale Baoithin^
Thou noble man of true devotion,
Until I relate to thee without guile
All that shall befall the Clann Chonaiir,
This spurious poem gives a list of the kings or chiefs of Tir
Chonailly beginmng with Domhnall M6r O'DoimcU, who died
in the year 1241, down to the great Red Hugh, who died in
Spain m 1602 ; and when the une of known names fails the
author, he continues the list by a few figurative or descriptive
names, among which that of Ball Dearg O'Donnell is given,
who flourished in 1690.
(49) This poem is published by Colgan in his Trias Thamnatiirgiis ; and
another edition of it, with the original notes and glosses, from the Liber Hyni-
noram, is now in course of publication by the Insh Archaeological and Celtic
Society, edited by the Bev. Dr. Todd.
OF THE SO-GALLED PROPHECIES. 407
This piece of forgery surely does not deserve another mo- lect. xnr.
ment's consideration, and I shall therefore pass to the third of ^^^^^p^^
the prophetic poems ascribed to St. Colum Cilli. The third phccies'M
poem consists of twcnt^-one stanzas, or eighty-four lines, be- saintv o?
ginning [see original m Appendix, No. CXXXIX.]: »pl5pheS2?
" The three Conns of the Red-haired man s race". cw^cwM.)
Thb poem professes to foretell the exploits and fate of three
lords of the O'Donnell family, who were to descend from the
"Red-haired man", and each of whom should bear the name of
Conn. The first of tlicse was to fall by the Cenel Eoghain (or
O'Neills), the second by his own family, and the third in battle
with the English near Dublin. Now, there was no remarkable
red-haired man of the line of chiefs of Donnegall before Aedh
Ruadh (Red Hugh), the son of Niall Garhh O'Donnell, a
brave man, who resigned the chieftaincy of TirconncU in the
year 141)7 to liis son Conn. Conn, however, was killed in the
same year, in a battle fought between him and the O'Neills, at
lieal atha Daile, in Donnegall, upon which the father resumed
the chiefship again, and died m 1505. No Conn of the
O'Donnell family ever became chief or leader of the Clann
Chonaill after the above Conn, son of Red Hugh. It is true,
however, that a Conn O'Donnell, who was the son of Calbliachy
son of Man us, son of Aedh Duhh (Black Hugh), son of the
same Aedh Ruadh (Red Hugh), was a most distinguished man,
and opposed to the cliicf at the time ; this Conn died in 1583.
Of the third Conn, who was to die on tlie plain of Dublin,
there is no trace in our annals. A Conn O'Donnell, son of
Niall Garbh^ of the same line, was killed in the year 1601,
not on Magh n-Ealta (the plain of Dublin), " fighting against
tlie Englisli", as predicted, but before the venerable monastery
of Donnegall, where his father and himself were basely fighting
on the side of the English, against the brave Red Hugh
O'Donncll.
I think I have followed this silly prophecy far enough to
f)rove to you that St. Colum Ciller who died at lona in Scot-
iind in the year 592, could hardly be supposed to write a poem
on the life and adventiu*es of three insignificant men, who were
to live and die in Ireland some nine hundred years after.
It is remarkable that no reference to any of these long, cir-
cumstantially defined prophecies can be found in any of the
many ancient copies of the Saint's Ufe which have come down
to us. Even O'Donnell, the patron Saint of whose family
Colum Cille continues to be recognized to the present day,
who compiled a life of him in the year 1522 (into which he
collected every legend respecting him, no matter how impro-
408 OF THE SO-CALLED PROPHECISg.
LECT. xnc. bable, upon wliich he could lay hold) — even this writer, I say,
Of the** Pro- ^^^® ^^^» ^^ ^^7 ^^PJ *^^* ^ havc Seen, make the remotest allu-
pJ'^jCT"*^ sion to any such prophecies having been ever written by or
Saints of attributed to St. Colum CilU. Neither is there any such allu-
*^ft^ophecS*'8ion to be found in the more ancient lives of him, preserved in
c^£« cwML ^^ Leabhar M6r Duna DoighrS (known as the Leabhar Breac)^
and in the Book of Lismore. Even St. Adamnan, the cousin of
St. Colum Cill^j who was bom about the year 627, that is, about
thirty-five years after the Saint's demise (and who wrote a
Latin history of the life and miracles of his great kinsman and
predecessor in the Abbotship of lona), does not make the
smallest allusion to the Saint's ever having written any such
prophecies as these, nor to the existence of any such works at
the time. Saint Adamnan's, as well as the other biographies
of St. Colum, preserve several instances of the Saint's revealed
knowledge of coming events; but these are always of the
simplest character,— such as telling his monks or his attendants,
that in three days a distinguished guest, who was then on his
way over the sea, would arrive at the port of lona ; or that such
a student will be a distinguished saint hereafter ; and so on.
The fact is, the practice of writing those long and but too
suspiciously circumstantial prophetic poems, and ascribing them
to distinguished persons far back in our history, appears to
have first sprang up in Erinn after the occurrence of the Danish
invasion, at the close of the eighth century ; and I may indeed
add, that we have lately seen instances of the same practice
continued down so late as to about the year of our Lord 1854 !
When the cruel northern barbarians commenced to plunder
and destroy the churches and all that was sacred and beautiful
in the country, then the lay Airchinnech or steward of the
Church, and the local bards, discovered among their old books
a forewarning of this feaiful visitation, In such small scraps of
rhyme as are collected in the tract on this Danish War, already
spoken of And speaking of these flying stanzas, it is strange
that in the one which I have quoted as ascribed to St. Colum
CilUy the author should only foresee the ravages of a Danish
fleet on the banks of the Shannon, and the desecration of Ar-
magh by a Danish lay abbot, without foreseeing at the same
time the ruthless plundering of his own great establishment at
lona, as well as of all his churches in Erinn, and the martyrdom
of his people, by the same barbarous hordes. If this be a pro-
phecy, it is strange, I repeat it, that this venerable and holy
man should only receive from Heaven so very limited and
vague a glimpse of so fearful a national disaster as the invasion
of the Danes, their prolonged cruelties and final destruction ;
OF THE 80-CALLED PROPHECIES. 409
while his inspired knowledge of the long line of petty princes lect. xnr.
of his own kindred, who were to ffovem a single tribe of the ^^,^ ..«_
Ti,., . , 1 ® . ° r. n 1 . Of th« "Pro-
great Milesian race, happens to be so precise as to loretell their phecics" m-
names, the number of years which each was to flourish, and SfimJo?****
the manner and place of their death ! •^ftSpie^'
of St Cohm
The fourth prophetic poem ascribed to St. Colum CillSy with
which I am acquainted, is one in which he is made to foretell
the decay of Tarn, of Cruachain^ and of Emiiain (or Emania),
because the nobles of Erinn would cease to be good Christians.
This piece, which is really too contemptible for serious notice,
consists of forty lines, beginning [see onginal in Appendix, No.
" Tara of Bregia, Tara of Bregia,
Though countless be her men this day.
Not far distant the time when it will be a desert.
Although this day it enjoys full happiness".
The fifth prophetic poem ascribed to St. Colum CilU^ with
which I am acquainted, consists of thirty-one stanzas, or one
hundred and twenty-four lines. This poem is addressed to the
celebrated prophet St. Berchdn of Clualn Sosta (Clonsost, in
the present King's County). This "prophecy" gives a very
unfavourable account of the future moral and social state of
Erinn, but contains no allusion to the political changes of the
country. The poem is a pure forgery, and begins [see original
in same Appendix] :
" A time will come, O BercMn,
When you would regret to be in Erinn.
The laws will be but few.
The literary students will be ignorant".
The sixth prophetic poem ascribed to St. Colum CilU, with
which I am acquainted, is one of ten stanzas, or forty lines, in
the same style as the last, and promisinjj the same unfavour-
able future state of Erinn : bad kings, bad judges, bad fathers,
bad sons, bad daughtei*s, bad seasons, and so on. It professes to
be a special revelation IVom Heaven received from the lips of
an angel, and begins thus [see original in same Appendix] :
" Hail thee ! O messenger,
Wlio cometh from the King of Heaven s mansion.
Since unto me thou hast come.
Unto God I return my thanks".
The seventh and last prophetic poem, with which I am
I.BCT. ZDL
410 OF THE SO-CALLED PBOPHECIBS.
acqiudnted, ascribed to St. Colum CiUi is one of five stanzas,
„ or twenty lines, spoken by bim at lona sbordy before bis death,
phedes-'as- to his fncnd and relative St. Baoithin; in wbicb be says tbat,
SJSuof **** after his burial in lona, Mandar, the Danish chief, will come
^^^kedM* ^^ ^ fleet, and exhume the body, and that it will be after-
ofSiUiit wards interred in Downpatrick, in the same tomb with St.
*** Patrick and St. Brigid. This poem is preserved in O'Donnell's
Life of St. Colum, and begins [see original in same Appendix] :
" Mandar of the great ships will come'\
This poem, in its present style, was certainly not written
within hundreds of years of St. Columns death.
^*'}«»P^ You will not for a moment, of course, infer from any stric-
ncter of the tures that 1 liavc made, or shall make, on these so-called Prophe-
^p^lSt cies, that 1 entertain any doubt that the saints and elect of God
*^**"- have been, and will continue to be at all times, the medimn
of His revelations to man. It is, indeed, my firm belief that at
the present day we receive divine warnings and instructions,
without ever feeling that they are inspired truths, which, in
times when faith and hope were more new and fervid, and
worldly clamours and cares less engrossing, would have been re-
cognized and received as direct revelations from Heaven. But
the compositions under the name of Prophecies, of which I
have been speaking, are of a very different class, as 1 think I
have sufficiently shown.
And now having so expressed my most mature and decided
opinion of the spurious apocryphal character of tliese reputed
prophecies, 1 feel it to be a duty 1 owe to my country, as well
as to my creed as a Catholic, to express thus in pubhc the dis-
gust which 1 feel in common with every right-minded Irish-
man, in witnessing the dishonest exertions of certain parties of
late years, in attempting, by various publications, to fasten these
disgraceful forgeries on the credubty of honest and sincere
Catholics as the undoubtedly inspired revelations of the ancient
Saints of Erinn. It is impossible, indeed, not to be struck with
the testimony which even these so-called "Prophecies" bear
concerning men whose sanctity must have been indeed striking
and remarkable, when, at the distance of hundreds of years afiter
their deaths, such silly forgeries could for a moment pass cur-
rent under the revered stamp of their holy names. And if
simple credulity alone were the only evil involved in a fervent
beUef in the more immediate promises of these Prophecies, it
would scarcely come within my province, under any circum-
stance, to intrude my hvunble opinion upon a subject wliich
ought more properly to belong for examination and decision to
OF THE SO-CALLED PB0PHECIE8. 411
the constituted pastors of the people, as their preservers from mis- ucr. xix.
chievous delusions of this land as well as from all other influ-
ences dangerous to the soul. The native language, however, cryrh*i eb*-
having under most baleful influences ceased for centuries to be I!?'^^ *^
taught in the Ecclesiastical Institutions in which the Irish '^^^
clergy have been educated, at home and abroad, and this hav-
ing happened in the period within which ancient writings and
traditions, often inconsistent and never authenticated, have been
subjected to the more critical examination of Irish scholars, lay
and ecclesiastical, it is no wonder that we should find, as in
fact we do, that comparatively old writings, so composed as to
be still as formerly in harmony with the national political senti-
ments for some centuries, should be received at this distance of
time, and even by comparatively educated persons, with reve-
rence and even confidence. It is time, however, in my mind,
that this kind of delusion should be put an end to. Our pri-
mitive Saints never did, according to any reliable authority,
pretend to foretel political events of remote occurrence ; and,
perhaps in a future course of Lectures, I may find an opportu-
nity, not only to show you that this was the case, but also to
place before you satisfactory evidence in detail of the very
causes which first produced, and afterwards fastened in our later
literature, these spurious prophecies, as well as other historical
falsehoods equally mischievous and discreditable.
LECTURE XX
Ci)«tiT««d joij n. 1SS8.J
Hie (so-called) Prophecies (continued). The Prophecies attributed to St.
Berchdn, The Prophecy attributed to St. Brian, The Prophecies at-
tributed to St. Moling. Of the ancient superstitions concerning the " Row-
ing Whi-er, the *' Broom out of Fdnaie", and the Fatal Festival of St. John
the Baptist. Political use made of such superstitions against the people of
Ireland. Prevalence of absurd superstitions, even now, regarding the to-
called Prophecies.
1\ my last Lecture I concluded tlie subject of the writings called
Prophecies attributed to pagan authors, and I gave you some
account of the earlier writings of this class referred to the saints
of Erinn, and particularly the so-called Prophecies of St. Colum
CilU. From St. Colum CilU we pass now to St. Berchdn of
Cluain Sosta [Clonsost, in the present King's County], — a saint
who is usually styled Bercluin na Fditsine, or Berchan of the
Prophecy, and who enjoys this title even in such old MSS.
as the Book of Leinster, in wliich, in his pedigree, he is called
" Bearchan Profetans".
St. Berchdn was one of the Dalriadan race (of Scotland), and
flourished, it is supposed, about a.d. 690 ; but what the parti-
cular prophecy was, from which he derived the title of prophet,
1 have not been able to discover, unless it be that contained in
the three stanzas found in the tract on tlie Danish Wars already
spoken of, which stanzas run as follows [see original in Appen-
dix, No. CXLL] :
" Pagans vnll come over the slow sea ;
They will ffain ascendancy over the men of Erinn ;
There will be an abbot from them over every church ;
They will have power over Erinn.
" Seven years will they be — no faint achievement —
In the cliief sovereignty of Erinn ;
In the abbacy of every church
These foreigners of Dublin fortress.
" An abbot of them will be over my church too,
Wlio will not attend to matins ;
There will be neither prayer, nor credo,
Nor Latin, but all foreign language".
Whether these three stanzas constituted the entire of the on-
OF THE SO-CALLED PBOPHECIES. 413
ginal " prophecy" ascribed to St. Berchdn, I am not able to l«ct. xx.
say ; but there is a veiy long prophetic poem (of 204 stanzas, ^J^^7«pi7
or 816 lines) In existence, ascribed to this saint, and of which phccie«"M-"
these three make verses 7, 8, and 9. This poem, which appears sUSS J? ****
to have been addressed to some pupil or disciple, begins thus ufj^pi,,^"
[see same Appendix] : of s«int
" Stop a little, my white small boy ; ***^^
Listen to the words of BercMn,
Until I make a cross upon thy sweet lips —
A conscci*ating touch of my crozicr".
The author then goes on to say that in sixty years after his
own death his church would be ruined ; and that although it
was then full of ecclesiastics, a time would come when the
sweetest tones of its bells would not be able to call even one
priest to vespers in it. This short introduction brings the au-
thor to the three stanzas mentioned above, in which he foretells
the Danish invasion ; and if tlie prophecy had stopped here
with the ninth stanza, it might be dilHcult to say at what pre-
cise time it was written after the Danes had gained a firm footing
in Erinn. But, unfortunately for the authenticity of the piece as
a prophecy, the tenth stanza betrays the century in which (or
after which) the author flourished, so unmistakabfy, that we may
be quite certain that cither this stanza, and with it the whole re-
maining part of the poem, were written about a.d. 1120, or else
that tlie first nine stanzas alone were of an older date, and the
great body of the composition stnmg to them long afterwards,
so as to give tlie whole an air of antiquity as high as that which
may be claimed for tliese few voi*ses. It is my own opinion
that the first nine stanzas ai*e older, perhaps by a century, than
the remainder; but I entertain no doubt tliat no part even of
these fii-st stanzas is nearly so old as the time of St Berchdn.
The tcntli stanza runs thus [see same Appendix] :
*' Shortly there will come a youth.
Who will relieve Banhha from oppression.
So that the foreigners power shall never be
Alter him in Dun da Leth ghlas [Downpatrick]".
The next stanza says tliat this youth, who was to relieve
Erinn from the oppression of the Danes, was not to be a king,
but only an heir apparent to the monarchy, and that he would
be killed at Tara. Now, among all the heirs to the crown of
Tara, of which our annals make mention, there is but one who
could answer to this prediction, and his death is thus recorded
in the Annals of the Four Masters at the year 102():
" Three batth^s were gained by Jioen, son of Midrcheartachy
son of MaeUeachlainn of the Clann Cholmdinj royal heir of
414 OF THE SO-CALLED PROPHECIES.
LKCT.xx. Tara, — one battle over the men of Meath, another over the
/.#**. M«- men of Brciria, and the third over the foreigners of Dublin''.
Of the *' Pro- . ^ - ^ i •"!/%»« r»ii
phecies'a*- And again, at the next year, that is 1027, we nnd that: —
Saintaof * "An army was led by Sitric, son of Amhlaibh [or Awley,
-/iSSheSi" ^^S of *^^ Danes of Dublin], and Dunchadh, Lord of Bregia,
o'Saiat into Meath, as far as Leac Bladhma, where the men of Meath,
under the command of Moen O'MaoUseachlainn, met them ; in
which the Danes and the men of Bregia were defeated and
slaughtered, together with Dunchadh, son of Donn, lord of
Bregia, and GillansailU, son of Gillacaemhghin, lord of Ui
Briuiti. They turned back upon Roen again, however, and
defeated and slew Roen, lord of Meath, and great numbers
beside".
This is the only record in the Annals of any " royal heir" of
Tara having given to the Danes their final or any important
overthrow ; and judging from the analogy of known cases of
the kind, there can be, I think, but little doubt that this part
of the prophecy was written in or about his time. But,
although the writer steps suddenly from the seventh century, in
which St. Berchdn flourished, down to the eleventh century,
he goes back again then to his own time, and foretels all the
monarchs that were to reign over Erinn till the time of Anti-
christ, occasionally introducing a provincial king into the list.
This list ends wnth the OGth stanza. From that to stanza 117,
the poem is occupied with very dubious references to St. Patrick,
St. hrigid, and St. Coltan Ciller as well as obscure references to
the Picts of Scotland. From stanza 117 to the end it gives a
list of the Dalriadim kings who were to reign over Scotland,
with the length of reign, and manner and place of death of each,
from -^^f//mn ^fac Gabhrdin in 670, to JDomhnall Ban in 1093.
The succession of the kings of Erinn is intelligible enough
down to Muircheartach [or Mortoch] O'Brien, who died in the
year 1119; and as neither Toirdhealbhach Mar [Turloch M6r]
O'Conor (who assumed the monarchy after O'Brien), nor
Ruaidhri [Roderic], his son, who succeeded Turloch in 1156,
is mentioned, nor the Anglo-Norman invasion in 1169, it is, I
think, clear enough that the author of this prophecy lived in
the time of Muircheartach O'Brien, that is, about 1119.
Again, in the twelfth stanza, the " prophet" addresses Colmdn
Mor m the following manner [see same Appendix] : —
" Let some one request the son o( Aedh [Hugh], —
Cobndn Mor, — to protect me ;
He has but a month's time from this night
Until he meets death in his encampment".
Now this is inaccurate history; for Colmdn Mor was the
OF THB SO-CALLED PBOPHECIES. 41 5
brother, not the son, oi Aedh SUM; and they were both the ltct.xx.
sons of Diarmaidy the monarch of Erinn. Colman was slain ofth^Mp^.
not in his camp, but in his chariot, in the year 552 ; and his pheciea" «»-
brother, Aedh SldM, who became monarch in 595, was slain alSJuS'***
in the year 600. But the writer had no notion whatever of .^p^Jij^^S
addressing himself in person to Colmdn Mar and Aedh]Sldini ^^^^^
themselves, who had been long dead in liis time. It was a ^
well-known and allowable form in ancient Gacdlilic history
to speak of the representatives of a chief or saint, as of the
cliief or saint himself; and thus we find, down to the tenth
and eleventh centuries, either honour or dishonour spoken
of as having been offered to St. Patrick, when in fact it
was to his representative or successor it had been offered,
six hundred years after himself And it is the same in
civil history ; for we find even down to the sixteenth century,
the O'Donnells and O'Neills, and their co-descendants, spoken
of as Conall and Eoglian^ their remote ancestors in the fifth
century. So that, when the writer of this poem pretended
to address himself in the person of St. Berchdn to Aedh
SldMy and his brother, Cotnuin Mor, to protect his church,
it does not at all follow (and this is, mdeed, very clear
from the context) that he addressed them pi»rsonally — though
that was wliat he wished to be understood — but tliat he pre-
sented tliis poem to their descendants a long time after their
deatli and tiiat of St. BercMn^ as one in which St. Berchdn
had commended his church to the powerful protection of their
ancestors before them ; and tliat, as a matter of course, they the
descendants were bound for ever after to extend the same pro-
tection to the same church. Any one intimately acquainted
with tlie manner in which lay abbots and lay impropriators of
Church-lands interpolated the simple and efufying lives of our
holy primitive saints, will immediately understand the original
cause of writing such pieces as this.
Again, at the openmg of the second part of this poem, — I
mean that part which refers to the succession of the kings of
Scotland, — the reputed author, St. Berchdn^ is made to tell us
that it was on the day after writing the poem that St. Patrick was
to die, — that is, on the 17th of March, 493; that on the same
day, St. Brigid was to proceed to Downpatrick, to endeavour
to prociux; that the holy Patrick should be hurried at Kildare ;
and that, in sixty years from the 17th of March, 493, St. Colum
Cille would be born.
Now St. Patrick died in the year 493; St. Brigid in the
year 525 ; and St. Colum CilU was bom in the year 515. St.
Berchdn " the prophet" was of the Dalriadan Scotic race of
416 OF THE SO-CALLED PROPHECIES.
LECT. XX. Scotland, and the twenty-first in descent from Cairhri Riada,
I (who fought at the battle of Ceann Feabhrat, near Kilfinan in
phecics" as the county of Limerick, in the year 186) ; and according to his
SaitSof **** pedigree preserved in the Book of Leinster, he must have
Erinn (The flounshcd in tlic Seventh century. It is therefore impossible
of sajnt that this Berchdn could have been alive on the day before St.
BerchdH.) Patrick's death, thirty-two years before the death of St. Brigid,
and sixty years before the birth of St. Colum CUle, who was, as
Jou have seen, born in the year 515, for this would be throwing
b own nativity back to the year 455.
I have said that this poem consists of 204 stanzas; of this
number, however, ninety-six only are devoted to the Danish
Invasion, and the succession of the kings of Erinn; the re-
maining 108 stanzas are devoted to notices of the deaths of
St. Patrick, St. Brigid of Kildare, and St. Colum Cilld, and to
the succession ol' the kings of Scotland.
This part of the poem, beginning with the ninety-seventh
stanza, assumes distinctly as I have mentioned, the authority of
a very high antiquity. The first stanza runs thus [see same
Appendix] :
" The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
Are they whom I adore as one ;
Upon to-morrow will ascend to heaven
Patrick o( Ardmacha, the diadem of chastity".
According to this stanza the poem would have been written
on the day preceding that of St. Patrick's death ; that is, on the
16th day of March, in the year of our Lord 493. I need
scarcely say that a poem or any other piece of genuine Gaedhlic
composition of this remote date, would be received, quite inde-
pendently of its historic or prophetic value, as a production of
the highest archaeological interest, not only by Gaedhlic scholars,
but by all the antiquarians of Europe, unfortimately, how-
ever, no such antiquity can be claimed for this, any more than
for the preceding part of the poem ; and the only difference is
that this part is more precise in fixing the real period of the
composition of the entire piece, as will be seen at its con-
clusion.
After the confession of Faith and the death of Patrick just re-
ferred to, the author goes on to state that St. Brigid of Kildare
was to go to Ardmacha on the following day, to endeavour to
procure the body of St. Patrick, to have it buried at Kildare ;
and that she should not succeed, but that he should be buried
at Downpatrick, where Briqid herself would be subsequently
buried in the same tomb with him. He then says that in sixty
years from the same morrow there would be bom at Rath Cro,
OF THE SO-CALLED PROPHECIES. 417
a son, whose renown should fill all Erinn and Scotland ; that lbct. xx.
he would be a sage, a prophet, and a poet, a son of virginity, and ^^ „
a priest ; and that he would fight the Battle of Ctiil Dreimni phecics" »»-
which would be the cause of his forsaking his beloved church of sai^uo? '^^
Derry and going into exile in Scotland. This gifted son was, "fJ^pheSS*
of course, the great St. Coluni CilU^ who was destined to settle <>» »«*"*
in lona, and to convert the Scots and Plcts.
The prophecy goes on, then, to give the succession of the
kings of Scotland, with the name, length of reign, exploits, and
manner of death of each, from Aedhan Mac Gabhrdin, the co-
temporary of St. Colum CiUi^ down to the usurper Domhnall
Han, who assumed the title in the year 1093 ; and it is precisely at
this date that the Irish part of this great prophecy stops. Here,
however, there is no speculation on the future state of Scotland,
as there is on that of Erinn in the first part ; and this it is that
I think fixes pretty clearly the date of the whole piece, in its
original form.
There is another poem of seven stanzas ascribed to St. Ber-
chaUj in which he very dimly relates to St. Ciardn some of the
destinies of Erinn, just as they are both going to visit the islands
of Arann on the coast of Clare. The actors in this poem (the
great stock in trade of these prophets), are Aedh Ruadh (Hugh
Roe O'Donnell), and others of his race. The piece, which is
not as a "prophecy" worth any further notice, begins [see
original in Appendix, No. CXLH.] :
" Long live, I pray, Erinn after me."
It may be curious to state here that at the celebrated Battle
of Bel an Atha BuidhS, fought by the great Hugh Roc O'Don-
nell against the English in the year 1598, O'Donnells poet,
Ferfesa O'Clery, quoted the following verse from a prophecy
of St. Berchdn, to show that he, O'Donnell, was the person
foretold in it who would destroy the English ix)wer in Ireland;
but this verse is not found in any of the saint's prophecies that
we have been describing. Indeed, I strongly incline to believe
it was specially made for the occasion. [See original in Ap-
pendix, No. CXLIIL]
" In the battle of the Yellow Ford,
It is by him shall fall the tyrants ;
After extirpating the foreigners.
Joyful will be the men from Torry".
There is, besides, another poem of thirty one stanzas, ascribed
to St. Berchduy beginning [see original in Appendix, No
CXLIV.]:
" A warning will come after the flood,
As I think, in Erinn's Isle,
27
418
OF THE SO-CALLED PROPHECIES.
LECT. XX.
Of the "Pro-
phecies'* M-
erlbed to the
Saints of
Eiinn. (The
'Prophecies**
of Saint
Serchdn.)
" Prophecy"
adcribed to
St Bricin.
Which will drive some parties to destruction,
By the stormy waves of Loch SileanrC,
This poem goes on to say that before the occurrence of this
great event, red water would burst forth from a hill in the north
of Erinn ; that Loch Sileann [now called Loch Sheelin, in West-
meath], would, during a /SamAain [November] thunder storm,
burst its banks and flow into Loch Gamhna [in Longford], then
to Loch Erne, and so to the Shannon ; that the glen of the river
Muaidh would burst and destroy Tir Fiachrach, and drown Inia
So Finne; that Gal way would suffer dreadfully ; that the Saxons
would become powerful and tyrannical, churches would be
taxed, and their clergy hiding m glens, or going over the sea ;
that a man of the Claim O'Neill would raise a war, assisted by
King Louis of France ; that they would fight the Battle of
Emania (near Armagh), when twenty thousand Saxons would
be killed ; and that another great destruction of them would
take place at Kildare, after which the Saxons would never
again be strong, and the power of the Gaedhils would be
assured for ever.
This forgery was, I believe, the composition of Tadhg (or
Teige) O'Neachtain, and of so late a date as about the year
1716.
Leaving now St. BercJidn, we come to another of our
so-called prophets, of whom, indeed, but very little is known,
though he was undoubtedly a distinguished scholar and eccle-
siastic in his day. This was St. Bricin j abbot of Tuaim Dre-
cain, [probably the place now called Toomregan, near the
village of BallyconneU, on the borders of the counties ofCavan
and Fermanagh.] St. Bricin flourished in the year 637 ; and
you may recollect that, in a former Lecture, it was shown that
it was to his great establishment at Tuaim Drecain, that Cenn-
fdeladh the Learned was carried to be cured, from the battle
field of Magh Rath, where his skull had been fractured witli
the loss of part of his brain ; and that here it was that he learned
by rote all that was taught in St. Bricin's three schools. The
prophecy ascribed to this Saint, which is strictly ecclesiastical,
is entitled BaiU Bhricin, or the "Ecstacy of Bricin", and the
following short history is prefixed to it :
Saint Bricin, one Easter Sunday night, after having kept
the great fast of Lent, was sitting in his chamber, having
omitted to go to perforin his accustomed devotions in his church.
While thus sitting at his ease, he heard the angels of Heaven
celebrating aloud the happy festival in the Churcli, upon which
he fervently prayed the Lord to afford him an opportunity of
conversing about the Heavenly host with one ol His angels.
OF THE SO-CALLED PROPHECIES. 419
After this the angel of the Lord came to talk to him between lect.xx.
midnight and matins. Bricin was then favoured with a sight „
of the Heavenly host celebrating the festival of the Resurrection phecies" a»-
around the altar of the Lord in Heaven, after which he begged &i!£t8^*'**
of the angel to inform him of the number and names of the pheCT*"^oTS.'
sons of Life, or righteous men, who would, after himself, continue Bridn.)
to adorn the Church of God for ever in Erinn. The angel
answers that a great foreign persecution of tlie Churches would
come (alluding to the Danish Invasion) ; that after this perse-
cution, the first son of Life who should appear would be a lord
of three monasteries, who would raise the condition of the laity
and beautify the appearance of the churches ; who would be a
king, a bishop, and a fountain of charity and mercy. I do not
know any person who would answer tliis description as well as
Cormac Mac CuUinan, king and archbishop of Cashel, who was
slain in the year 903. The next son of Life who was to appear
was TdnaidhS Mac Uidhir [Mac Guirc], who was abbot of
Beannchuir [county Down], and wlio was slain by the Danes in
the year 956. The angel goes on then to enumerate the sons of
Life to the number of fifty, by figurative names, which, at this
distance of time, are totally unintelligible, if, indeed, they were
all ever meant by their author to bear any definite meaning;
nor does he appear to have observed any fixed chronological
order, as will be seen from three of the personages identified by
some ancient transcriber, and who stand m the text in the follow-
ing order : Tcinaidhe Mac JJidhir^ abbot of Beannchuir ^ already
mentioned, who was slain in tlic year 956 ; Fothadh na Can-
dhi(^j of Fathan Mura^ who flourished about the year 800 ; and
Donnchadh C/Braovi, abbot of Cluainmicnois, who died in 987 ;
after whom there were to 1x5 but six more sons of Life until the
birth of a man named Tibraide, in whose time the Christian
religion was to cease, and the reign of Antichrist was to be
established. This Tihraidd was to be bom in the reign of
Aedh Erigach (or Hugh the Valiant), according to the prophecy
called BaiU an Scuil (the " Ecstacy of the Champion"), of
which I have already spoken ; but, as my copy of that prophecy
is imperfect at the end, where this prediction could be found,
I am unable to draw any conclusion from a comparison of both
texts. It is my opinion, however, that Bricin's prophecy was
written about a.d. 1000; and, probably, by the same j)erson
who wrote Baile an Scad. It is preserv^ed in a manuscript in
the British Museum, already referred to (Harl. 5280).
From St. Bricin we pass to St. Moling^ of Tiqh Moling "Prophecy"
(now St. Mullins in the county of Carlow). St. Moling died «^s^^^«'H7.
in the year 696 ; and with the exception of St. Colum CilUj
27 b
i'20 OF THE SO-CALLED PROPHECIES.
LEtT. XX. there are more poems ascribed to lilm than to any other of our
Of h "Pro> ^*^^^y s^i^^- Among all his poems, however, I have met with no
phpcfes'Hi. more than one of a prophetic character. I^his is called the
S'h.teof *''' J^ail^ MhoUng, or " Ecstacy of Moling", and consists of forty-
5i""^!!rS' seven stanzas or one hundred and cii?hty-eight lines, on the suc-
pnery of SU , /» i i • n t ' i • • r • • i • a
Moling.) cession ot the kmgs ol Lemstcr, beginning Lsee onginal m Ap-
pendix, No CXLV.]:
** I say unto ye, O men of Leinster —
And not for the sake of rich rewards —
Guard well your own territories.
An attack will come upon you from afar.
Respond ye, for it well behoves ye,
To the noble Fergal, son of Maelduin,
By you shall fall the brave descendant of Conn,
In the furious battle of A hnhmn.
Aedh Allan with his battalions
Will come from the north to avenge his father.
Here he will be met by Aedh Aleim,
Who shall be left dead at Fidh Ciiilinn.
The broom out of Fdnait will be severe ;
Over the centre of Erinn, from the north-west
To the sea in the south, it shall make its course,
And bring direful woe to the people of Cork".
Now, the noble Fergal, son of Maelduin^ whose expedition
and dea^h are predicted here, succeeded to the monarchy of
Erinn in the year 709 ; and in the year 718, that is, in twelve
years after St. Moling's death, he made the incursion into
Leinster, which resulted in liis death, at the battle oi Abnlmin
[now the Hill of Allen, in the county Kildarc, the ancient
Satrimony of Finn Mac Cthnhaill], Aedh Allan, the son of
'ergal, succeeded to the monarchy in the year 730 ; and in
three years after, that is, in 733, he marched all the forces of
the nortli of Erinn into Leinster to a place called Ath Seanaigh
[now Ballyshimnon, four miles to the west of Kilcullen Bridge
in the county of Kildiu-o], where he was met by the Leinster-
men, in their utmost force, under their king, Aedh [or Hugh],
eon of Colgu. A furious battle ensued, in which the Leinstc»r-
men were almost totally cut off; and their king was slain in
single combat by the monarch Aedh.
The prophecy passes directly from the events of this year,
733, to the death of Cormac Mac CuUinan in the battle of
Magh Ailbhe in the year 903; and without any spc^cial refer-
ence to the Danish Invasion, tells that the Danes will carry off
OF THE SO-CALLED PROPHECIES. 421
the cattle of Cill Amailli (now KiUossy, near Naas in the county lbct.xx.
of Kildare), after which they were to be defeated and ahnost ^^^^ „
destroyed by UgairS, the son of AilUll, Kinff of Leinster, a pheciea*' an-
prince who did, in fact, defeat them at the battle of Ceannfuait ^JJ^ J? **'*
(now Confey, near Lucan, in the county of Kildare) in the year S^J'M^JJfJ^
915, where C/^atV^ himself fell, together with a great mxmbei Monnff.)
of the gallant chiefs of Leinster.
The poem goes on, then, to give a list of several of the kings
and chiefs of Leinster under figurative names (but with original
interlined identifications) down to DiarmaidySon oiMeal na m-bdy
King of Leinster, who was killed in the battle of Odhbha (in
Meath) in the year 1072, and, I believe, to DonncU Mac Gilla-
patrick, who died King of Ossory, in the year 1165. Mac Gilla-
patrick, according to this ** prophecy", was to be succeeded by
F lann of Cull Gamhna^ who is not identified ; and this Flann was
to slaughter the Danes of Dublin seven times, and reduce the
strcngth of Munstcr.
This description would apply to no Leinsterman of this period
but to Diarmaid Mac Murcfiadha [commonly called Dermod Mac
Murroch], who became King of Leinster in 1137 ; and the poem
must, I am convinced, have been written in his time, but before
his banishment from Erinn, and subsequent return with the
Anglo-Nonnans, else the latter unfortunate event would have
been foretold in it.
The prophet, then, when he comes to touch on the real future,
follows precisely the course of the other prophets of whom we
have been treatmg, and jumps from Diarniaid Mac Murchadha
to Flann Ciothach, so often mentioned already. In his time
the Roth Ramliach, or "Rowing Wheel", was to come, as well
as a dreadful calamity promised to reach Erinn from the south-
west, which wiis to destroy the three-fourths of the people, as
far as the Mediterranean Sea ; and another dreadful calamity or
visitation which was called the Scuap a Fdnait^ or "Broom out
of Fanait" (in Donnegall), which was to sweep over Erinn from
the north-east into the sea in the south-west, and was to bring
il'urful destruction upon Cork. This prophecy limits the reign
of* the portentous king, Flann Ciothach, who is here called
Flann Ginach [the voracious], from JJurlas [Thurles], to sixty
years, sixty months, sixty foiluights, and sLxty nights ; and states
that the time between the end of Flann's reign and the day of
judgment will be but one hundred yea:-s. ^' BercMn dixit'' \a
written in the margin, opposite stanza 3G of this poem, but tho
original author follows from that stanza to the ena.
From this well written poem, falsely ascribed to St. Moling^
422
OF THE SO-CALLED PROPHECIES.
LECT. XX.
" Prophwy"
Mcribed to
Sedna (VL
century).
we pass now to another prophetic poem of 20 stanzas, or 80 lines,
earned on by way of a dialogue between St. Finnchu of Bri-
Gobhann (in the county of Cork), who flourished in the sixth
century, and a prophet named Sedna, with whose history I am
unacquainted. The poem begins [see original in Appendix,
No.CXLVI.]:
" Tell unto me, O Sedna,
News of the end of the world,
Wliat will be the condition of the people
Who follow not a life of truth".
Sedna answers this question, as might be expected, in terms
very unfavourable to the conduct and fate of the generations
which were to follow, whose crimes would bring on them
various plagues, as well as loss of all their power and dignity.
He then foretells that the Saxons would come in upon them
and hold sway in Erinn during a term of nine score years (that
is to the year 1350), when they would behave treacherously to
one another ; and that one of the old Anglo-Normans would, at
a subsequent period, lead that party and the native Irish against
the Elizabethan and other modem settlers, and would totally
drive them out of the country.
All the copies of this poem that I have seen are so in-
accurate, that the predictions cannot be reconciled with the
actual history of the crountry ; nor should I follow the silly pro-
duction further, but that I find the prophecy quoted in a well-
written poem composed by Donnell Mac Brody of the coimty of
Clare, ior James, the son of Maurice Dvbh, son of John Fitz-
Grerald, Earl of Desmond. John FitzGerald, Earl of Desmond,
was arrested by the Lord Chief Justice at Kilmallock, and sent
prisoner to London, in the year 1567, according to the Annals
of the Four Masters ; and the same annals tell us, that in the
year 1569, James, tlie son of Maurice, son of the above earl,
was a warlike man, at the head of many troops ; and that the
English and Irish of Munster, from the River Barrow to Cam
Ui Neid (in the south-west of the county of Cork), entered
into a unanimous and firm confederacy with him against Queen
Elizabeth.
So far, the prophecy (which appears to have been, as usual,
made for tliis occasion) was fulfilled; but the part of its fulfil-
ment which then had not arrived, never afler proved true ; as
James, the son of Maurice Dubh, after a career of varied for-
tune, was killed at last, near Cnoc Greine (in the county of
Limerick), in a skirmish with the Burkes of Clann WiUiam,
in the year 1579.
Mac Brody's poem, of which I possess a fine copy, consists
OF THE SO-CALLED PROPHECIES. 423
0 forty-two stanzas, or 168 lines, and begins [see original in lect. xx.
Appendix, No. CXLVII.] :—
" Whose is the oldest charter of the land of NiaW,
There is another prophetic poem, said to have been delivered "^'TJlft**^"
by some person named Maeltamhlachta, to another person Mufitamk-
named Maelditliri^ neither of whom can be identified. It is '"**'**'
a silly production, of no antiquity, in its present form ; it pro-
mises, that when the Saxons shall have become as wickea as
the native Graedhil, their power over Erinn shall come to an
end ; and that this prediction has not been finally verified long
ago, one cannot help remarking, is a pretty clear proof that the
author was very Uttle of a prophet ! The poem, which is not
worth another word of notice, begins [see onginal in Appendix,
No.CXLVm.]:—
" Say, O Maeltamhlachta^ ,
So far I have led you through the chief part of the founda- 2[^^*.^*^
tions upon which have been built the various compositions long concerning
spoken of and referred to as the popular *' Irish Prophecies , Festival of
as well as of some few that have not, I beUeve, been ever be- §Ji iSl'ytut
fore brought into public notice. In place of entering into any
further discussion upon their antiquity or authenticity, I shall
now proceed to add a few more specihc references, which may
throw some light on the often-mentioned Roth Rarnhach, or
Rowing Wheel, the Broom out of Fanait, and the fatal day of
the Festival of John the Baptist, so often and so mysteriously
spoken of in the old MSS.
That these were fanciful names for threatened visitations of
the Divine vengeance, which were to afllict the people unless
they repented of their imputed sins and iniquities (threats of
vengeance, which might be held in terror over evil doers for
ever, no matter how long after they may have from time to
time been apparently verified, or stated to have been so), will
1 think, appear clearly enough, from the few short articles
which 1 now propose to lay before you.
The first of these articles is an extract from the life of St.
Adamnan, who died in the year 703. Of this extract, the fol-
lowinof is a Hteral translation [see original in Appendix, No.
CXL?X.]:- . .
" Two of the various gifts of St. Adamnan were preaching
and instruction. He preached in the last year of his life, that
a pestilence would come upon the men of Erinn and of Scot-
land, at the ensuing festival of St. John.
" At tliis time an unknown young man was in the habit of
\nsiting St. Colman of Cruachdn Aigli^ [Crxiach Patraic,'] a
spiritual director of Connacht. And the young man related
424 OF THE SO-CALLED PROPHECIES.
LKCT. xjL many wonderful tilings to Colnian, and asked him if Adamnan
Of the "Pro ^^^ ^^* predicted a pestilence to the men of Erinn and Scotr
piiccieicon- land at the ensuing festival of St. John. The prediction is not
FatarFes- truc, Said Cohuau. It is true, said the young man, and the
jonJ.fhf pestilence shall be fulfilled by the death of Adamnan himself
liaptiat. at this approadiing St. John's festivar.
And the life goes on to say, that the prediction was in fact
so verified by the death of St. Adamnan on the 23rd of September
in tliat year, tliree weeks after the festival of the beheading of
John tlie Baptist (2yth August) ; and that this was felt by the
men of Erinn and Scotland as the greatest calamity that could
befall them.
This would appear to have been the real origin and verifica-
tion of the St. «iohns festival prediction; though succeeding
dealers in prophecies, like those of the present day, found it
their intei*est, or their incUnation, to give new interpretations.
At some period subsequent to the Danish Invasion, this pro-
phecy of St. Adamnan was put into a more formal shape, and
written and preached under the title of Adamnan's vision. Of
this piece called Adamnan's vision, which is very short, there
is a beautiful copy in Latin, with a Gaedlilic conunentary, pre-
served in the Leahhar Mor Uuna Doighre (or Leabhar Jbreac),
in the Royal Irish Academy, and a fragment, on paper, in the
library of Trinity College. The whole tract makes more than
one of the closely and beautifully written pages of the Leabhar
Mor Dana Doighri. The following is the text of the vision
and its title [see original in Appendix, No. CL.] :
" The vision which Adamnan — a man fiUed with the Holy
Spirit — saw, that is, the angel of the Lord spoke these His [tliat
is, the Lord's] words to him :
" Woe ! woe ! woe ! to the men of Erinn's Isle who transgress
the commands of the Lord. Woe ! to the kings and princes who
do not direct the ti-uth, and who love both iniquity and rapine.
Woe ! to the prostitutes and the sinners, who shall be burned
like hay and straw, by a fire ignited in the bissextile and in-
tercalary year, and in the end of the cycle. And it is on the
[festival of the] beheading of John the Baptist, on the sixth day
of the week, that this plague will come, in that year, if [the
people] by devout penitence do not prevent it as the people
of Nineveh have done".
So far the vision, which is immediately followed by an ex-
planation of the cause and character of tliis fearful visitation, and
the mode of warding it oflT. The substance of this explanation
may be summed up as follows :
It was to Adamnan, it inlbrme us, tliat were revealed all the
OF TUB SO-CALLED PROPHECIES. 425
plagiies, mortalities, and destructions by foreigners which were lect. xx.
to afflict Erinn in consequence of the iniquities of her people. „
Dreadful would be the plagues that were to come il* they did phecics' con-
not rcixint, namely, a iiame of fire that would purify Erinn Sltii^Fel?*
from the south-west: and that was to be the fire which would j'^^ ^^1**
bum the three-fourths of the men of Erinn in the twinkling of B»ptut
an eye, — men, women, boys, and girls. Of all the plagues that
were to afflict the nation, — disease, famine, foreign mvasion,
and destruction, — this terrible fire of St. John's festival would
be the last and most destructive. The people are then charged
with the crimes of theft, falsehood, murder, fratricide, adultery,
destruction of churches and clergy, charms, incantations, and all
sorts of wickedness, excepting alone the worship of idols. This
catalogue of imputed cnmcs is then followed by an earnest
inculcation of the mode of warding off the fiery visitation of St.
John's festival, in accordance with the testament of St. Patrick
and St. Adamnan, and after the example of the people of
Nineveh and several others of sacred history. And this was to
be done by a total change of life, by fasting and praying, and
giving large and liberal alms to the poor and the churphes.
There can, I think, be little doubt but that this piece was
written after the great mortalities of the seventh and eighth
centuries, the Bnidlie chotinaill and Crom chonnaill [see Appen-
dix, No. CLI.], and even after the total overthrow of the
Danish power in the year 1014, but before the Anglo-Norman
Invasion was so much as thought of The ecclesiastics of this
time were expert calculator of cycles, and they availed them-
selves here of an ancient prediction (if, indeed, it was ancient),
tlireutening a fiery visitation when the festival of the Beheading
of John the Baptist (tliut is, the 29th day of August) should fall
on a Friday near the end of what I must believe to be a cycle
of the Epact. Now the number of the Epact for the year 101)6
was 23, so that a cycle of the Epact terminated that year. In
that year also the Decollation of St. John the Baptist fell on a
Friday. And this conjunction had not happened, I believe,
from the time of the Danish supremacy until this year of 1096.
This year of 109G was besides a bissextile, or leap-year. We
have already seen, from the Annals of the Four Masters at this
year, how strictly in accordance with the instructions laid down
in this tract was the course recommended by the clergy of that
rriod and acted on by both laity and clergy. And so we may,
think, fairly assume that this version of the vision of St.
Adamnan was written (at least in its present form) immediately
or shortly before that year, although it is possible that a portion
of it, or perhaps some version of the entire, may have been
426
OF THE SO-CALLED PROPHECIES.
LECT. Tx. uttered or written many generations before. And the probabi-
of the "Pro- ^*y ^^ ^^ " Vision" being of the date I assign to it, is further
phedM-con- Sustained by the fact that the lanffuaffe is not of a more ancient
cernlngthe i. i. '' o ~o
Fatal Fes- Character.
Joimthe^*' ^* appears certain, from the Life of St. Adamnan, that his
BaptUL prophecy respecting the St. Jolm's festival amounted only to
the prediction of a simple pestilence or calamity, and that this
prophecy was believed to have been fulfilled in his own death.
At what time this simple calamity was magnified into a flame
of fire which would bum to cinders three-fourths of the people,
from the south of Erinn to the Mediterranean Sea, and back
again from Fdnait (in Donnegal) to Cork, it would be curious
and instructive to inquire ; and it is fortunate that we have, in
the same Leahhar M6r Duna Doighriy a short article, giving
such an origin to this fiery visitation as will, I am satisfied, take
it for ever out of the catalogue of inspired predictions, as well
as another short article, which, in my opinion, clearly identifies
the ** Fiery Dragon ' with the so-called " Broom out of Fdnai(\
The following literal translation of the first of these little
tracts will be found as curious in its topographical as in its
legendary interest [see original in Appendix, No. CLII.] :
" It is in the reign of Flann Cinaidh [^Ginach, or " the vora-
ciousH that the Rowing- Wheel, and the Broom out otFanaid, and
the Fiery Bolt, shall come. Cliach was the harper oi Smirdubh
MacSmdil, king of the three Rosses oiSliahhBdn [in Connacht].
Cliach set out on one occasion to seek the hand in maniage of one
of the daughters of Bodhbh Dera^ of the [fairy] palace oiFemhen
[in Tipperary]. He continued a whole }rcar playing his harp,
on the outside of the palace, without being able to approach
nearer to Bodhhh^ so great was his [necromantic] power; nor
did he make any impression on the daughter. However, he
continued to play on until the ground burst under his feet,
and the lake which is on the top of the mountain, sprang up
in the spot : that is Loch Bel Sead. The reason why it was
called Loch Bil S^ad, was this :
" Coerabar boeth, the daughter of Ftal Anbuail of the fairy
mansions of Connacht, was a beautiful and powerfully gifted
maiden. She had three times fifty ladies in her train. They
were all transformed every year into three times fifty beautiful
birds, and restored to their natural shape the next year. These
birds were chained in couples by chains of silver. One bird
among them was the most beautiful of the world's birds, having
a necklace of red gold on her neck, with three times fifty
chains depending from it, each chain terminating in a ball of
gold. During their transformation into birds, they always re-
OF THE SO-CALLED PROPHECIES. 427
mained on Loch Crotta Cliach [that is, the Lake of CliacKa LEc?r. xx.
del at the mouth oi Loch Crotta this day'.
hence it is called Loch Bil Siad^ [or the Lake of Uie Jewel J^ ^le*"
Mouth.] B»p"^
"It was called also Loch Bel Dragain, [or the Dragon-Mouth
Lake] ; because Temoga nurse caught a fiery dragon in the
shape of a salmon, and St. Fursa induced her to throw it into
Loch Bel Sead. And it is that dragon that will come in the
festival of St. John, near the end of the world, in the reign of
Flann Cinaidh, And it is of it and out of it shall grow the
Fiery Bolt which will kill three-fourths of the people of the
world, men and women, boys and girls, and cattle, as far as the
Mediterranean Sea eastwards. And it is on that account it is
called the Dragon-Mouth Lake.
" Cliach the Harper, now, always played upon two harps
at the same time; and hence the name Crotta Cliach [the
Harps of Cliach — Cruit being the Lish for a harp], and
Sliabh Crotty [or the Mountain of the Harps, on the top of
which tlie lake of CliacKa Harps is still to be seen],
" It was of this fiery bolt that St. Molina was preaching
when predicting tlie St. John s fi'stival, when ne said,
" O great God [O great God],
May I obtain my two requests.
That my soul be with angels in bliss.
That the flaming bolt catch me not.
In John s festival will come an assault,
Which will traverse Erinn from the south-west;
A furious dragon which will bum all before it,
Witliout communion, without sacrament.
As a black dark troop will they burst in flames.
They will die like verbal sounds ;
One alone out of hundreds
Of them all shall but survive.
From Dun Cearmna to S?*uibh Brain^
It will search ; and to the Mediterranean Sea, eastwards ;
A furious, flaming dragon, full of fire ;
It shall spare but only a fourth part.
Woe to whom it reaches, woe him who awaits it,
Woe to those who do not ward ofl' the plague ;
Tlie Tuesday upon which the festival falls, —
It were well to avert it in time.
One shall tell the precise time
When the Lord shall bring all this to pass ;
428 OF THE SO-CALLED PROPHECIES.
LECT. IX. Five days of spring after Easter,
Of the "Pro- ^'\^ y^^^rs lK>fore the mortaljtjr.
phccie»"coii- A time will come beside this,
Fa™i"/ea!** Wlioii ill a bisscxtilc year ;
joivn'the'* ^ Friday upon a cycle, woe who sees.
Bftptbt. Oh ! tlie fiery plague may I not see !"
Such, then, was the purely fabulous origin of the Fiery Bolt
which was to burn tliree-fouiths of the men of Erinn from the
south-west.
You will remember that this version of St. Moling's predic-
tion of the festival of St. John differs considerably from the
version of it already given. In his poem on the succession of
the kings of Leinster, the time of its fulfilment is referred to
some indefinite period after the appearance of the Roth Ramhach
(the Rowing, or Oar Wheel) ; wliilst here its occurrence is
})articularly laid down in five years after the year in which the
estival falls on Tuesday in the same year in which Easter Sun«
day should happen five days before the end of spring, that is,
on the 25th of April. This combination of these festivals has
never since occurred, even to the present time; for, although
Easter Sunday fell upon the 25th of April in the years 482,
672, 919, 1014, 1204, 1451, and 1546, yet the 29th of Au-
gust did not happen to fall upon a Tuesday in any of these
years, nor in the fifth year alter any of tnem, so that the
would-be prophet would appear to have miscalculated his time,
or the prediction is yet to be fulfilled !
Having thus laid before you all that I have been able to col-
lect relative to the origin of the Rowing Wheel, and the pre-
diction respecting the festival of the Decollation of St. John,
as well as tlie use made of them in after ages, and having ex-
pressed my own decided opinion, tliat these never were real
prophecies or inspired predictions at all, I shall now pass to the
third of this group of foretold misfortunes, namely, the Scuap
a Fdvait, or '* Broom to come out of Fanait" (in Donnegal).
You will remember that in the poem on the succession of the
kings of Leinster, ascribed to St. Moling, who died in the year
696, the saint is made to predict that
" The broom out of Fanait will be severe
Over the centre of Erinn : from the north -west
To the sea in the south it shall make its course.
And bring direful Avoe to the people of Cork".
And in the second place he says it will come on a Tuesday.
It will be seen from the foUowinof note on the festival of the
OF THE SO-CALLED PROPHECIES. 429
Beheading of John the Baptist, in the Festology of Aengua lect. xx.
Ciile Di (preserved in the same Leahhar Mor Dmia Doighri) or the "Pro-
that this calamity, like the Fiery Bolt, was to afflict Erinn in phecies" con-
revenge of the decapitation of the man who baptized the FSam*-*
Saviour. Thus runs mis curious note [see original in Appen- joim uje*"
Dix, No. CLIIL] : Bapiiit
" It is in revenge for the death of John the Baptist that the
Broom will come out of Fanait to purify Erinn towards the end
of the world, as it was foretold by Airerdn the Wise, and by
Colum Cille^ and it is on Tuesday in particular the Broom out
of Fanait will come, as Colum Cille said : * Like unto the
grazing of a pair of horses in a yoke, so shall be the closeness
with which it will cleanse Erinn'.
" Thus saith Airerdn, of the Broom : 'There will be two ale-
houses within the one close, side bv side. The man who goes
out of the one into the other shall find no one alive in the house
into which he goes, and neither shall he find any one alive in
the house out of wliich he went, on his return to it, such shall
be the rapidity with which the Broom comes out of Fdmiit\
" Thus saith liiughail [on the same subject] : * Three days and
three nights over a year shall this plague remain in Erinn.
When a sliip can be seen on Loch Rddhraidhi, from the door
of tlie refectory, it is then the Broom out of Fanait shall come.
A Tuesday, too, after Easter, in spring, will be the day upon
which the Broom shall issue from Fdnait, to avenge the death
of John the Baptist' ".
We have here three different persons predicting, as we are
told, the Broom out of Fanait^ besides St. Moling^ whose pre-
diction of it we have noticed twice already. St. Colmn CillS
is made to say that it would come on a Tuesday. St. Airerdn
the Wise does not specify any particular day or season ; and he
himself, I may obser\'^e, died of the plague whicli was called
liuidhe chonnaillj in the 664 ; but St. Kiaijhail gives a Tuesday
in spring, after Easter, as the day of its appearance, " when a ship
could be seen on Loch RihlhraulM from the door of the [his]
Refectory ". The Loch liddhraidhe mentioned here, is the pre-
sent bay of Dundnim, in the county of Down ; and StRiaghaiFa
refectory and church were situated on the east side of this bay,
near its mouth, where the name is still preserved in the parish
of Tyrella, properly Teach Rlaghala, or Riagaifs house or
church.
The reference to a Tuesday after Easter in spring, given by
St. Riaghail as the day on which the Broom was to come, is
not precise enough to enable us to imderstand what Tues<lay is
meant ; and it is evident that tlicre is something left out in the
430
OF THE SO-CALLED PROPHECIF.S.
Fatal Fes-
tival of St
Julm the
Baptist.
LTOT.x%. note from which it is taken. There can scarcely be any doubt that
Of the "Pro- ^* ^^ intended to aprree with St Moling' s time for the coming
pheciea-cou- of the Fiery Bolt : tliat is, when the 29th of August, the feast
^"*-"" * Qf ^Q Decollation of Jolin the Baptist, should fall on a Tuesday,
and Easter Sunday within live days of the end of spring.
The probable fact would appear to me to be, that when the
Fiery Bolt was, by some southern prophet of disaster, threat-
ened to flash from Dan Cearmna [now called the Old Head
of Kinsale, in the county of Cork] to SruiOh Brain [or Locli
Foyle, in Inis Eoghain']^ that is, from the southern to the
northern extremity of the island, — some northern rival after-
wards took it upon liimself to return tlie compliment, and
send back the Broom from Fanait, in the same northern point,
to deal destruction on the people of Cork. But the time first
appointed by St. Moling for the visitation of the Fiery Bolt, —
that is, five years after the year in which Easter Sunday would
fall on the 25th of April, and the 29th of August on a Tues-
day,— as already shown, has not yet come.
Then, as regards the second time appointed by St. Moling
for the coming of the Fiery Bolt, if that be what is meant, —
that is, on a Friday in a leap year, at the end of a circle, or
cycle, — I have already shown that all the predicted circum-
stances of this appointed time occurred in the year 1096. In
that year tne 29th of August fell on Friday; the year was a
leap year; and it was at the end of a circle or cycle of the
Epact, which was twenty-three in that year ; for, if we add the
annual increase of eleven days to twenty-three, it would make
it thirty-four, thus passing into a new cycle of the Epact for
the next year, 1097, whose Epact would accordingly be four.
But, what is much more important tlian any argument of
mine, I have already shown, from the annals of our country,
the consternation which seized on the people at the approach
of the year 1096; and how faithfully the means of avertmgthe
threatened calamities, as said to have been recommended by
St. Adamnan, were carried out — in penitence, pmyers, devo-
tions, fastings, ahns to the poor, and offerings to the churches;
thereby sliowing clearly that the prophecy had not been, up to
that time, fulfilled. And, as we have no record of its being
feared or talked of ever since, I suppose we may hope that the
means so long prescribed as efficient, and tlien so amply and so
successfully put in practice to avert it, have for ever blotted
out the liard sentence which the Lord was believed to have
passed on an already sorely afflicted country !
When first I entered in these Lectures on the discussion of the
authenticity of these " Prophecies," as they are called, I never
OF THE 80-CALLSD PROPHECIES. 431
intended to follow them out to the extent that I have done ; mct.xx.
but the more I examined them, the more imperatively did I Dj,i,o„est
feel myself called upon — as one who had spent liis whole life ?*l3fjj^
in the perusal and comparison of the original Gaedhlic docu- jiretended
ments, — to examine them fairly and thoroughly, and, without i£!r?^^
assmning anything of dictation or dogmatism, to record my
humble opinion ot the degree of credence to be given to^this
class of compositions. Another motive, too, impelled me to
come forward, — the first that I am aware of to do so, — to throw
doubt and suspicion on the authenticity of these long-talked-of
" Irish Prophecies" — I mean the strong sense I entertain of
the evils that a blind belief in, and reliance on their pro-
mises have worked in tliis unfortunate land for centuries back.
I have myself known — indeed I know them to this day — hun-
dreds of people, some highly educated men and women among
them, who have often neglected to attend to their wordly advance-
ment and security by the ordinary prudential means, in expec-
tation tliat the false promises of these so-called prophecies —
many of them gross forgeries of our own day — woula in some
never accurately specified time bring about such changes in the
state of the country as must restore it to its ancient condition.
And the believers in these idle dreams were but too sure to sit
down and wait for the coming of the promised golden age ; as
if it were fated to overtake them, without the slightest effort of
their own to attain happiness or independence.
When such has been and continues to be the belief in such
predictions, and even in these modern times of peace, what
must their effect have been in the days of our country's wars of
independence, when generation after generation so often nobly
fought against foreign usurpation, plunder, and tyranny ! And
in the constant application of spunous prophecies to the events
of troubled times in every generation, observe that the spirit of
intestine faction did not fail to make copious use of them. So we
have the blind prophet predicting that a Red Hugh O'Donnell
would anniliilate the Anglo-Norman power on the plains of the
Liffey ; but we have him adding, too, that the same redoubtable
hero would, to complete his triumph, bum and ravage Leinster,
Munstcr, and Connacht also, as if for the very purpose that the
common enemy should, on his next coming over the water, have
less opposition to meet.
And well did the astute Anglo-Normans (as well as, indeed,
their Elizabethan successors in a subsequent age), know what
use to make of these rude and baseless predictions, as we read in
Giraldus Cambrcnsis, when speaking of the invasion of Ulster
by John De Courcy. [See original m Appendix, No. CLIV.]
432 OF THE SO-CALLED PROPHECIES.
LECT. XX. " Then was fulfilled, as is said, the prophecy of the Irish
Dishonest Columba ; who, foretelling that war [at Downpatrick] ages be-
iweinadcof fore, Said that die carnage of the citizens Avould be so great, that
prSeiided tlic cnemj woiild wade knee-deep in the blood of the slain. For
cies".^^*'" when, owing to the softness of the mud, the weight of the men's
Cambrensi ^^^^^^ causcd them to sink down to the bottom, the blood which
and John oozcd from them flying to the surface of tlie viscid earth, easily
De coorcy.) ^.^j^^i^^j ^ ^]^q kuecs and legs of the assailants. The same
prophet is also said to have stated that a certain man, poor, and
a beggar, and, as it were, a fugitive from other lands, would
come to Down with a little band, and ^vithout the authority of
a superior would gain possession of the city. [He foretold]
also many battles, and the fluctuating issues of fortune; all
which were evidently fulfilled in the case of John De Courcy.
Even John himself is said to have carried about with him
this Irish book of prophecies, as a mirror of his exploits.
" It is stated also in the same book, that a certam youth was
to storm the walls of Waterford with an armed band, and take
the city, with great slaughter of the inhabitants; that the same
individual was also to march through Wexford, and afterwards
enter Dublin without obstruction. All which was plainly ful-
filled in Earl Richard Strongbow. The saint testifies also that
the city of Limerick would on two occasions be abandoned by
the Englii^h, and on the third be retained. Now it appears to
have been twice forsaken. First, as has been stated, by Rey-
mimd ; second by Pliilip de Breusa, who, on arriving near the
city which had been granted to him, finding liimsell* shut out
from it by the river which flowed between, without any effort
or assault, went back the way he came, as shall be fully stated
in its proper place. After which, according to the same pre-
diction, the city, a third time visited, is to be held possession of,
or rather, after a long interval, being treacherously destroyed
under Ilamo de Valoignes the justiciary, and recovered and
restored by Meyler". (Giraldus Cambrensis, Ilibemia Expug-
nata; Lib. ii., cap. 16, — p. 794, Ed. Camden.)
Speaking elsewhere of the reduction of Erinn, the same
writer observes [see original in same Appendix] :
" For whereas the Irish are reputed to have four prophets —
Moling, Braccan [Bearchan?], Patrick, and Colum Kylle (whose
books, written in the Irish tongue, are still preserved among the
people), — they all, when speaking of this conquest, declare that,
through constant encounters and a protracted struggle, it shall
sully many future ages with excessive bloodshed. But just on
the eve of the Day of Judgment they award to the English
people a decisive victory — the subjugation of Ireland from sea
OF TUB BO-CAXLKD PROPHECIES. 433
to sea, and the occupation of the island with castles. And, lkct. xx.
though it may happen first that the English be put to confusion D,,|jone«t
and exhausted while they experience the issues of the martial «»»« «n^« «'
struggle (for instance, according to the statement of Braccan, p^reteoM
noany all tlie English will be dislodged from Ireland by a king c^?^^
who is to come from the desert mountains of Patrick, and, on a JSJJJJ^-u
Sunday night, storm a certain castle in the woods of Ophelania), and .lohn
still, according to their declaration, the English will always ^^^'^
maintain an undisturbed possession of the eastern coast of the
island^. (lb., cap. 33; pp. 80G, 807, Ed. Camden.)
Now, there can be no cloubt whatever that Giraldus's account
of these prophecies is a fabrication either by himself or by John
de Courcy ; for, among all the reputed prophecies whicli have
Eassed through my own hands, and they are not a few, as you
ave already seen, there is not one that has any reference to
the Anglo-Normans in Limerick or Waterford, or that promises
the invaders a final permanent footing on the east coast of Ire-
land, which, according to the scope of Cambrensis' alleged pro-
phecy, was the most they expected at the time.
And as for the " certain man, poor and a beggar, and, as it
were, a fugitive from "bther lands", who, according to St. Colum
cms, " would come to Down with a little band, and, without
the authority of a superior, would gain possession of the city",
there is no such prediction in any of those poems which are
ascribed to Colum Cille, tliough there is, indeed, an ecclesiastical
Eauper promised in St. Briciris ecstatic prophecy, who was to
e tlie last Christian preacher before tlic approacli of the reign
of Antichrist; but although the ecclesiastical character would
not well become the unscrupulous despoiler John de Courcy,
still it would appear that he appropriated tlie name, and pre-
sented himself as the verifier of an old spurious prediction, to a
people so debilitated and distracted by internal broils and social
jealousies, that this Norman adventurer succeeded, with a hand-
ful of men, in marching into the heart of Ulster, where he took
the ancient and vjcnerable city of Downpatrick, and fortified it
before any efiective opposition durst be offered him by the once
brave natives of that province.
And as the native Irish, for a long period after De Courcy 'a
time, continued to be influenced by the expectation of the good
or evil which these wortliless predictions nad promised them,
60 also did the enemy continue with success either to appro-
priate to their own account older predictions, or to procure new
ones to be made for their especial purposes in the native
Graedhlic. Of this latter class, one curious specimen remains
among Sir George Carew s papers, now deposited in the Lam-
28
434
OF THE SO-CALLKD PROPHECIKS.
LECT. xx^ beth Library, London. It consists of a single stanza, couched
Dutionest ^^ * Style not unusual even now, telling the natives that their
n»c made of vilc deeds would brin^T upon them the power and supremacy
forged and r^li. or r r J
prt;tended ot tlic Stranger.
cir»"?*(slr Sir George Carew was president of Munster at the close of
g«^8« Queen Elizabctli's reign, and oral and written traditions say that
he made tlie proper use of this stanza (which was certainly made
in his own time) to impress the natives with the inevitable doom
that had been preordamed for them. Of this silly, but vicious
It
runs
thus
F production, I took a copy at Lambeth in 1849.
see original in Appendix, No. CLV.] :
^*From Carew's charter youll surely find
Cause of repentance for your misdeeds ;
Many will be the foreigners shouts
Sent forth on the banks of the MiathlacK",
(The JUiathlach is a river m the county of Cork.)
It is a remarkable fact, though some might have supposed a
prediction so clumsily coined would have been Httle likely to
gain favour irom such a man as Carew, that Carew nevertheless
not only made use of it at the time, but gave it a place among
the most important records of his baneful presidency of Mimster.
Nor can I help remarking how it is that this same spirit of
false prophecy, far from ending with Carew and the last ray
of the real independence of Erinn in the year 1602, has con-
tinued even to this day : for even in our own times the same
unscrupulous enemy of our race and creed continues to pour
forth, with an exultation almost fiendish, predictions of the same
character — providentially falsified so far, — of the total annihila-
tion or extirpation of the Graedhel from the land which he inherits
from an ancestry of three thousand years.
A nation that could at any time believe itself foredoomed to
degradation and extinction, and especially on such questionable
authority as I liave laid before you, would deserve to be, and
would surely prove to be, so doomed for ever. For a people to
maintain or to recover their proper station of national indepen-
dence and importance in the world, it is not always necessary
to have recourse to arms ; but there is one condition absolutely
necessary, and that is, the possession of a true independence of
soul, whether at peace or war, a horror of meanness at all
times, and with these a true love for their country and venera-
tion for the history of their race, — a condition which of itself,
indeed, would imply tlie success of such a people in the assertion
of their political and religious rights and privileges.
LECTURE XXI.
rDeltrwed July S2, 1856.]
Recapitulation. No Historj of Erinn yet written. Of the works of Moore, of
Keating, of MacGcoghcgan, and of Lynch. How the History of Erinn is to be
undertaken, and the abundant materials for it properly made use of. Sketch
of the ancient account of the origin of the Gaedluls of Erinn. Of the ma-
terials which exist for completing the history of the early jieriod, in which
the annals arc so meagre. Of the necessity for a preliminary study of the
Laws, Customs, Civilization, and mode of Life among the ancient Oaedhils.
Of the importance of cultivating the Language, in onler to be able to make
proper use of the immense mass of matenals preserved in the existing col-
lectiocs of MSS. Conclusion.
I HAVE now, at last, brought these Introductory Lectures to a
close. I have endeavoured to lay before you some intelligible
account of the materials which exist towards the perfect eluci-
dation of our country's history, in the ancient language of that
country ; — materials not drawn from the prejudiced reports of
the enemies of our race, but from ancient Gaedhlic records, of
great antiquity, and of the highest authenticity. The task has
been one of greater labour than I had at all anticipated; of
greater labour, perhaps, than any of you could have imagined
from the result. For I was obliged again to consult a vast
number of authorities — to search and research through the
ancient MSS. themselves, to compare again passages upon which
the investigations into the Brehon Laws had thrown new light
since last I had studied them, and to verify, by examination of
the original authorities themselves, all those notes and results
of my study of years, before I could permit myself to express,
from this place, a single opinion upon facts, however compara-
tively triflmg, or however certain to myself appeared my recol-
lection of former reading. Besides, the extent of the subject
itself seemed greater and greater as I advanced, in throwing
into form what I had to say to you; so that the number of
Lectures which I have found it necessary to prepare has imavoid-
ably exceeded tliree times that originally assigned to this In-
troductory Course.
Even now, I fear that the effort to compress what I had to
say will be found to have made the result unsatisfactory enough ;
for I have all along been forced to give an account of vast
masses of the most valuable historical writings only by a few
28 b
436 HOW THE HISTORY OF ERINN IS TO BE WRITTEN.
LECT. XXI. short examples of tliem ; and I feel persuaded that I have even
p itnia y®* failed to convey to you any adequate idea of the immense
tlon. extent of our MS. historical records.
One difficulty, indeed, was always before me, — that no previous
attempt had been made to dcscnbe them to the public ; and I
am sorry to say that I bcUeve a very large proportion of them
have not been really examined by any other eye than my o^vn
in our generation, or, perhaps, for several generations. Yet,
Btmngely enough, we have seen liistories and antiquarian treatises
published with applause, for a century back, and frequently in
our own time, by authors who never took the trouble to learn
how to read these MSS., and who, accordingly, passed over
without remai'k those records, — those materials without which
the History of Erinn cannot be written, nor the antiquities of
Erinn truly investigated, — as if such materials had no exist-
ence at all. When, therefore, I opened the business of the
chair with which I have been honoured in this our National
University by bearing witness to the vast extent of these, I may
say, yet unopened materials, — the long-neglected, long-decaying
wealth of national records, with which our great libraries and
museums are so richly stocked, — I felt that the mtelhgent public
could not but feel surprised at an announcement apparently so
extravagant ; and I felt then, and I have felt all along, that it
must be the work of years (and, so far as I am concerned, of
many special series of lectures in detail), to introduce to the
world anything like a satisfactory account of our Manuscripts,
80 as to obtain any general recognition of their true extent and
importance.
If, however, I have not succeeded, as I should wish to do,
within the too limited scope of these few Lectures, in doing
adequate justice to a subject so large and so varied, I may at
least congratulate myself upon the increasing interest which that
subject appears to have excited, and upon the indulgent atten-
tion with which you have so kindly received and encouraged
me in the performance of a task so unaccustomed, — a task wluch
1 was, in some respects, so reluctant, because so ill-prepared, to
undertake. And I shall feel but too glad if, by what I have
attempted to do in these Introductory Lectures, I shall even have
so introduced the subject to the intelligent notice of my younger
friends as to kindle in their minds some interest to prosecute
inquiries for themselves in a path in wliicli it has been the lot of
my life to act as a sort of pioneer. Thev will find that path now
a far easier one than I did, and they will approach it with advan-
tages which it was not my lot to enjoy. Only let me caution
them to pursue their studies among the materiab of the History
LBCT. XXI.
HOW THR HI8T0RY OF ERINN IS TO ^E WRITTEN. 437
of their country uninfluenced by the silly but often attractive
speculations with which so many ignorant men of the last and of" ~
the present generation have deformed tlieir literary and anti- tioS!'*' *"
quarian researches, if researches they can be called : let me warn
them to begin for themselves at the beginning; first, to learn
accurately the language itself (a task far easier than my hearers,
perhaps, imagine), and then to study patiently and collate care-
fully tlie important originals in that language within their reach,
before they allow their minds to dream of any theory whatever
concerning the race, the histon^, or the religious or civil cus-
toms of our early ancestors. To do this, they must first cast
beliind them almost all that has yet been printed on the subject:
I may indeed say all, save the very few publications which I
have taken care to name to you already m these lectures ; for
the History of ancient Eriim is as yet entirely unwritten, and
her antiqmties all but unexplored.
I have said that the history of ancient Erinn is yet entirely
unwritten ; there is, in fact, no history of Ireland, save in name.
Before I take my leave of you on the present occasion, I
desire, as shortly as I can, to show you how tliis is so, by
pointing out how the materials which I have analysed for you
must be treated, in order that anything like a history of Erinn
ever may be written. And first, let me very shortly recapitulate
all that we have gone over, lest by chance tlie length of time
which has elapsed since my first Lectures were delivered (now
above a year ago) should have caused you to have forgotten
some portions of the series of subjects of wliich I have succes-
sively spoken.
In my first two Lectures, after explaining the general object
of the course, I told you of the means taken, according to the
most ancient laws and customs of our forefathei*s, to preserve
the records of their race ; and I laid before you some evidence
of the records and literature of the earlier ages of Erinn, before
Christianity, together with a list and some description of the
chief among the lost books of more remote times, from which
much that is preserved in tlie ancient MSS. still in existence
was copied, with or without additions and explanations. I
told voii what is known of the Books called the Cuilmen, the
(.'in JJroma Sneachta, the SeJichns M6r^ the Book of Ua Chong-
bhdil, the Saltair of Cashel, the Saltair of Tara, the original
Leahhar na h- Uidhre, and the Book otAcailL And as instances
of the contents of some of these great collections, I described to
you the story of the Tdhi Bo Chuailgni and the history of
Cormac Mac Airty of which copies exist in MSS yet preserved
to us.
438 HOW THE HISTORY OF ERINN 19 TO BE WRITTEN.
LBCT. Txx. In the tliird Lecture I opened the subject of the various
Annals still existing in our MS. collections, their extent and
tion.^ ^ character; and I gave you some account of the early Annalists
and professors of history ; of Flann of Monasterboice ; of Giolla
Caenihain; of Tighemach; and of the ancient schools. And
with reference to the earliest existing annals, those of Tigher-
nach, I related to you the history of the foundation of the
Palace of Emania (near Ardmaghj; that of the Three Collas;
and of the foundation of the Ultonian Dynasty, which Tiglier-
nach, apparently for very unsatisfactory reasons, assumed as the
commencement of the historic period.
In several subsequent Lectures I took up the Annals nearly in
the chronological order of their composition, and gave you an
account of each in some detail. I described to you the scope and
contents of the Annals of Tighemach, the Annals of Innisfallen,
the Annals of the Island of Saints in Loch Ce, improperly called
the Annals of Boyle (called by Ware the Annals of Connacht),
the Annals oiSenait Mac Maghnusay called the Annals of Ulster ;
and the Annals of Loch Ci (improperly called the Annals of Kil-
ronan) ; and as a specimen of tliis work, I described to you the
accoimt in it of the Battle of Magh Sleacht in the year 1252,
the place in which stood the celebrated Idol called Crom Cruach
[or Ceann Cruach, as found in the Tripartite Life of St. Patrick],
prostrated by St. Patrick ; then the true "Annals of Connacht" ;
the '*Chromcum Scotorum" of Duald Mac Firbisigh; the other
works of the Mac Firbises, from the Yellow Book of Lecain (in
the year 1390) and the Book o{ Lecain (in the year 1416), to
Duald's own time, in the year 1666; the Annals o( Lecain;
and the Annals of Clonmacnoi^ of which last I gave you a
specimen in the curious story of the Life of Queen Gormlaith.
I concluded my notice of the Annals by devoting one entire
lecture to a very inadequate examination of those of the Four
Masters ; and in the following lecture, having passed from the
Annals, I described to you the other great works of the
O'Clcrys, and particularly the Reim Rioghraidhi, or Succession
of the Kings, and the Leahhar Gabhdla, or Book of Invasions.
I next proceeded to give you an account of the chief books
of historical MSS. (generally verv large collections, embracing,
each of them, a vast number of compositions of every kind)
which exist in the libraries of Dublin, in Trinity College, and
in the Royal Irish Academy, including the Leahhar na
h-Uidhri, the *' Book of Leinster", the " Book of Bally mote", tlie
Leahhar Buidhe Lecain, the " Book of LecavC\ and the " Book of
Lismore*' ; and I shortly noticed the immense collection of Law
Tracts about to be published by the Brehon Law Commission.
HOW THB HISTORY OF ERINN 19 TO BE WRITTEN. 439
The following Lecture was devoted to a subject hardly less lect. xxi.
important than the Annals themselves in a historical point of
view — I mean the gi*eat Books of the Genealogies and Pedi- tion.
grees of the Clanns and Tribes of Eriim, and particularly the
splendid work of Duald Mac Firbis. And I explained the
nature and the legal and social importance of these records in
ancient times.
After describing the Annals and the Books of Genealogies, —
records which must ever supply, as in ancient times they always
supplied, the foundation and skeleton of our national history, —
I next passed to those classes of authentic materials from which
the details of that history are to be gathered. And, first, I des-
cribed to you the few great pieces in which we find that history
already almost made to our hands, so far as certain great epochs
in the general annals are concerned. I allude to the early-
compilations called the " Wars of the Danes with die Gaedhik ,
the History of the Boromean Tribute, the " Wars of Thomond",
and the '*Book of Munster". And from these I proceeded to
describe to you (but too generally, I am afraid), the immense
mass of Gnedhhc literature which I have classed under the
name of the Historic Tales, beginning ^vith those which record
for us the celebrat<^'d Battles oi Ma(jh Tnireadh Chonga and Magh
Tuireadh na bh-Fdmorachj which took place in the nineteenth
century before Christ, according to the chronology adopted by
the Four Masters. In the Lectures devoted to these Historic
Tales, I gave you lastly a number of examples, the nature and
scope of which, in reference to the serious subject of our
hhtory, I hope you have not forgotten. I concluded this part
of my subject by a similar account of what I termed the purely
Imaginative Literature (such as the compositions called Fenian
Tales and Poems), because in this class of pieces is to be found
such a vast amount of detailed information relative to the
mannei*s and customs, residences, dress, ornaments, — the social
lile, in short, — of the early Gaedhils.
The history of the Christian period, in so far as directly con-
nected-with the Church, as well as the purely Ecclesiastical
History, I kept by itself; and this fonned the subject of the
remainder of this preliminary course. In two Lectures last yeai^"*^
I described to you the remains which still exist to testify to the
period of (and that immediately following) the introduction of
CUiristianity into Erinn ; — I mean the beautifully worked relics,
the shrines, the bells, and the croziers, with many of which you
are, no doubt, familiar ; ibr an accurate estimate of the ancient
times of Erinn is not to be reached by the student of liistory,
(M) See note at p. 820.
440 HOW THE HISTOBT OF ERINN IS TO BE WRITTEN. *
LKCT. XXI. without acquaintance with these works also, as well as those of
~ another class, the gold, silver, and bronze ornaments of civil
tion.^ * life, and the weapons of the ancient warriors. And after des-
cribing to you sucn remains of early piety I proceeded to explain
to you the nature of the contents of the ancient Uves of the
early saints (and particularly that invaluable one called tlie Tri-
partite Life of Saint Patrick), and the Manuscript Ecclesiastical
Kecords in general, rich as they are in various entries and allu-
sions of great liistorical value. In the last few Lectures this
year,*^ I resumed this portion of the subject by describing to you
the great Leahhar Slor Dana Doighre (now commonly but
erroneously termed the Leahhar Breac, or " Speckled Book"),
and other invaluable ecclesiastical writings, wnich I had not
included in my former account of the general Historical MSS.
preserved in Dublin. And after noticing many very early reli-
gious and monastic pieces (and particularly the celebrated Felire^
or Martyrology, o^ Aengus Ceile Di)^ I brought the whole of
my analysis ot the MS. Materials of Ancient Irish History to
a conclusion by an account of the pieces called Prophecies, —
most of which have been attributed to the early Saints, and
especially to Colnm CilU, but some even to pagan kings, chiefs,
and Druids, before the introduction of Clinstianity, — spurious
prophecies, wlilch contain, indeed, much matter of histonc inte-
rest, but which have been so often used (and even in our own
day) with the most mischievous effect, among our people, and
in a sense so entirely opposed to the truth of our National His-
tory, that I have been induced to devote to them an amount of
space perhaps disproportionate to their real importance, in
order, if possible, to check the dangerous falsehoods which on
this side also threaten to assail the student, and to j)erplex him
in his labours, if not to divert him altogether from the only cer-
tain path of candid inquiry.
Such is a recapitulation, as short as I could make it without
becoming unintelligible, of the giound we have gone over. I
believe it will be impossible for any candid critic to deny that
if the Gaedlillc MSS. be such and so extensive as I have de-
scribed them, it is in these MSS. chiefly, nay, almost exclusively,
that the materials for the ancient History of the country are to
be sought. I am sure it can need no argument to convince any
one who has ever examined, even in the most cursory manner,
the books wlilch have hitherto been published under the name
of " History of Ireland", that these materials have never yet
been used as they ought and as they easily might have been.
'*> See note at p. 320.
HOW THE HISTORY OF KRINN IS TO BE WRITTEN. 441
By far the greatest part of these invaluable records and of these lect. xxi.
most interesting narratives, have not been examined at all. ^^^ ^^^^^
Generally, the writers who have imdertaken to become " His- tion.
torians" of Ireland, have been unable to consult a Gaedhlic MS. at
all, for want of acquaintance with the language ; and such writers
have attempted to conceal their deficiency in this regard by a
flippant sneer or an ignorant but positive falsehood. And the
very few who, knowing the language, have applied themselves
to the task of composing a general history of Eriun, have done
so without access to any considerable body of the MSS., and under
circumstances wliich deprived them of the means of effecting
that examination and collation of authorities which the neces-
sary critical investigation of history so imperiously requires.
Perhaps the whole number of writers worthy of mention as of the
having attempted the history of ancient Erinn, may be reduced writJlS on
to three ; for, I believe I may pass over the rest in absolute |5 K^iiSif*^
silence. Those three are. Dr. Geoffrey Keating (of whom I
had occasion to speak in my Lecture on tlie Four Masters) ; the
Abbe Mac Geogliegan ; and, if only because he is the latest of
all, and because his well earned popularity and his character in
other respects entitle him to such notice, the late Thomas Moore.
It is no part of my purpose to criticise the performances of
these, or indeed of any modem writers on Irish history; and
1 only mention them because they are so well known that it
may seem strange to omit doin^ so just after having assured
you that there is no history of Ireland. Such of you as have
read the works of those three \vritei*s, need not be told that by
none of them has adequate use been made of any part even of
the materials I have described to you. Such ol you as have
not yet read them may read them (at least Keating and
^lac Gcoghogan) without mischief, taking with you only the
caution wiiich my remarks may imply.
Of Moore's total want of qualification for the task he under- of Moore's
took, you are aware from the anecdote I gave you in a former Ireland^
Lecture. He discovered it too late ; but he was candid enough
to admit it without qualification. Against liis work, then, I
bliould directly warn you. U he account he gives of ancient
Erinn is nowhere to be relied on; it is taken entirely from
English authorities, not merely hostile in feeling but even
theuiselves ignorant of the facts of the case on which they
wrote. So that there is, perhaps, no one event of ancient Irish
history accurately given m Moore ; and there are innumerable
pa^ssages in which the most important facts are wholly misrepre-
sented in the gross and in detail. I do not accuse the poet of
any intention so to write the history of his country — far, far
442 HOW THE HISTORY OF ERINN IS TO BE WRITTEN.
LECT. XXI. :
from It. I believe he intended honestly to tell the truth ; but
Of Moore't ^^ kucw of no authorities but those which I have just alluded
"Hutory of to ; he did not understand the language, and had not even heard
of the existence of our great MSS. books till after his first
volume had appeared (the volume in whicli the early history is
treated) ; and when he did discover his mistake, he was, I have
the best reason to believe, heartily sorry that he had ever imder-
taken a task which was, indeed, it is said, suggested rather by
the author's publisher than by his own special tastes or study.
Of Keating'* The history of Dr. Keating was compiled, as I have already
* told you, among the caves and woods of Tipperary, to which
the proscription of Protestant persecution had dnven the Catholic
priest. Keating had with lum some of the old books, such as
the Book of Invasions, at the commencement of which are
recorded the ancient traditions, not only of the orif^in of the
Milesian race, but of the successive colonizations ol Erinn by
the various waves of the Celtic family wliich reached this island
from the European Continent before the time of Milidh or
Milesius. And he must have also had with him some collection
which contained many of the pieces of the kind I have classified
as the Historic Tales. Keating's work consists of nothing more
than a compilation of these materials, as many as he had by him
in his wanderings ; and he seems to have done nothing but
abridge, and arrange chronologically, such accounts of historic
facts as he found in them, never departing in the least from what
he saw before him, and often preserving even the arrangement
and style. It is greatly to be regretted that a man so learned
as Keating (one who had access, too, at some period of his life, to
some valuable and ancient MSS. since lost) should not have
had time to apply to his materials the rigid test of that criticism
80 necessary to the examination of ancient tales and traditions —
criticism which his learning and ability so well qualified him to
undertake. As it is, however, Keating's book is of great value
to the student, so far as it contains at least a fair outline of our
ancient History, and so far as regards the language in which it is
written, which is regarded as a good specimen of the Gaedhlic
of his time,
oj Mac Geo. The Abb6 Mac Geoghegan wrote his history in Paris (in
History* the French language) in tlie year 1758. He had no access
there, of course, to the great books now in Ireland, and most of
which were at that time also here ; but the Book of Lecain was
then in Paris, and of that invaluable MS. he made copious
use. His other authorities were chiefly Lynch (Cambrensis
E versus), and Colgan, besides the various Anglo-Norman and
English writings from Cambrensis down. Mac Geoghegan
HOW THE HISTORT OF ERINN IS TO BE WRITTEN. 443
made a very excellent attempt, considering his opportimities. lect. xxi.
His work is, however, very meagre in detail ; and that part of
it wliich gives an account of ancient Erinn, seems to consist
merely of a very short abridgment of the Annals, or else to
have been taken from the Book of Invasions, or, more readily,
from one of Lynch's chapters.
I do not speak here of Lynch's book, because it is rather a or "Cmh-
critical defence against Anglo-Norman misrepresentation, than ^renrf«Ev»-
a history. The " Cambrensis Eversus" is, however, a work of
very good authority, and abounds with information most valu-
able to the student of history. It was published (in three
large volumes) a few years ago, by the late Celtic Society,
with a translation and notes by my [late lamented] friend, the
Rev. Professor Kelly, of Maynooth; and it has lately been
again issued by the united Archaeological and Celtic Society.
Having shown that up to the present time there has been
nothing written which can be called a History of Ireland, and
having considered the nature and extent of the materials out of
which (after proper preliminary investigation and criticism) a
history can be constructed, I may be permitted now to state
shortly how, as it occurs to me, these materials may practically
be best approached by the future historian ; though it is true
that the time for undertaking a complete history has not yet
arrived, and though I myself dread, perhaps more than any
one, such a work being undertaken, before years of labour are
first devoted to that critical examination of all our MSS., and
of the traditions as well as the records they contain, which
must, I am sui-e, precede any successful eflbrt in this direction.
I have frequently alluded to a particular mode of dealing with
the Annals, which is, perhaps, obvious enough of itself, and
which occurs to me as the readiest in making use of the body
of the other materials to illusti'ate them ; and it is this plan
which, with your permission, I shall endeavour, by way of
conclusion, to develop in the shape of an example of what I mean.
The only valuable, the only complete and rich history, then. The nirtonr
the only worthy, the only truly intelligible history of ancient murt*Se
Erinn, must be >vi*itten upon the basis of the Annals, of which J5,e u*i»*of
I have given you some account, and, above all, upon the basis tte i
of the last and most complete of the Annals, those of the Four
Masters. From O'Dono van's richly noted edition of this great
work the student can indeed learn almost all the chief part of
that history; but, as I before explained to you, even these
annals, and especially the earlier portion of them, are extremely
444
HOW THE HISTORT OF ERINN IS TO BB WRITTEX.
LECT^XXI.
The Hiitory
of Krinn
mast be
writujii oa
the basU of
the Aunals.
now to set
about a His-
tory of An
elvnt Erinn.
dry and meagre ; so that to arrive at anything like an intel-
ligible history of those early times, we are forced to search else-
where for assistance. The lights and shades, the details of such
a history, the minute circumstances, — not only those wliich
explain historical events, but those equally or even more im-
portant descriptions, in which the habits and manners, the
social ideas and cultivation, the very bfe of the actors in those
events, ai*e recorded for us, — all these things must be brought
out in their proper places in order to transform the meagre
skeleton supplied by the mere annals into a full and real history.
And it is out of all the other materials which have been spoken
of in these Lectures that these details are to be gathered, lor the
purpose of filling in the outUne drawn by the Four Masters.
All these various materials must, however, first be submitted
to the closest analysis, to the most careful comparison one with
another, and to the most minute critical investigation, assisted
by the light supplied by the languages and histories, as well as
the antiquities and what is known of the life, of other Celtic
nations, — of all the contemporary nations, indeed, with whom
oiu: forefathers were ever likely to have come in contact. Such
criticism, I need hardly say, docs not come witliin the scope of
these lectures. It is my province here only to introduce to you
the various classes of historic materials themselves, and to sug-
fest the use which may be made of them. For such of you as
ave energy and ambition enough to undertake so important a
work, there are many directions from among which to choose a
course wide enough and deep enough to exercise your powers,
after your classical and critical education shall have been suffi-
ciently completed, in assisting to accomplish this necessary pre-
liminary to the complete investigation of your coimtry^s history ;
and you can easily make yourselves masters of the language as
you proceed. I hope some of you will take the hint, lor 1 can
imagine no employment in which the best yeara of a literary
life could now be spent more Ukely to lead to rich results for
your coimtry or more honourable to yourselves.
For my present purpose, however, let us suppose this critical
investigation completed, and the historic truths contained in all
the materials of every kind, which I have described, separated
clearly by accurate analysis and comparison. We shall then be
in a position to fill up the outUnes supplied by the annals, and
to do this for almost every generation of our ancestors, from a
period very long before that of Christianity.
You have already seen that great part of the work of history
has been done to our hands, witli respect to the long and impor-
tant periods embraced by the three great compilations I have
HOW TUB HISTORY OF KRINN IS TO BE WRITTEN. 445
described to you — I mean the large tracts called the "Histonr ucr.xn.
of the Boromean Tribute", that of the "Wars of the Danes , how to set
and that of the " Wars of Thomond''. And in the similar tract "bont n wm-
called the "Book of Munster" you have been told that a simi- daitCiinn.
larly dctxulcd history is prcscrvca of the principal events relating
particularly to tliat province during several centuries. With
these great works, then, the future historian will have to begin
his labours of compilation. Of course the basis of the whole will
be the Annals of the Four Masters, as at once the most compre-
hensive and the latest work of authority among the Annals,
wliile the various books of Genealogies and Pedigi-ees, and
especially those of Mac Firbis, will supply the means of tracing
the connection between the various provinces and tribes, as weU
as many details as to the lives and circumstances of the kings
and chiefs who figure in the national annals. So much being
done, we come at last to the use to be made of the immense
mass of miscellaneous historical literature which I liave so often
called the Historic Tales, and on these we shall chiefly have to
depend for that minute illusti-ation of the details of historic life
which I have since alluded to.
The chronicles, records, and purely historic narratives upon
which we have to rely for illustrating any particular periods in
our history, and filling up the outlines furnished by our anna-
lists, appear to have undergone, you will remember, even at a
remote time, a wide dispersion, and to have been broken into
almost innumemble fragments. To recover and aiTange them
is now a task of no ordinary diflTiculty, o'wing to the numerous
and various sources which we must draw upon for infonnation
before we can compass any connected view of them. Of these
various sources of infomiation I believe I liave now laid before
you an account intelligible enougli, at least, to enable you to
understand this difficulty.
Many ways, doubtless, might be proposed, to effect the re-
union of these scattered fragments of veritable historic records.
That which I propose to adopt appeal's to me simple and con-
venient ; and m the short example I shall give of it, you are
to remember that for my present purpose I shall not adhere to
any strict princi{)les of classification in the selection of any par-
ticular epochs of our history. I desire that vou should take the
several fragments of the historic chain of which I liave spoken,
or shall speak, simply as examples; and 1 believe that, if space
allowed, it would be as easv lor me to fill up the spaces which
occur between them. I shall then rapidly pass before you a
few periods marked in our annals by some important events,
and group about these so much of the records, historic tales,
446 HOW THE HISTORY OF EBINN IS TO BE WRITTEN.
LECT. XXI. and Other materials of our genuine history (especially those
„ , , which I have already introduced to your notice in detail), as
How to set .,.•', 1 1 1 i'' • 1 1 ^ \
■bout a Hu- may serve to indicate how the blanks m the annals are to be
clont^Ertan. fiUcd up ; and I shall take for my starting point the early
traditional history of the origin of the last great colony of Celts,
the race commonly known by the name of the Milesians.
The Milesian Thc Milcsiau liistorv is prctty generally known, and has been
Colony. much cauvasscd by the writei-s of the last 150 years. But
although several writers have been bold enough not only to
question, but even to reject altogether, thc fact of this Spanish
colonization of Erinn, nevertheless not one has ever ventured
upon assigning any other origin to the pecuharly constituted
race of the Gaedhel, at least none founded on anything more than
mere conjecture, and that of the weakest kind.
It is impossible not to remark that the writers of this class
have been cliiefly, if not exclusively, Protestant ; writers of a
party who have ever been singularly ready to lay hold of the
most trivial incidents which they can dress up to give colour to
their denial that the ancestry and Christianity of ancient Erinn
had been derived from Western Europe. It would have been
much to the credit of some of these writers, had they confined
themselves to fair discussion and a candid examination of such
facts and authorities as came before them, and had they decided
honestly on the evidences alone which they furnish, particularly
as the historic question concerning the coming of the Graedhils
themselves from Spain, and their religion from Rome, is really a
matter of no importance whatever in the discussions of the pre-
sent day, except as regards mere ethnological inquiry and as
regards the veracity of our ancient traditions and writings. But
for writers and investigators of this class, a single dubious sen-
tence, or a single immaterial contradiction, is enough, if only
ingenuity can in any way twist it into a contradiction of the
whole scope and tenor of history, spread over one or any
number of volumes. It is then magnified into a mountain of
truth, and all the rest set at nought, or coolly passed over.
This subject, however, of the authenticity oi* our ancient tra-
ditions, is too large to be discussed here, as it were, accidentally ;
but it is one that shall not be overlooked or postponed to any
indefinite period. At present I shall do no more than lay before
you a short sketch of the traditional origin of the Graedhils of
Erinn, as it is recorded in our oldest books ; and I shall do so
without criticism of any kind, only that you may the better
understand what is to follow.
HOW THK BISTORT OF ERINN IS TO BB WRITTEN. 447
The Milesians, according to the Book of Drom Sneachta (a lect. xxl
book written before St. Patricks arrival in Ei-inn), as well as of the and-
their predecessors in this country, the Firbolgs and the Tuatha «»t tndu
I)i Danann, are recorded to be descended from the race of ccnSngihe
Japhet, through liis son Maffog. They are said to have been c^j^jT
originally seated in *' Scythia'; and the earliest traditions tell us
that a branch of them settled in Egypt in the reign of Pharaoh
Cingris ; that they returned to Scythia again after some genera-
tions ; that they subsequently went into Greece, and ultimately
to Spain, where, after a long residence, they erected the city
and tower of Bragantia, from whence, after some time, a colony
of them came into Erinn in the year of the world 3500, under
tlie command of the eight sons of Galamh, who is commonly
called Milesius. The story goes on to say that they landed
at the mouth of the river SUiingi^ or Slaney (in the present
county of Wexford), unobserved by the Tuatha Di Danann^
and tliat they inarched at once from that place to Tara, the
seat of government. The chief rule of the island at this period
was conjointly shared by the three sons of Cermna Milbhedil^
namely, Ethur^ Cethur, and Fethur, three personages mytholo-
gically known as Mac Cuill, Mac Ceacht, and Mac Greini.
The Milesians immediately summoned these three kings to sur-
render to them the government of the country in peace, or
submit it to the right of battle.
A very curious instance of early chivalric tradition follows,
the critical explanation of which I shall for the present leave to
the invt'stigation of the historical inquirer, merely stating here
the story in the form in which it has been handed down to us-
The answer of the Tuatha De Danann appears to have been a
* complaint that they had been taken by surprise ; and they pro-
posed to the invaders to return to their ships, to reembart, and
to go out upon the sea " the distance of nine waves" (as the
story runs) ; and that if they could, after that, effect a landing
by fbrco, then that the country should be surrendered to them.
To this proposition, it is related, that the Milesian brothers
assented ; but when the Tuatha Di Danann found them fairly
launched on the sea, they raised a furious magical tempest,
which entirely dispersed the fleet. One part of it was driven
along the east coast of Erinn, to the north, under the command
of Eremon, the youngest of the Milesian brothers ; whilst the
remainder, under command of Donn, the eldest of the eons of
Milesius, was driven to the south-west of the island.
However, the Milesians were not without their druids too.
At first the latter thought the tempest was a natural one ; but
afler some time, suspecting that it was the result of druidicul
448 HOW THE HISTORY OF ERINN IS TO BE WRITTEN.
LBCT. XXI. agency, they sent a man to the top-mast of their ship, to know
it the wind was blowing at that heiglit over the surface of the
ent tnwii- sca. The man reported that it was not. This confirmed their
oSSing the suspicions ; whereupon they immediately set about laying the
Coiott" storm, by counter arts of magic, in which they soon succeeded,
though not before five of the eight brothers were lost. Four,
including Donw, the eldest, were drowned off the coast of
Kerry ; and one, Col pa, at the mouth of the river Boyne, which
from him was called Inbhear Colpa; and it was here that
Eremon landed.
When the storm abated, the surviving brothers of the southern
party, Eher Finn and Amergin (the poet, chronicler, and judge
of the expedition) landed, with the shattered remains of their
people, on the coast of Kerry, and, after taking a short rest they
moved up the country, but they were met at the foot of the
mountain called Sliabh Mis, by a strong body of Tuatha De
Danann, headed by Eire, the queen of one ol the joint kings.
Here a battle ensued between them in which the Milesian
brothers were victorious, though they lost three hundred of their
men, as well as their mother Scota, and Fas, the wife of one
of their chiefs. The Tuatha De Danann were routed with the
loss of a thousand warriors.
The valley in which this battle is recorded to have been
fought is still well known, and lies at the foot of Sliabh Mis, in
the barony of Trichadh an Aicme, in Keny ; it was named Glenn
Faisi (the Valley of Fas), from the lady Fas, the first of the
Milesians killed in it. The lady Scota was buried here too, at
the north side of the valley, near the sea, and Fert Scota {ov
Scota's grave), is still pointed out in Gleann Scoithin, in tne
present parish of Annagh, in the same barony.
Eber Finn pushed on at once after this battle, and succeeded
in fighting his way to the other side of Erinn, as far as the mouth
of the Boyne, where he found his brother Eremon, after which
they sent a challenge of battle to the three joint kings at Tara.
This challenge was accepted, and the battle of Taillten [now
Telltown, in Meath] ensued, in which the three kings were
defeated and killed, their people subdued and great numbers of
them slaughtered, and the power of the Tuatha Di Danann
totally overthrown.
The best account of the Battle of Taillten that I am acquainted
with, although still limited in details, is to be found in an ancient
but much-wrecked MS. in Trinity College Library (class H.
4.22), one of those which, for this period, the historian must
consult, and of which he will make copious use.
The Milesians having thus become masters of the country,
HOW THE HISTORY OF ERINN IS TO BE WRITTEN. 449
the brothers Eber Finn and Eremon divided the island into two lect. jai.
parts between them, tlie former taking all the southern part from ^tij^^^^i.
tlie Boyne and tlie Shannon to Cape Clear, and the latter taking cnt tnwii-
all the part lying to the north of these rivers. Sri'iigthe
Each of thcni then took a moiety of the chiefs and people, colony!*
who proceeded to settle themselves throughout the country,
and who soon erected all those numerous ratlis, forts, and
Cathairsy wliich to this day bear the names of these early
invaders.
The brothers Eber Finn and Eremon^ however, did not long
remain content in peace ; and after a little interval they met to
decide their quarrels by battle at Geisill (near Tullamore, in
the district now called the King's county). The scene of the
battle was at a place called lochar eter dlui tnhaghy or " the
causeway between two plains" ; and on the brink ol* the river
Bri damh, the river which runs through the town of Tullamore.
In this battle Eber lell with tliree of liis chief leaders, namely,
Suirghe^ Sobhairce, and Goisten. The name of the battle-scene is
still preseiTcd in the name of the townland of Ballintogher, in
the parisli and barony of Geisill; and at the time of the compo-
sition of the ancient topogi'aphical tract called the Dinnseanchus^
the moiuids and graves of the slain weix) still to be seen on the
battle-field. The authenticity of the record of a battle at tliis
place at a period of very remote antiquity, cannot be questioned ;
in this instance at least, the IHnnseanchus can scarcely be
sneered at as a " modem" compilation. Of the battle o( Geisill
we have now no detailed aceount; but as it is recorded in our
most ancient l)ooks, in the same manner as the battles of tlie
two Moyturas, tlune can be- no rational doubt that, like them, it
too had its ancient chronicler in detail.
On the death ot Eber Finn ^ the ancient authorities tell us
that Eremon a«isumed the sole govenunent of our island ; that
he left the north, and went to reside to Leinster ; and that in
the year of the world 351 (), after a reign of fifteen years, he
died at length at Jialih Ikuthaiyh^ in Argat Ross, in which he
was buried. This ancient rath is still in existence*, with the
name slightly modified to Rath Beagh. It is situated on the
right bank of the river n-Eur, or More, and on its immediate
brink, about a mile below the present village of Hallyragget, in
the county of Kilkenny. It is of an irregular, oblong, and very
unusual form, with a deep fosse on one side, and the river on
the other; and as the interior surlace is above the level of the
adjacent field, there is good reason to believe that the floor is
hollow, and that probably the tomb of Eremon liimself still re-
mains in it.
29
450 HOW THE HISTORY OF ERINN IS TO BE WRITTEN.
LECT. XXI. Of the various events ascribed by our annals and other
ancient authorities to the reign of Eremon, no recorded details
cruithneans, havc comc down to US, with the exception of the coming of
or -Picu . ^j^^ Cruitlineans^ or Picts, into Erinn, their passing hence into
Scotland, and their final settlement in that country.
The events of which I have just given you a sketch, are not
recorded in the Annals of the Four Masters, but they are to be
foimd in all the ancient copies of the *' Book of Invasions", and
in the Dinnseanclius^ wliich the historian will accordingly
consult for them.
The Cruithneans, or Picts, it is stated, fled from the oppression
of their king in Thrace, and passed into France, where they
founded the city of Poictiers, or Pictiers, which is believed to
derive its name from them. Here too, however, they were
threatened witli an act of tyranny, which induced them again
to fly ; and there is reason to believe that they proceeded first
to Britain, and from tlieuce to Erinn, and that they landed
here on the coast of Wexford. CnrnJuhann Sciath-belj one of
King Eremon's leaders, was at this period chief of tliis part of
the country, and, at the time of the landing of the Picts, he
was engaged in extirpating a tribe of Britons, who were
settled in the forests of Fotharta (now the barony of Forth, in
Wexford), a tribe distinguislied as having been one that fought
with poisoned weapons, and who were known as the Tuatlia
Fiodha, or the Forest Tribes.
On the landing of the Picts, they were well received by
Crirnhthann, the chief, who engaged their assistance to banish
the Britons; and the battle o( ArdLeamhnachta [or '* New-milk
Hiir] was fought between them, in which the Britons were
defeated, chiefly, it is said, by the agency of Drostati, the Pictish
Druid, who devised an antidote to the poison of the weapons.
This antidote is said to have been nothing more than a bath of
new milk, over which the Druid's incantations were recited,
in which the wounded men were plunged, and out of which
they at once came healed and restored.
The record of the battle oi Ard Leamhnachta is found in the
Dinnseanchiis, but not at great length ; and the coming of the
Picts at this remote time into Erinn to the Scots (or Milesians),
is spoken of by Venerable Bede in his Ecclesiastical History
(chap, i., b. I.) The whole question of the coming of the
Picts has lately been ably and learnedly discussed by the late
Mr. Herbert and Dr. Todd, in the edition of the Irish version
of the old British historian, Nennius, edited by tlie Rev. Dr.
Todd, for the Irish Archaeological Society.
HOW THE HISTORY OF KRINN IS TO BK WRITTEN. 451
From the time of Eremon down to the time of Ugaini M6r lect. xxi.
(or Ugany the Great), though our annals and other authorities c^,n^i„^_
record numerous events of historic interest and importance, we tjonofakeich
have no leuL'thened separate details of them. I shall, however, Jim iiuiory.
shortly continue my stetoh from that period, still keeping in
\\g\y the Annals of the Four Masters as the foundation for our
historical reseaichcs.
Uifaine Mor, or the Great, commenced his reign in the year of or the reign
the world 45()7, — or before Christ (333, accordnig to the chro- 5/Jr ^''"^
nolo^y of the Four Masters. In the catalogue of ancient
historic tracts preserved in the Book of Leinster, there is one
set down wliicli described an expedition of Uga'me Mor to the
Continent, and as far ivs Italy; but of this important piece un-
fortimately not a vestige now remains ; nor would I refer to it,
but for the pmpose of showing that, although there is no little
scarcity of those more remote detailed accounts in the books
whicli still remain to us, still there can be no doubt of their
liavhig been abundant wirhin the Christiiui era. I believe,
indeed, that ihoy probably formed a chief part of the lost
Cuilmtm and of the liook of Drum Sneac/ifa, mentioned in a
former lecture, as well as of numerous other books, of whicli
we have never heard, and many of which were perhaps con-
signed to neglect and decay by their ownei*s among the druid;*
and other learn(»d men who be(!nme convei'ts to Christianity,
in their iervour and devotion to the cultivation and propagation
of their new cre(?d.
The Annals of the Four Masters record the death of UgainS
Mns* at the year of the world 4G(H), in the following words:
" At the end of this year Ugaiiu: Mur, after having been full
foily yeui-s Monarch of Erinu, and of the whole of the west of
Einope as far as the JNIediterranean Sea, was slain at Tealach
an ( hosgair (that is, the Hill of the Victory), in Magh Mui-
W'dlia in Bregia. This Ugaviti it was who obtained from the
men of Erinn in general the security of all creation, visible and
invisible [that is, obtained from them a solemn oath on all
created thnigs], that they would never contend for the sove-
reignty of Erinn \\4th his children or liis .s(»ed".
Vgulne Mor was succeeded in the sovereignty by his son,
Laeghain'; Lore. Laeghairea next brother wiis Cobhthach Cnel^
who resided in the provincial palace of Dinn Righ (or the " Hill
of the Kings"), an ancient royal residence founded by the Fir-
bulgs on the brink of the river BaiTow, near Lelthghlinn
[Leighlin], in the pres<;nt county of Carlow). This CoUdluwh^
we are told, became so full of envy of his brother Laeghairc, tha-
2\) B
452 HOW THE HISTORY OF ERINN IS TO BE WRITTEN.
ijECL.j«i. he pined away in secret almost to death ; nor could anything be
Of the r iffn ^^^^^ ^ ^^^^ ^^^ discasc but tlic death of the king. Having
of ugaiH6 confidcd this secret (or rather, having disclosed his murderous
^'^' design) to his Druid, the latter advised liim to take to his bed,
that Laeijhalvi would surely come to visit him, and that then he
could not fail of an opportunity to take his life. Cohhthach did
accordingly take to his bed, and liis brother LaeghairS soon
came to visit lilm, and entered the sick chamber alone. When,
however, he stooped over lus brother to embrace him in his
bed, the latter plunged a dagger into his heart. Laeghaire had,
however, a son, an only son, Aillll Aini^ and he again had a son,
then a child, whose name was Alaen. Cohhthach^ therefore, at
once proceeded to take the life of liis nephew, — he had that of
his brother, — ^in order to make his way to the throne : and Ailill
Aind was murdered immediately after liis father. Alaen, the
child, was not, however, put to death; but his granduncle is
recorded to have caused lum to be fed on such disgusting food
as that he became stupid and even speechless, upon which he
was considered (according to law) incapable of succeeding to
the royal power.
No part of these details is to be found in the Annals of the
Four Masters, where the mere fact is stated, that Laeghairi
ZfOrc, son of Ugaine^ after having been two years in the sove-
reignty of Erinn, was killed by Cohhthach Cael Breaah at
Carman (now Wexford). And, after stating the accession of
Cohhthach, the next entry is equally meagre, namely, at a.m.
4658 (or 542 B.C.) : *' Cohhthach Cael Ihcagh, son of Ugaine^
after having been fifty years in the sovereignty of Erinn, fell by
Of the reign Lahhraidh Loingseach, that is, Maen, son oi' Ailill AinS, with
toulg^act ^liirty kings about him, at Dinn Righ, on the brink of the
Bearhha [tJie liarrow]".
The cii-cumstances which I have just mentioned are taken
from an important tract on the Genealogies of the ancient tribes
of Leinster, preserved in the Book of Leinster itself. The
romantic story of Maen ox Lahhraidh Loingseach^ [the Exile,] is
one of those Historic Tales which I selected as an example of
them to lay before you a few evenings ago. It is preserved in
the Leahhar Buidhe Lecain, in the library of Trinity College,
one of the most authentic and valuable of our Historic MSS.,
as you are already aware. By consulting these two pieces, —
both of great age and of quite imquestionable authority, — you
can easily understand, then, how large a blank may be filled up,
and with how much detail respecting the events of Gaedhehc
history at these very early periods.
HOW THE HISTORY OF KBINN IS TO BE WRITTEN. 453
Let us now pass on to anotlier remarkable era In our history, lect. xxt.
that of the celebrated Conaire Mor Mac Edersceuil, one of the Z^\. .
wisest of die kings of Erinn, who flourished about a century of cofuArT
before Clirist. I purposely confine my examples to showing ^^^'
you the important use which may be made of the pieces I have
almost at hazard selected as specimens of the Historic Tales,
because the description I already gave you of those pieces enables
me to be more concise, since I need not enlarge on the nature
and extent of the details with which they supply us in such
abimdance.
The Annals of the Four Masters simply enter the accession
of Conaire at a.m. 5091 (e.g. 109); and the next entry is a.m.
51i)0 (B.C. 40), relating his death only, in these words: —
** Conaire^ the son of KdersceU after having been seventy years
in the sovereignty of Erinn, was slain at Bruighean Dd Dhearaa
by insurgents". For the circumstances of this occun-ence the
historian will consult the Historic Tale I have described to you
as the *'Destniction of the Court of Da Derga", a piece in wliich
he will find abundant illustrations of the history, both social and
political, of that age, as well as all the details of the event itself.
The great King of Ulster, Conor Mac Nessa, does not make of Conor
his appearance at all in the compilation of the Four Masters, ^^n*""-
His hie and exploits we must seek in local clironicles, and the
liistorian will find the most copious illustration of his time, as
well as facts connected with his extraordinary career, in a great
many tracts Ix'sides tliose of the Siege of Howth, and the Death
of Conor, which I have opened to you. [See Appkndix, No.
CLVI.] Conors time was less than a ccntuiy after Conairi
Mor,
Tlie great event which I have called the Revolution of the ofthcReTo
Aitheach Tvatlia (known under the inaccurate designation of J^J^SiS****
the Attacotti or Attacots), is recorded by the Four Masters JjjjJ'^^.r
almost as baldly as the others of which we have spoken. The
ti*act which I so shortly described to you is, nevertheless, a
regular history of tliis period, copious, accurate, and detailed.
At the year of our Lord 123, the Annals, in the driest manner, of the reign
record the accession of the celebrated Conn of the Hundred **' ^^*"*^
Battles ; and the annalist proceeds to record, in connection with
this great king, but one fact, and that only in reference to the name
of the great roads discovered, or finished in his time (viz. : Slighe
Asaily Siifjhe MidlUuachra^ Slufhe Ciialann, Slujhe Dala, and
Slighe Mor)^ namely, that the Sliyht Morwfxa the ^^Uiscirliiada'^,
454 HOW THE HISTORY OF ERINN IS TO BE WRITTEN.
LECT. XXI. and the (11^481011 line of Erinn into two parts, between Confi and
oftherci ^^9^^^^ ^^^^' ^^^^ ^^^^ historian will find in the remarkable
of C'imn. tale called the Cath Muiglie Leana (Battle of Maj^h Lena), all
the particulars of the contest between the great King and the
celebrated founder of the chief Munster families ; while in the
Tochmarc Momira (the Courtship of Momera), or story of the
voyage of K'tghan to Spain, and his courtship and marriage
there, he will be supplied with numerous details, both historical
and social, in illustration of tliis period.
Of the reign The FouT Mastcrs are equally concise in respect o{ Niall
of A'iaiL j^T^^^ Ghiallach, or Niall " of the Nine Hostages", at a.d. 379
and 405. His accession is barely noted, and liis death almost
in the next line: " Slain by Eochaidh, son o( Enna Ceinnseal-
achy at Afuir n-lcht [the ' Ictian Sea', that is, the sea between
France and England' j. Of this event, and of much else con-
cerning Niall, we are minutely informed by the tract called the
" Expedition ofi\7a/Zto the Ictian Sea, and the Death o{Niair.
Of King The death o£ DatJd is described (at a.d. 428), without even
DatAi. mentioning his accession (he, in fact, succeeded Niall) : *' killed
by a flash of lightning at Sliabh Ealpa\ But of Dathi the
historian will find many things recorded in the talcs in great
detail; and the histoiy of his last expedition is given at very
full length in the tract I lately described to you under the name
of '* The Expedition of king Dathi to the Alps".
ofth6uaeto I could go on for hours, instead of the few minutes to which
tbc"?i8toric I niust Confine myself, to give you hundreds of examples of the
Talcs. same kind, respecting the mode of using the materials which it
has been the object of these lectures to introduce to your notice.
But it would be a waste of time to do so, for the few examples
I have selected will be suflicient to convey what I mean. I
shall for the present only ask you to place confidence in my
assertion, when I assure you tliat there are few important pas-
sages of our eaily history which may not be tlius illustrated,
and very few distinmiished kings and chiefs recorded in our
annals, concerning whom considerable details may not be foimd,
by reference to some one or more of the existing historic tales,
most of which are precisely of the same nature as those of wliich
I liave spoken at length, by way of specimens of this class of oiu:
materials. From the Historic Tales, the facts, personal and
historical, necessary to complete our early history, may thus be
j^leaned, for insertion at the proper place in the general narra-
tive. With respect to the Christian period, many important
HOW THE HISTORY OF ERINN IS TO BE WRITTEN. 455
facts are also to be found in the lives of the early saints, every lkct. xxi.
part of which demands the most attentive study ; and the value ^. ^^
^« I , . . . 1 . 1 1 T • Of the uao to
ot these authorities is greatly increased by the circumstance, be mmie of
that they are compositions generally almost cotempoi-ary with TiUe».'*^"^**
the facts recorded in them.
But the recital of the facts of history, however detailed,
cannot satisfy those who seek in a history properly so called a
lively as well as truthfid report of the life and character, the
thoughts and manners, of their ancestoi-s, as well as a record of
their government, and of the heroic achievements of the kings
and chieftains among them. History is only really valuable
to a people for the lessons it gives them of what their race has ■
succeeded or has failed to do, — lor the lesson it gives them in
the capacities as well as the faults of the men whose blood is in
their own veins to-day, and whose peculiar virtues and vices
their descendants have probably inhontt^d, and will perpetuate
to tlie end of time. History is really valuable when it revives
and strengthens tlie bond which connects us witli our fore-
lathers, — the bond of sympathy, of respect towards themselves, —
oi' pride in and emulation of their brave deeds and their love of
country. We want to know not merely of the existence of the
kint(s of ancient Erinn, but we want also to become acquainted
with tliemsclves, to be able to realize in our minds how tliey
and tlieir people lived. To do this, the historian must intro-
duce us to their laws, to their social customs, to their mode of
education, and, above all, to so mucli of tlieir private life as
shall exhibit to us the relation in which the stronger and the
weaker sex stood to one another; in short, to the nature of the
civilization of ancient Erinu in detail.
Of this part of the historians task I have no need to say
more, than to allude to its importance. Long before any con-
siderable amount of research can be applied to the other portions
of our historical materials, we may expect the completion of the
lalx>urs of that commission to which 1 have already alluded. We
may expect then to have before us, with full translations, con-
cordance, and notes upon every part of it, the great body of the
laws of ancient Erinn. We shall have, in that vast collection,
the most detailed inlbrmation upon almost every pait of ancient
Gaedhelic lile; and we shall find in it, besides, an immense
numbcir of what I may call anecdotes recorded (generally by
way of examjile), which will largely add to the amount of his-
tonc facts elsewhere to be found. By the hght of this great
work we shall also be far better able to understand the descrip-
tions and allusions which, as I liave alieady observed, make the
456 HOW THE HISTORY OF ERINN IS TO BE WRITTEN.
LECT. XXI. historic talcs so yaluable to the historian, with respect to this
/^r ♦K- * department also of his labours.
Of the OM to JL, . . . _ _
be made of H or tlic saiHC purposc an accumte examination must be made
Tfttes,— the^ of the various monuments, remains of buildings, of graves, etc.,
nmtXn^*'^ and of the various oniamcnts, arms, and other works of art and
»"<*ihe Kc- manufacture, which have come down to us, with a view to dis-
Mss. cover, if possible, the era of each class, and the progress of the
development which took place in them in successive ages.
Lastly, as to the Christian period, tlie various ecclesiastical
tracts I have already described to you at so much length, will
supply, as you may readily understand, a vast quantity of
valuable details of life and inamici"s.
Of other mi»- I am sure I need hardly repeat that no part of these, the ne-
matertaia ccssary prchmiiuiry laboui*s ot the liistorian ol liirinn, has ever
oTErinn.'**'^^ X^t bccii Completed, nay, even attempted. Still less has the
attention of wiitei*s been diroctcd to the equally indispensable
investigation of tlie many sources of infbnnation hkely to throw
light on ancient Gaedhelic liistoiy and antiquities which are to
be ibiind in the books and MSS. of oth?r countries and in other
languages than ours. I allude here not only to the various
Anglo-Norman and British acctoiints of Ireland, from a period
even before tlie twelfth century, but also to the Latin coitcs-
pondence of many of the Lish saints at home and abroad, and,
besides these, to the allusions to this island and her people,
which are to be found in the classical writers, and which ou^ht
to be completely collected and considered for us as AmadiSe
Thierry dealt with them with respect to some of the most inte-
resting passaires in the ancient history of France. I allude
also to tlie valuable illustrations which must needs grow out of
a proper investigation into the antiquities and history of all tlie
otlier Celtic nations, in wliich so much has been done of late
yeai*s in France and Germany.
These labours completed, how easy would it not be to write
at last a History of Ennn ! how easy, even now, to make a com-
mencement of so gi'and a task, il' the historical student were
only first acquainted with the Gaedhehc Language, so as to be
enabled to apply himself to the study of the MS. materials Ij'ing
unopened, but in such excellent preservation, in this very city !
It is very true that the critical examination of these vast mate-
rials must demand much time, much labour, much knowledge,
before it can be satisfactorily completed : but at least the mate-
rials themselves are not wanting, as I hope I have by this time
demonstrated to you ; rather they are, perhaps, more abundant
than the ancient and cotemporary records of any other European
country coxdd supply.
now THE HISTORY OF ERINN IS TO BE WRITTEN. 457
If I have succeeded in showinir this much, I have done all lect. x?:t.
I had propofod to iny:?olf. I bvlieve there was liule idoa, not
only on the part ol' the general public, but even among educated iity forth*
litei-ary inon, that such a inos»s of valuable matter as that of which Saedhriic**
I have endoavoui'od in those Lectures to descnbe the nature and i-»nBn*8e-
extent, existed at all in the long-neglected Gacdhelic tongue.
If these Lectures shall have served but to make known to the
future student and hibtoiian whither he must go for really full
and trusJtworthy infonnation, and to what to apply himself, my
object will have bc?n completely accomplished.
Of the various divi^'lons in which I have trcated the general
subjocts of t]i<»se Introductory Lectures, every one should
properly form the subJrH:t of a separate coui'se, in order to treat
It with anyihiug like jii^lice; and if it please God to pennit
me sullicicnt opportiinil y, I hope on future occasions to develop
them, one by one, in more satisfactory detail. In the mean-
time, let me again assure those who wouhl be students of Irish
history, that their first necessity is to make themselves acquainted
with the language; for whatever may be done towtuds the
translation and publication of the ancient MS. materials of Irish
history, vast as is their extent, it must be perfectly clear that,
without tlie assistance of a National Government (assistance
certainly not to be hoped (or in the present generation at least),
the whole ran never be given to the world. One thing only is
wanted. We have, with some exceptions, a really good grammar
ol the Irish, in that olDr. O'Donovan. We are not yet furnished or the want
with an accurate and copious Dictionar}^ This want, however, j[Jy» ^**''**^'
there are now some hopes of seeing supplied in the course of a few
yeyrs ; and immediate exertions would have been made upon the
subject lx:fore now, were it not that the labours of the Brehon
Law C)()ni mission must throw very great light on the mean-
ings of the words and the stnicture of the language ; and wliile
those hiboui-s are in progre^3, the preparation of an important
pail of a comj)lete dictionary may be considered as constantly
in progiess too. A few years ago an influential Committee was
appointed by the two Councils of the late Celtic and the
Arducological Society, to undertake the preparation of a
dictionary, and my lamented fiiend, the late William Elliott
Hudson, subscribed £200^*^ to that Committee, towards the
(*') Mr. Hudson, in fact, Bubscribcd for £500 ; and, haring intended to pay
over the amount in cash to the Trustees of the Dictionary Fund (Lord Talbot
de Malahide, the Rev. J. II. Todd, and Major-Gencral Larcom), he made no
pn)vi»un for it in his vill. He did traniifcr to the Rev. Dr. Todd a sum of
£2f)0 Atock, but his sudden deatli, which, unfortunately, took place a few days
aftcTH-ards, preventi'd the completion of his design, and his representatives
have not thought it incumbent on them to fulfil his patriotic intentions oiat of
the ample proiK*rty which came to them by his decease.
Coadusion.
458 HOW THE HISTORY OF ERINN IS TO BE WRITTEN.
LECT. ng. accomplishment of this great national object Wlien the Brehon
,..^. . Law Commission shall have completed its duties, that Com-
Of the want , . , , , . . . -t ^ .
of » iMctioo- mittee will lose no time m pressing on the work. Ihe materials
*^* for a dictionary already collected are enormous ; they will by
that time I hope be ahnost complete ; and money alone will
be wanted to enable us to bring them into shape, and to publish
them to the world. But though the sum required must be
very considerable, I have yet but little doubt that Iiishmen of
wealth, and Irish Institutions especially interested in so great a
literary undertaking, will feel it an honour to come forward, in
imitation of Mr. Hudson s noble example, to assist in this
patriotic cnterprise.^^'
I have detained you to-night, I fear, too long ; but I have
now done. I will not attempt to express to you the delight I
felt when first 1 learned the determination of the founders of
this University to erect a chair for the cultivation of the history,
the archieology, and the language of Ireland ; and believe me
my satisfaction was far from being merely pei*sonal. I expected
no less from the Catholic University of Ireland than that it
should become the national institution for the education of our
country ; and I felt that it peculiarly became a national Univer-
sity to take the lead in this department of learning above all
others. Let me add, that the hope that it will do so, and yet
more effectively every year, forms the chief interest which an
humble professor feels in the honourable position which he has
been selected here to fill.
(") Even since the above Lecture waa put to press, an important addition
has been made to the fund commenced by Mr. Hudson's donation. Mr. John
Martin, formerly of Loughorne, Newry, has placed at the disposal of the Com-
mittee a sum of £200, which had been presented to him by the Irish inhabi-
tants of Melbourne on his leaving Australia, after his release on the occasion
of the amnesty accorded to some of the political exiles of 1848. Mr. Martin
8electe<l the enterprise undertaken by the Committee as one essentially patri-
otic, while unconnected with mere politics, lie has, however, annexed to his
donation the condition that within a limited period the funds at the disposal of
the Committee should be raised by other donations to the amount of jCIOOO in
all ; and his invitation has already, 1 believe, produced a further donation of
jEIOO from an Irish Literary Society (the Saint Patrick's) in Melbourne.
APPENDIX.
I I
APPENDIX.
APPENDIX, No. I. [Lect. I., Page 2; (note (*^)].
Of the pb and pii-oecc.
Tlie word pti is ordinarily translated, and properly, "poet".
But tliat it was considered by the learned in fonner times to signify
strictly niucli more than this, will be seen from the following deri-
vations of the word, taken from old MSS. of authority :
1. In Cormac's Glossary : —
pii .1. p A nAeip, ocuf Vi a motAt) in pli. pb •oin .i.
pA^i^ui, fAi ]r6ite.
[pill, «.«, poison (p) is his satire, and beauty (ti) is his praise,
p ti, then, I.e., a p^l-fui, i.e., a pjir6ite, a professor of generosity or
hospitality (from the richness of tlie gifts of knowledge which he
bestows).]
2. In the vellum MS., II. 2. 16. (T.C.D.) :—
pti, 5pec, A pto AmAuo|t, .i. i^eijicit) irogtomo. tlo pie
.1. ii, p [.1. p] p)]\A Aei]\. ociif ti ]:o]\Ae molcAt).
[pli, Greek, afilo (philo), ^amator\' i.e., a lover of learning. Or
pile, i.e., p li, that is pi (poison) on his siitire, and U (beauty) on
liis praise]
3. In th(j vellum MS., 11. 3. 18. 16. (T.C.D.) :—
'fltl .1. pAl]"Al .1. pAI IKVt); A]\ Alll ip pCAt tAiptl pUt) ip
fen% no poi]\cecAt ipn ngnAchbejvlA; conA 'oe aua pcAtniAC,
ocu]' pcAtpib, ocii]' piti, ocup pti"oecc. Ho pti .i. pi ocup
U .1. p A oinnA [a Aei]\e] pAip ocup li a 'oaua.
[pib. I.e., a p^l-|vM (or ^rcAl-fAi), [i.e., a professor of poetr}'] ;
for what is ^cjX with the poet is |«eif, or |:oi]\ccrAl [knowledge, or
instruction], in the common language; so that it is from that comes
fcAlmAc [a son of knowledge or instruction, a puj)il] ; and ^Alpib
a j)hilosopher], and pb ; and ptrocdc [the knowledge or profession
of th(* pli]. Or pli, I.e., p and b, i.e., the poison of his sath-e upon
him, and the Ixjauty of his art [in laudation].
4. In the vellum MS., II. 3. 18. 81. (T.C.D.) :—
Vite, 5l^^^» ^ P^^ •^- ^i^O]\e pcienciAO. 116 pii Vii .1. pi yo^
A Aoip, ocu)' ti po]\ A motAt). 116 paL Vi .1. ti ua]'aL nA
pecc n5]\A"o pti .1. otlAiii, AnjAAX), cU, caua, "Oop, niAc puip-
tnit), pocbtAch.
[pili, Cireek ; a *'JUo\ i.e., amore scietUicB, Or p'i-li'i, i.e., p [poison]
on his satire, and U [beauty] on his praise. Or p^l-li, noble beauty
462 AFPKNDIX.
__App. I. [or gloss], !.«., the noble gloss [sheen, or beauty] of the seven
orders ot* the poets, Ollanih, Anradh, Cli, Cana, Dos, Mac-Fuirmidb,
aiui/v/e- i^oclilach.
'fc*^^'- 5. In the vellum MS., H. 4. 22. 67. b. (T.C.D.) :—
pie .1. pAti^iii Ia)' 1 TubiAC iretmAic .i. f int), a]\4\ ]re<\t Um|'
inpte i]"ei]" no ]:oi)\ceT)At ^y]n gnOkcbejxUv, con a x)e ac^
jretniAC, ocii]" |:eli]'Am ; ph ocuy ]:itit)ecc .i. yo y^\Xn^\T>A\\
1 PI" fech nA uiti.
[Vili, «.«•» II vK\l f Ai [a professor of knowledge or instruction],
with whom there iwc students; i.e., a ^-ui-u [professor]; for what is
fCAl wilh the y\U is ^-ei]- [kuowUnlge] or yoipcec«\l [instruction] in
the ordinary huiguage ; so that it is from that comes ^relmjkc and
feU]'ATn ; rili ami yilit)ecc, »*.«., he reigns [rules or governs] in know-
ledge beyond any uiieelse.]
6. In ihe veUnm MS., II. 2. 15. 85. (T.C.D.) :—
Ce]x, CIA cjuich ot)obepA]\ siuv-oa yojv yitco;
tlin. TAij^benAT) a -ojAecDA -oo .i. •oo otlAniAin, ocuf bi"6 riA
^'ecc Sl^Auo ptet) occai, ocuf jAibui in ^vij inA t^n '^]\^x)
cuccA, ocu]* mot) yoclAT) A]\ in uottAm ^y a t)]ieccAib ocii]* ^y
A AnncAi, oc«i* <\yy lonA .i. i-oua ):ot)liiinA, ocu]" i-onA beoit,
ocu]" ronA tAime, ocu]' tAnAmnuii", ocuj" i-oiia inn]\ACiii|" a]1
gAic, ocu]" b|\Air, ocii)Mnt)lr5i-6, ocuj" i-onAcmpp nA jAOit) acc
Aen bj^eing Iai]% a]\ <\T:)bAUM|\ r]ie coibliji ciAbAi]A.
[Question: in what iurm arc degrees conferred upon a poet?
Answer: He cxhibiis his compositions lo hiin, that is, to an OlJamh
[a Master of ilie arts of pocrry, etc.] ; and he has the qualificalicms of
each of the seven orders [oi'po(»is]; and the king confinns him in
his full de;^ree, ami in what the Olhunh lepoils of him as to his
compositions, and as to his innocence and purily; that is to say,
purity ol' learning, and puiity of mouth [iiom abuse or satire], and
purity of hand ffrom bloodshecldiiig], and purity of luiion [marriage],
and purity of iionesly [from theft and roblu»ry and unlawfulness],
and purity of body — that he have but one wife, for he dies [in
dignity] through impmv cohabitation.]
7. In the '*I>ook of Lecaia' (R.I.A.), fol. 155, a. (from an
ancient Grammatical tract) : —
pti .1. ]:eAl]'Ai .1. [vcaI] irogbAim, ocii|" ^'ai ^rojtiiniA hepum,
iA|A]"Ani bit) ^.'ogbAinnji aici ic yojlAim .i. ycAl^^Ai, no pAt-
fAi. Ho p Ani AepA^^ ociif ti, Ani motiip Ho yiti oni i|'
ptiofopu]" .1. yeAltf'Ain, a|a 'otiji'o in pti gojAob yeALlj^Am.
[iTili, I.e., fe^l^Ai, i-e. [VoAb], is learning, and he is a doctor of
learning, because of the fact that he has learners with him at learn-
ing, i.e., he is a learned master, or a generous master. Or p is what
he satirizes, and U is what he praises. Or pb is from the word
JUiosopus, i.e., a philosopher, because it is required of the poet that
he be a i)liilosopher.]
And O'Flaherty, in his Ogj/gia, adopts the term " philosopher" as
APPENDIX. 463
the best translation for pVi. "All those", he says, "who were in- app. i.
8tructt*(l hi every liberal art, and those who by their wisdom con- "~
sultetl the real advantaj^e of their countiy, were called Fileadha ^^^ A/™
[filcA-dj^]? «.^., poets ; wherefore Fileadk [ploA*, i>r inon* correctly <*««w.
pti] may be con'<idert?d the same as 'philosojiher'. Maximus
Tyrius [he tlourislu'd in tlie reign of the emperor Commodus] from
the school of Plato, slu^ws that philosopliers were comprehended
under the name of poets; he says: ^'Yhi^y who were ia fact phUmO"
pherf^ but by appeHatioa poets, have brought an odious chanicter on
tliat profession, which used to Hatter and entertain the people ex-
ceedingly'"/'^ [O'F., Ogijg. (llely's Translation, vol. 2, p. 72), pt.
iii. ch. XXX. " Of the Irish Letters".]
APPENDIX No. II. [Lcct. I., Page 4.]
Of Writinff in Erinn before Saint PaUicUs time.
It is perhai>s impossible, now, to arrive at any certain conclusion
as to the natuie of the writing in which the; records were kept, and
hist«ny, j)oetry, and literature pi*eserved among the Catdhils of
Erinn, in tlu^ ages which preceded the coming ot' ^^J1int Patrick. In
the ab>ence of any known remains of lln^ wriiing of llie pre-Christiim
period, it nniy, iuiK'ed, be reasonuliiy asked \\\rM leason tliei^e is to
think or bclii^ve iliat the (raedhils were at all acquainiod with any
fonn of writt<*n characleis? Do we find any names still preserved
in tile Gaedhi lie language and ancient writings for a book, parchment,
writing, pt-n, ink, i)age, line, stave, etc., in use in or having refer-
ence to tli<*M' early a.iLies?
These an* imporlant fpiestions, and I must confess that I have
not ])aid so nnidi attention to their consideration as to enable me to
give any thing like a full or sali-^factory answer to them. At the
>ann' time 1 must observe tliat I believe the subject to be one which
it is now too late to attempt to clear up; so scanty are the remnants,
and NO widely dis])ersed, of our veiy ancient bot>ks, or rather of those
co]»ies of Imt a few wliieh have come down to us. Enough, how-
ever, in my mind, remains to show (at least I myself feel ptufecfly
satisfied) that the ])re-(-hristian Gaedhils possessed and practised a
syst<'m of writing and ke(?piug ri'cords (piile ditlerent from and inde-
l)endent of both the Grei-k and the Koman fonn and chiiracters,
which gained currency in the countiy aft(*r the introduction of
(1) Tlic Ljitin text of O'Flulierty is an follows:—
" I iU'udlin./. P<i('tn-a])u<t iin.>ii,liiniioiiiiiiabuiitiir(loutrlnA>nmniHlibern1lHexporti,etqnl rclp.
Mpicntia sua con^^iilebaut tindv Filuadli qunsi Idem, ac pliliosophu.H. riilluMupLus poet arum
nuniiiK' coiiiprvheiiMi.s liidk-at e I'latoiit.s sclKila MaxiiniiH Tyrliw, (— Commodo Imperat^
floruit—): li. iiiquit, re ip!<u iihiloHophl nomlnu uutem iioct.T rvin liividioKain ad vam artem
reviKraruiit, iju.i- i><ipuluin ndmoduui dcniulcuat". ["(NjYiWA: stut Rrrnm IlilHrmicarum Chro-
nottHjia (etc.); Aut/iorc KmikRico 0'Fi..\iifcKTT, Armi/jtrQ; Londlui, ad iualguo Navla, In
CujineUrio D. Paull, x.v. lOHb". (p. "ilo).]
464 APPENDIX.
App. n. Christianity in the first part of the fifth century, if indeed they were
not known here even a considerable time before that era.
In Krinn"* ^^ ^^ ^^^^ my purpose here, however, to oH'cr any opinion as to the
before Saint characters in which the Saltair of Tara, and the Cin Droina Snechta
were originally written; though I dare sjiy it niiiy have bet^i but
the modiliod Koinan character of the tim<\ But I may place before
the reader a few references to another mode of writing, to cbaractei's
which are repeatedly spoken of in all our old lil^iOilcal books, and
of which numerous specunens (though in a limitcil form) have re-
mained to a>tonish and puzzle the lea»n<Hl, even to tlils day. 1 mean
thp Oghnini charact(»rs, which are still to be seen in some of our oldest
otiue^^ books, as well as on many stone monimunitN the renu)te antiquity
OghuiM, of which cannot, I think, be denied. It is not, however, to what
is written in these books, or in*icribed on these stt)nes, in the Oghuim
character, that I intend to call attention at present, nor even to all
the uumenms relerences to the writing ot' Oghuim to be met with
in our most ancient books, that siibj'«ct beina now in ii»e able hands
of the Kev. Charlrs Graves F.T.C.l).; but in the absence of more
direct j)roofs it has occurred to me to refer the reader to a few passages
of authority, by way of exami)le, in v/hich 0/////«wi writing is spoken
of as Juwing been emploiiedto record ]d4o)ir.al events^ and even suatainfd
historical or romantic tafes, among the Gaedliils, long l>elbre the
supposed introduction of the Roman letter about the time at which
the Gospel of Christ was brought among them by lettered scholars
of continental education.
Passing over, then, the frequent mention of the general custom
of inscribing monumeufal stones with Oghuim characters and words,
I shall brielly nott? a few instances in which this species of writing
is spoken of as having been ai)plied to a dillerent purpose and ui a
diiferent way.
on stone and First, as regards the material in which or upon which the ante-
on wood. Christian Gaedliils wrote, besides stone, we find it mentioned under
four ditlerenl names — CAinlo)\5A plu), that is, Staves of the
Poets; TAbo^ll U.pi^A, Tablet Slaves; c*.Mbli pbV), Tables of the
Poets (the same tiling, though apj)arently a more modern fonn
of the tii'st name, evidently modified iVom the Latin Tabula^ a word
with which, nev<*rtheless, I think, it can be shown the Ibnner had
originally no connection) ; and ^IcvX^c pli, the Wand of the Poet.
In the Tdin In the caih b6 chuAiV^ne (which we have in a part of the Leabhar
^^^^^^ na h'Uidhre^ a MS. as old as 1106), we read in more than one
instance of Cuchulainn having written or cut an Oghuim in hoops or
wands, which he had placed in such places as that they >hould be
found by queen Meave [nie-ob] and her army; and that when they
were found, they were always carried to Fergus, the other great
Ultonian champion, in the camp of the queen, to read and explain
them, which he was always able to do.
In the Tale There is, besides this, another very ancient tale, from which we
^M(KBwUn. niay learn what was, at least so long ago as in the tune of king
APPENDIX. 465
Cormac Mac Art, believed to have taken place at a period corres- app. ii.
ponding to the very commencement of our common era — a romantic
tale, indeed, yet even itseli' so far of authority that it is founded on 5«5/'
facts in the main to be taken as true— of the loves and tragical J^«< A««<«^
death of A illinn, the daughter of Fergus, and of Baile\ the son of
Buan (who was the son of j the son of Capha^ the son of Cingd,
the son of Eos, the son of Rudhraidhe, who was monarch of £rinn,
and died a.m. 4981, that is, about 212 B.C.). This story is shortly
as follows : —
Bdiie "the sweet-spoken" was the favourite lover of A illinn, the
daughter of Lfigkaidh, son of Fergus Fairge\ king of Leinster.
There appears, however, to have been some impediment in the way
of their union, and they proposed to hold a private meeting at Ros-
na-Righ, on the south side of the Bo}Tie. Baile set out accordingly
from Emania, and proceeded as far as Dun-Dealgan, now called
Dundalk. While resting himself here he saw a fierce, forbidding
looking man approaching from the south; and Baile sent to ask
him whence he came, and whither he was going. The stranger
answered, that he was on his return to the mouth of the Bann
from Moimt Leinster, and that the only news he had was that
the daughter of Lughaidh son of Fergus, who Imd been in love
with Baile Mac Buain, and was on her way to keep an appoint-
ment with liim, was overtaken by the men of Ixunster and killed,
or died in consequence of the violent detention to which she was
subjected, in fulfilment of the prophecies of tlie Druids and wise men,
who foretold that tliey never would meet in life. The stranger then
disappeared from them "like a gust of wind". Tlie moment that
Baile Mac Buain heard this he fell dead on the spot; and the
tale relates that he was honourably buried on the sen shore, whence
that place derived its name of "tlie Strand of Baile \ and that
a yew tree shortly afterwards* sprang up out of his grave, having
the form of Bailees head on its top.
In the meantime, as the j)riucess Aillinn was sitting in her "simny
chaml)er", the same fierce-looking man suddenly entered it and
in the same way he told his ' news* to the lady: that he saw the Ulto-
nians holding an assembly of lamentation, and raising a Raith^ and
erecting a flagstone, and writing on it the name of Baile Mac Bu€U9i,
who died there when going to visit a favourite lover of his ; for
it was their fate never to see or meet each other in lile. The man
* sprang away' then, and the lady Ail/inn fell dead on the spot. She
also was burii»d in the usual way, like her lover, and an apple tree,
says the story, immediately sprang from her grave, and l>ecame a
large tre<i in seven years, with the fonn of AillinrC 8 head on its top.
At the end of seven years the poets and prophets and seers of
Ulster cut down the yew tn-e which was owr the grave of Baih\
and made it into a Taball Filulh, or Poets' Tablet, " and they wrote*\
we are told, ^Uhe Visions, and the Espouscds, and the Loves, and the
Courtships of Ulster in it*\ The same was also done to the apple tree
30
466
A.PPENDIZ.
Tale of
aUi
MiaeBuain.
nitcribcd
Ublcts
before the
time of Art
(A.D. 166).
Ancient
iilluslon.s to
the Tale
of BaiU
Mae Buain.
over the grave of Aillinnj and the Courtships^ Loves^ etc., of Leinster
were written in it.
Now, a long time afterwards, when Art, the son of Conn of tlic
Hundred Battles, was monarch of Erinn (in a.d. 166), on the
occasion of the great periodical feast of Samhuin, or November Eve,
the poets and the professors of all arts came, as was the custom,
and brought their tablets with them, and, among the rest, the
tablets above mentioned; and the two tablets were brought to Art,
and he had them in his hands face to face. Suddenly, then, says
this singidar story, each tablet of them sprang upon the other, so
that they became l30und together in the same way as the woodbine to
the green twig, and it was found impossible to separate them. And
they were thenceforth always preser\ed, we are informed, like all the
other jewels, in the treasury at Tara, until the palace was burned
by Dunlaiug, the son of Enna, king of Leinster, at the time that
the maidens were killed by him at Tara. (This happened in the
year 241, when Connac the son of Art was monarch.)
This singular legend of the growing together of the two tablets
»»'as most probably a i)0(»tical account of some inscribed tablets of
the time of King Art^ which had at that early period become oblite-
rated or inextricably clung together, YQry much as so many ancient
leaves now in existence which l^eloug to a period above a thousand
years before our own. The value of the story for the puq>ose for
which 1 cite it lies, of course, in the evidence it supplies of the exis-
tence in Art's time of what was then believed to have been a very
anciently written Ixmk, and, of course, of the existence in and before
Art's time, at least, of letters (which some perhaps will say
could not well have been Oghuim)^ among the pagan Gaedhils.
[The Tale itself is altogether so curious, that as it is very short, 1
have thought it advisable to add the text of it, as well as a literal
translation, at the end of this Note (see pp. 472-474).]
As the genuine antiquity of the history of the lovers alluded to
in the tale nnist, of coui-se, be a matter of the last importance to
the value of the evidence supplied by it, I may give here from the
conclusion of tlu; two copies of it which I have met, short quotxitions
which they preserve from ancient poems containing allusions to the
tragic fiite of Bailc Mac Buain and Aillinn: —
"The apple tree of noble Aillinn^
The yew of Baile, — small inheritance, —
Although they are introduced into poems,
They are not understood by unlearned people.
" And l^AUbhe'} the daughter of Cormac, the grandson of Conn,
said: —
" Wliat I liken Aluime to.
Is to the yew of Rdith BaiU;
What I liken the other to.
Is to the apple tree of Aillinn.
APPENDIX. 467
" Flaiin Mac Lonan dixit : —
" Let Cormac decide with proper sense,
▲PP. iz.
So that he be envied by the hosts; aniSfomto
JjQt him remember, — the ilhistrious saint, — . *ho Tale
The tree of the strand of Baile Mac Buain. Mae Buain.
" There grew up a tree under which companies could sport,
With the form of his face set out on it's clustering top;
Wlien he was betrayed, truth was betrayed, —
It is in that same Avay they betray Cormac.
" Cormac dixit : —
Here was entombed the son of White Buan*\
*****
Tlie first two stanzas of these quotations in the Tale (as given in
H. 3. 18) are taken from a most ancient and singular poem, pre-
served in tlie Book of Leinster (li. 2.18. T.C.D.), known indeed
from the context there to have been wait ten by Ailbh^^ the second
daughter of king Cormac Mac Art, but directly ascribed to her in
the ilS. in the British Museum, Irom which I have taken the^se ex-
tracts. (Harleian, 5280, p. 75, and 11. 3.18. T.C.D., p. 47;— bill
Ailbhe is not mentioned by name in the latter.)
The poem in the "Book of Leinster" consists of nine stanzas;
and in the al)sence of any direct historical r(?ference to the occasion
of its composition, I am inclined to believe, fi*om the allusions in it,
that it was written on the occasion of the elopement of King Cor-
mac's ehh'r daughtcT, Graintie^ with one of the lieutenants of Finn
Mac CumhailK Denuot 0'DuibIine\ the famous Adonis of the Fenian
Tales. The late of Dermot was tragical on account of this elope-
m(?nt; but if these stanzas have reference to him, they were written
before that event, and while he wjus yet with his fair one traversing
the country to <'seape th(^ vengeance ni' his offended commander. [I
have thought it right to insert this curious poem also, with a literal
translation, at tlu' end of tlii*! Note (see pp. 476, 477).]
The verses quoted from Mac Lonan (chief poet of Erinn, who died
A.n. 918), are exceedingly curious, as they aj)]>ear to have been ad-
dnssed to the Holy Cormac MacCuilenwiin, King and Archbishop of
Casliel, who was slain in the batth* oi' Ma ijh Ailbhe \i\ the year 903.
The allusion in Mac Lonaii's verses to tln^ betrayed of Baile Mae
Buain couhl not ])n>sibly bear on any event in King Cormac's life
but that of his betrothal to, and subsecjuent nrpudiation of, the cele-
brated princess Gormlaith^ daughter of Flann Siouna, the Monarch
of Erinn, and his entering into holy onh.-rs and becoming Arch-
bishop «>f Ca.>hel aft«'rwards. Wln-ther Connae's l»reaking oil* the
match with the monarch's (laught<*r was ocea>ioin.-d by any malig-
nant sland<'rs, by motives of policy, or, as it is stated in a poem
ascribed to hiniselt', by a simple desire to enter the Church, I am not
in a position to say; hut Mac I^)nan*s allusions certainly lead us to
Ix'lieve that such events did not occur without some deej) intrigues,
of which, however, no precise accounts have been hitherto dis-
30 B
468 ▲PPENDIX.
APP. II. covered. It will have been seen that Cormac wrote some verses, in
answer, I should suppose, to Mac Lonan; but of these, unfortunately,
ctentVMof only one line remains, and that only in the copy of the tract pre-
2*rc%hS^ served in the MS. 11. 3.18. T.C.D.
tohj Cormac That King Cormac MacCuilenndin was versed in the knowledge of
M/^CuUm- ^^ Oghuim writings, as well as in that of the current literature of
his day, may be gathered from an allusion in a poem, written by the
Cormac Mac game Mac Lonan, where, in paying compliments to many of the
TWTOd in ** kings and chiefs of Erinn, his contemporaries, he devotes the fol-
Oghuim, lowing Stanza to Cormac :
" Cormac of Cashcl with his champions,
Munster is his, may he long enjoy it;
Around the king of Raith Bicli, are cultivated
The Letters and the Trees".^*^
The "Letters" here signify, of course, our present Gacdhelic alpha-
bet and writings; but the "Trees" can only signify the Oghuim letters,
which were named after certain trees indigenous to the country.
Cormac himself, in his Glossary, often speaks of the Oghuim writ-
ing, as having been in use among the older pagan, as well as the latter
Christian Gaedhils ; as at the word Fe^ which he explains to mean a
pole or rod with wliicli bodies and graves were mea^jured, and which
he says was always left in the cemetery, and in which the people
" wrote in Oghuim whatever was hateful or detestable to them".
Tale of the Another early example of the use of Oghuim occurs in an ancient
MiTs of'^LS? Tale, called Loinges Mac iiDuU nDermait, or the " Exile of the Sons
Dermaic. of DuU Dermait" ; an Ulster story of the time of Concohhar Mac
rcftA.o. 2V«wa (who flourished at the time of the Incarnation). In this tale
we are told that three personages mentioned in it disappeared mys-
teriously, and that Cuchulainn was enjoined to discover them. It is
stated that he accordingly went from the palace of Emania to his
own town of Dun-Dealgan (or Dundalk), and that, while taking
counsel with himself there, he observed a boat coming to land in the
harbour. Tliis boat, it seems, contained the son of the king of
Alhain (Scotland), and a party, who came with presents of purple,
and silk, and drinking cups for king Conor. Cuchulainn^ however,
was at the moment in an angry mood, so that he entered the boat
and slew all the crew till he came to the i)rince himsell\ The tale
then proceeds : —
-dnrriAin innAnni<Mn a CuculAinn, if riAc ACAX)5enAmA]i,
opfe. 1n fecA]\ cit) jauc cpi niAccu 'Ouit 'Oc]MnAic ^\ a
ci^t, o|A CucutAinn. niconpecA|A ot in coctoec, acc aca
Tnup-inDeLt lim ocuf |:ocice]\cA]t 'oeirpu, ocii|" ]\ocbiA in
cu|\Ac, ocuf ni jToicbeA Anp|' loe. 'Oo be]AC CucuUMtin a
fteigin t)©, ocu]" no jropne ojum nint).
(*) CO|\mAC CAipt COtlA 6tl|MI,
teif mumu, co|\ metA;
tlA tic|\i If riA l^eAibA.
APPENDIX. 469
" 'Grant me life for life, O Cuchulainnl you do not know me', apf. ii.
said he [the prince]. * Do you know what carried the three sons of
Duil Dermait out of their coimtry T said Cuchulainn, * I do not NExUeV?the
know it', said the youth ; ' but I have a sea-charm, and I will set ^ijii^^
it for you, and you shall have the boat, and you shall not act in (circa a.d.l)
ignorance by it'. Cuchulainn then handed him his little spear, and
he (the prince) inscribed an ogum in it".
Cuchulainn then, according to the story, went out upon the sea,
and his talisman directed him unerringly to the island, in which
the objects of his search were detained. This tale is preserved
in no less a MS. than H. 2. 16. T.C.D.
In the Book of Leinster (fol. 206), we find another instance of T»ie of Optb,
the use of the Ogkuim in the story of Corc^ the son of Lughaidh, king lughaidh;
of Munster, who was driven into exile by his father about a.d. 400. ^^^' *^^'
We learn that when forced to fly to the court of Feradach, king of
Scotland, not knowing what reception he might find from that king,
he hid himself and his few attendants in a grove near the court, to
consider what course to take; and that there he was soon discovered
and recognized by Gruibne\ the king's poet, who had known him
at his own father's court, in Munster, where he had often visited
previously. The poet, we are informed, addressed the prince, and
learned his history, and, wliile examining liis shield, detected an
Ogliuim inscription on it. '* Who was it that befriended you with
the Ogkuim which is on your shield? it was not good luck he
designed for you", said the poet. "What does it contain?" said
Core. " What it contains", said the poet, " is, that if it was by day
you arrived at tlie court of Feradach, your head should be cut off
before evening ; Jind if it was at night, that your head should be off
tlien before morning". Here, thi*n, was a regular letter of a veiy
serious character written in Ogkuim many years before St. Patrick a
coming ; but what is strange in the story is, that the yoimg prince
and future king should not be able to read and understand it him-
self. It appears, however, from all we know, that the Ogkuim
writing had often, if not at all times, a secret and complicated cha-
racter, and required a si)ocial education to read and imderstand it.
Tlie learned Rudkraidhe (Rory or Koderick) O'Flaherty, in his
Ogygia^ devotes a chapter to the discussion of pre-Christian writing
in Ireland, from which the following extract >vill be sufficient for
my present purpose :^'^
" There are ^\'c peculiarities belonging to the Irish language, in O'Fiahwtj
each of which it differs from the language of any other coimtry; J? uttei?
that is, the Name, Order, Number, Character, and Power. And be- ^JJ^*®°*
(3) nely's translation not being aIwajs cither full or correct, it may be well to extract the
piusage from the orij^inui of O'Halicrty:—
'* Scoticis Uteris qninque accldunt, in qnomm singulis ab aliarum gentium Uteris discrepant ;
nlrairum Somen, Ordo, Numeras, Character, et Potcstas. Et quia imptriti liUrarum in
ehnrtd, aHate uUa materia ad memoriam pingendarum harum rerum ignarus incaut^ effutlit
Bollandus, de materia allquid prasfabor. £a ante pergamenn usum tabula erant 6 betolla
arbore complanatM, quas Oraiun et Taibhle Fileadk .L Tabulas Pbllosophicas dlccbant. Ex
his ailquaa Inter antlquitatum monnmcnta apud le raperfolMe, ut ot dlTersat characterom
470
APPENDIX.
APP. H.
0"Fl«herty
on the use
of Letters
In ancient
Erinn.
Of the
ancient
GaedUelie
Tablets.
(Tuibhli
cause Bolland says * they were ignorant of writing on paper or any
other material', as he was himself totally unacquainted with these
matters, I shall premise something concerning their ^vriting mate-
rials. They were made of the birch-tree before the invention of
parchment, wliicli they called Orainn [qu. Crainn, trees], and TaibhU
Fileadh, that is, pliilosopliical tables. Not long since, Duald
Firbiss, the only pillar and guardian of Irish antiquities while he
lived, and whose death was an irreparable loss to any fiu*ther
improvement in thorn, wrote me an account of his being in posses-
sion of some of these, and of the different forms of some of their
characters, which he sums up to the number of one hundred and
fifty, and of Craobh-ogham, i.e., virgean characters; ^Ir. Ware
says as follows in his Irish Anticiuities, cap. 2 : * Besides the com-
mon characters, the ancient Irish used various occult or artificial
methods of writing called Ogmn, in which they -wTote their secret
and mysterious ailairs. 1 have an old book filled with them. The
letters themselves were anciently called Feadha, i.e., woods'".
[Ogygia, part iii., cap. xxx. (page 99 of llely's translation).]
The most curious and important part of this quotation is the
reference it contains to the fact, for such it has been believed since
O'Flaherty's time, that Duald Mac Firbiss had in his possession
some of the ancient writing tablets of the Gael, Avith the characters
inscribed on them to the number of one hundred and fifty, besides
some in the Craobh-oghum, or virgean characters. To me, how-
ever, it appears that O'Flaherty must have mistaken Mac Firbiss,
and that, instead of Tablets, he ought to have imderstood him as
meaning Alphabet.% or Tables of Alphabets, such as are preserved
in the *" Book of Ball^nnote". At all events, O'Flaherty's words
are of little value, as he does not enable us to form any idea
of the forms and particulars of those su[)posed tablets, as to what
was their shape, how written on, whether it was with a stylus or a
knife, whether they were waxed tablets (like those fomid in the bog
in the north of Ireland and now preserved in the Museum of the
Royal Irish Academy), etc. To say that Mac Firbiss had ancient
tablets, written in an hundred and fifty difierent Oghum ali)habets,
or characters, as O'Flaherty calls them, is what no well-grounded
Gaedhelic scholar will readily believe.
Now, with respect to the name TaibhU Fileadh [Tablets of
the Poets], it appears clearly enough to be a Hibernicism of the
Latin " Tabellce", and the plural of the word Tabhall, or TabeUa.
But this form of the Gaedhehc name, though ancient, is not the
most ancient or the best description of the Gaedhelic Tablet of the
Poets. The ancient Gaedhelic Tablet took, 1 believe, more the form
formnlaa, quas ter quinqnagenafl k Fcnisii usque state nuroem, et Craobh-ogham .1. rirgeos
characteres nomine rccenset, non Ita pridem ad me scripslt Doaldns Firbiuna ret antl-
qnarlae Hibernomm nnicum, dnm rizit, columen, et extinctus dctritnentum. Do his Tirgeis
notls ita habet Dominos Warieus Antiquit. Hib. cap. 22. Propter characteres vufgaree M/dWm-
tur etiam veteres Uibemi varii* oceuUis Scribendi /ormulU, seu arti/lciis Ogum dicti*, quibui
teereta tita scribebant. HU r^ertum habeo UbeUum memlfranewn anti^um, Ijmsb ilteni
JTMdha A. Sylrm antiqultna diet* aunt". {Offygia ; Ed. 1686 ; p. 233.]
APPENDIX. 471
of a fan tlian of a table, — a fan which, when closed, took the shape of app. n.
a staff, and which indeed actually served as such to the poet and
the historian. In a very ancient article in the Brehon Laws, which ancient
prescribes the sort of weapon of defence which the different classes o*e[ii»ciic
of society were allowed to carry on ordinary occasions to defend (Taibhii
them against dogs, etc., in their usual walks, a passage occurs which ^*'««<'*-)
throws some light on this subject. The article belongs to the
Christian times, 1 should tell you, in its present fi)rm, as it prescribes
a slender lath or a graceful crook for a priest, while it assigns to the
poet a Tabhall'lorg, or Tablet-Staff, in accordance with the pri\'ileges
of his order, etc.
The name of TabhalUlorg^ or Tablet-Staff, appears however to be,
though ancient, yet a still modernized or Latin-Gaedhelic form of a
much older name for the s«ame thing, as may be seen in the follow-
ing extract from the curious old tract known as the Agallamh na
Seanorach or [''Dialogue of the Ancient Men"], preserved in an ancient
vellum MS. in the Bodleian Librar}-^, Oxford, and in the copy of the
Book of Lismore in the Koyal Irish Academy. The passage occurs
in one of those pretended conversations, which are siiid to have been
held between Oisin (or " Ossian", as his name is mis-spelt in mo-
dem Englisli) and Caeilte\ the two ancient Fenian warriors, and
Saint Patrick. In the present story, Caeilte gives a list of the
officers of the Fenian aimy to Diarmait Mac Fergma Cerrbhedil in
a pretty long poem, after which: "May you have victory and
blessing, O Caeilte ^\ said Diannait Mac Fevgusa Ceirbhedil; " and
where are the seniors and anticpiarians of Eriun? I^'t this be
written in Tamhlorgaibh Fileadh [Headless Staffs of Poets], and after
the manner of professors, and in the language of the Ollavih; so that
every one may take his co[)y [or share] with him to his own territory
and land, of all the knowledge, and all the history, and all the topo-
graphy, and all the deeds of bravery and valour, that Caeilte and
Oisin have related". ^^ And it was done accordinghj*\
This wf)rd Tamhlorg or " Headless Staff', is beyond any doubt the
more ancient, the original name of the writing tablets, or rather
srjuared staves of the Gaedhils ; on the angles and lines of which
they wrote or carved in the Beithe Luis Nin, that is, in the Birch-
Alder Letter (Xin being the ancient name or word for any letter of
the Oghuim, as well as for the particular letter n itselQ. [See
Uraicept, p. 19 of copy in my possession.] For this kind of writing
neither j»en nor ink was recpiired ; and the person learned in the art
need never be at a loss for writing materials as long as he carried
a s<juare staff in his hand and a knife in his pocket.
It is not repugnant to my argument that the period to which the
pretended dialogue between Caeilte and Diai^mait is referred, comes
within our Christian era ; it only shows that even within that period
the old system of record was still in use, or believed to be so; and
this, for various r(»asons, may have continued to be the case for a
long time afterwards. But if there be any reason to doubt the au-
472 APPENDIX.
App. II. thenticity of this accotmt of the Tablets, or " Headless Staffs" of the
~' ~ ~ poets, there can scarcely be any reasonable ground for doubting
In Erinn"' what is Stated in the Preface to the Brehon Law compilation, known
p*SJk '*"* as the " Book of AeaUV\ described in these Lectures.
In that Preface we are told that Cennfaeladh, during his illness,
had listened to and committed to memory the lectures, or instruc-
tions, which were delivered in the College of Tvaim Drecain during
the day, all of which he wrote in slates and in Tabhlibh at night, and this
he put again into a " charta-6oo^".
In what characters Cennfaeladh marked his notes in slates and tab-
lets it is not in our power to say; but it is pretty clear that they must
have been characters capable of much contraction and condensation.
So far, then, for our accounts of the possession of an independent
alphabet and mode of ^NTiting from the most ancient times by the pre-
Christian Gaedhil or Scots of Erinn (and the Britons appear to have
had a similar mode of -writing, at least until they lost it, as well as
their native literature itself, under the Saxon rule) ; but whether the
books of Erinn were written in this alphabet, — whether the Cuil"
menn, the Saltair of Teamhair, and the Book of Droni Snechta, were
written in it, — is quite a different question. My own opinion is, that
they probably were not, but that they were written in the popular
Koman characters of the time, modified, perhaps, as at present ; and
that these characters were first brought in by the druids and poets who
from time to time travelled in pursuit of their studies to the continent,
or attended the many distant foreign expeditions which took place
from this country, even previously to the period of the Incarnation.
It is, at all events, however, quite certain that the Irish druids and
poets had Avritten books before the coming of St. Patrick in 432 ; since
we find the statement in the ancient Gaedhelic Tripartite Life of the
Saint, as well as in the "Annotations of Tirechan", preserved in the
Book of Armagh, which were taken by him from the lips and books
of his tutor, St. Mochta, who was the pupil and disciple of St.
Patrick himself.
[Original of the Story o/Baile Mac Buain, from the M.S., H. 3. 18.
T.C.D., p. 47 (see ante, p. 466).]
b<Mle binnbepLxc mAC buAin.
Tale of ^V^ ^"^ CA]b<N, mic CinSA, mic llofA, mic tlu-dpAige
itaiie .1. tnoriAC, ocur bAite, r.i. OuAnl ocur tTencotAb, -a quibur
t)-AiU mOUAin, ocuf t)AiL Cuipb, ocu]" tnonAig ApAt).
Aon TTiAc buAin, bAite, bA fAin]*e|Ac feom -oi Aittinn
injen Luj-oac mic lpe]i5Uf a irAijAge. tlo 'oingin GogAin mic
•Oaci, ocuf bA ]"Ain]"e|AC 'oo gAcb Aon A-ocit), ocuf "oo ctuine^,
et)i|i p|ui ocuf mriA a|a a iip]^etAib, copo "OAiLf ec coip coirroe
Ag tlof riA tlig, occ LAinn tTlAol'ouib, a]i b|Au boinne bjxeg.
UAinic in fep ACUAig "oia co|tpAccAin o CmAin TTIaca CA|t
APPENDIX. 473
StiAt) ptiAT), CAjt tnupteTnme co UjAAig tnbAile. tlo cti|tnAic afp. n.
A CAppAc, |to cu|\ic Atieic |rop ep ingelc, -00 gnif ec Ainef ocuf
Alt)nef. BaiU
AmbACApAnn conACCACAjt etpAic UAchmAjt erroAine cucitA ^*** ****^
ATToef, bA 'oiAn a ceim ocuf a qvyAit) imcecc, meice tAi|" riA
jVAicet) in cAtiTiAin AmAit pge feig t)! Ailt, no 5A0C "oi gtAf
muip. A cle f]\i cip.
-A]\A cint), A]\ l3Aile, conpAjApAige ve cit) cet) no cAnAf
CAinic, no CIA jtaic a cinnenuij".
X)\ UtiAg 1nDe)\ ceigim a]\ai|" iiotuAig AnofA o ShtiAb Sui'6e
l^Aigen, ocuf ni put x)o fseUvib liutn acc ingen Lus-oac mic
pei^guj^A cue 5]^At) t)i DAile itiac buAin, ocuf cAinic t)iA
coin-oe, CO jxuc^'ac 615 l^Aigen fu]^pi, ocuf mA]\bAic in po |rop-
CAT), ATTiAit |A0 gettj^Ac '0]AAi'6e, ocuf -oegf Ait^e •061b, nA com-
jAAiCDif AmbecAig, ocu]" coniAic^rA-oif ia]\ nA mbA]*, ocuj* nA6
|'ce|At)Ai|" c]\iA bitu. IpAc pn mo j^cetA. Ocuf Tnti|x6it)e
UAib, TnA]\ pge gAite ca]\ gtAf tnuip, ocuf , nipcA]^ cuimgec a
f'OfCAt).
Oc cuAbA bAibe Annpn t)o piic mApb cm AnmAin, ocuf
cbAi-oceix A f e]\c, ocuf a IIaic, ociif j^Aicep a tiA, ocuf t)i5ni-
chep A AonAch gubA La hUbcu. Aciif aj^aij Iphup c]aia nA
tjge combA ]\eit fUAC, ocuf •oebb cint) t)Aite f0]\ a bA]A|t,
un-oe U]u\i5 mt)Aibe.
lA]\um nni]*bA bii-def in peji cex)nA co liAipm a mbi An
ingen, ^iltjenn, ociq^ vicing ipn 5]\iAnAn. CAn cic in ci nAC-
gennniAji, aj\ in ingen. A ciiAiixe]\c Lece 6)\enn, o UUA15
Inbeji ocu]' ]^eAco yeo co Stuvp Suit)e LAigen. SgebA boc Ap
in ingen. IV1 jruiLec j^gebA ^y CAince pinnA, acc -AcconnA|tc
Ublcu Ag AonAC gubA, ocuj' AC cbAit)et) IIaca, OCUf 1C fAgA^
biA, ocii]' Ag ]^i\ibATL) A AnmA bAibi mic buAin, Tlig-OAmnA
UbAt) "oo cAob U]\A5bA bAibe [noc do 65], ife aj co]\ACCAin
lx*nnAin ocu]" miu\ ]XM]\ce dia cue gpAt), a]i ni |:uib An-OAn
T)6ib CO ]ii]XAi]" A mbccAig, no nee -oib •oyAicpn t)iA]\Aibe inA
mbiii. 'Oiling AmAC ia|a ninx)itt in mijxeoib. 'Oo |:uic
-Aitbenn mAj\b cin Anmuin, ocuf cbAicejx a ]re]\c, ocuf A|iAibe.
Ocuf ApMT) ApAbt cjMA nA tigc, ocu]" bA gcfgA m6]\ 1 cinn
fecc mbliADAH, ocuf •oetb einn Ailtenne foji a UACCAp.
1 cinn i^cc mbtiAtJAn cefCAit) pbit) ocu]' fAi-oe ocuf pp^
in c1bin\ boi o]' bAile, oeu]' mu]^niic UAbAlb pbm T)e,
ocuf i^]iiboic y\yc ocuy yoye ocxiy fepcA ocuf cocmApcA
UbA-o inci. yon pii cecnA ]^j\ibcAj\ cocmA]\CA l^Aigetj incip.
•OiA puACc in cSAmoin lAppticbe ocuf -oo gnicneji a ye^y
bA ViApc mAC Cinnn. 'CAncACAj\ pbix) ocu-p aoj" gACA -OAnA
fon ye^y pn AmAit bA bef , [ocuf -00 ^xACf ac a cAibti te6,p^
(t) Kgcrton, A280.
474 APPENDIX*
App. n. ocuf OA^ACf um, ocuf t)uf ci -A|tc, ocuf 6c connAjtc tnuf-
comAijAC, ocuf cucAt) 011156 in •oa CAbott) CO mbACA|\ ItlA
BaiU l/AtnAlb AJAIX) ^\ llOkJAIt). ImUftlllg It! UOkbott) ^O^ A]VAlte
ifMAiatfA. -oib, cup imnAi]xet) atmaiI f'eitlinn itn int|^LMC, ocuf ni]t
cumgeAX) A nim]^A]iv\-o. Ocu]' bACAji AiriAib cac fex) Apn
[if An] CAifcex) hi Ueni]\Ai5 cujio]' toi]x 'OuntAng niAC
Cnt)A .1. x)iA]\ o]ic in nin5en]\Ai'0 1 UenijiAig:
tic •oicicup:
^bv\tt -Ailtinni ajwa,
1bAi\ bAibo bee ]:o]\bA,
CiA -oe bejuMC 1 LAijib,
lli-p ruicic "ooeine bo]\bA.
Ocuf AcbejAC ingcn Cojmtiaic liui Cmnx) [.1. -ditbe^*^:
1]" l-T^r V^'^1-^^^'^ Aim me,
lp]\i blbii]\ IIaca t)Aile,
V]\i]" conbAjAAim A]\Aibe,
Xy^yy in -iXbAibb a Aitte.
yiAnx) til AC UonAin -oixic:
'Oeip'o Co]AmAC um ceib c6ij\,
Conix) ]:]\i]^ V^pmAC in cfliiAig,
UAbjiAT) x)iA Ai]ie, nAon'i nA]i,
In c]\Aob -oo Uli]u\i5 bAibe DuAin
iro]i,bin]\j; bile, buTonib ]\eb,
HoIIa a X)ebb, cjiumib coji,
'OiA]A cetgA-o, ]\o cetgAic pp,
AtntAit) pn po cetgAic Cop.
CopniAC "oixic:
Sunn 'OO ctAToe-b iuac buAin bAin.
« « « *
[translation.]
BaiU the Sweet-Spoken, son of Buan.
The three grandsons of Capha, son of Cinya, son of /?o«, son of RudhraigkeJ<*'^
were — Monach^ and Baile [recte Buan], and Fercorb, a quibus Ddl niBuain
and Ddl Cuirb, and the Montwhs of Aradh,^^^
Buan's only son was Baile; he was tlio specially beloved of Aillinn^ the
daughter of Lut/haidh, son of Fergus Fairge ^^ (or [as some say] the daughter of
Eogharij the son of Dathi) ; and he was the specially beloved of every one who
saw or heard him, l)oth men and women, on account of his novel stories. And
they [himself and Aillinn] made an appointment to meet at Bos na Bigh, at
lAinn Maolduihh^ on the [south] brink of the Boinn [Boyne] in Bregia.
The man [Bnile] came from the north to meet her, from Emain Macha,
over Sliabh Fuaid^^'^^ over Muirtheimhne ^^^ to Traigh mBaile [Dundalk], Here
(5) Rudhraigfte.—Ue was monarch of Erinn, and died a.m. 4981, according to the Annab of
the Four Maatiirs.
(6) Ddl m/iiuiin, Ddl Cnirb, and the Monach^ were the tribes descended from the three
grandsons of Capha, and the territories which bore their names were situated in the present
county of Down.
(7) Fergus Fairg4.—J{e was the son of Ntuidhat A'ecftt, monarch of Erinn, who was slaio
▲.K. 6090 [Four Masters], or one hundred and three years before the Cliristiiin era.
APPENDIX. 475
they nnjoked their chariots, sent their horses out to graze, and turned them- ^pp, jj^
selves to pleasure and happiness.
While there, they saw a horrible spectral personage coming towards them from Tale of
thejBouth. Vehement was his step and his rapid progress. The manner in Baiti
which he sped over the earth might be compareil to the darting of a hawk -^^ Bvain.
down a dill', or to wind from off the green sea. llis left was towards the land
[he was cuiniii;^ from the south along the shore].
Let him be met, said Baile, to ask him where he goes, and where he comes
from, and what is the cause of his haste.
To Tuayh Tnhhcr [the Mouth of the River Bann] I go back, to the north,
now, from SUabh Suiiihe Laiahen [now " Mount Leinstor"] ; and I have no
news but of the daughter of Luyhaidh, son of Fergus^ who had fallen in love
with Baili' Mac Buaiii^ and was coming to meet him, until the youths
of Leinstcr overtook her, and she was killed by the forcible detention [i.e., lost
her life for having been detained] ; as it was promised [foretold] by druids and
good pro[>hets for them, that they would not meet in life, and that they would
meet after their deaths, and that they would not part for ever after. This is
my news. And he darted away from them like a blast of wind over the green
sea, and they were not ahle to detain him.
When BaiU heard this, he fell dead without hfe, and his tomb was raised
and his lidith ; and his tombstone was set up, and his fair of lamentation
[assembly for games, etc., in honour of a deceased personage] was Iield by the
Ultonians. And a yew grew up tlirough his grave, and the form and shape of
BaiU's head was visible on the top of it, unde Truiyh viBaite.
Afterwards the same man went to the south to where the maiden Aillinn was,
and went into the griannn [sunny chamber]. Whence comes the man that we
do not know ? said the maiden. From the northern half of Erinn, from Tuagh
Inhher^ and [I go] past this place to SUabh Suidhe Laighen, llave you news?
said the maiden. 1 have not news worth relating now, but that I have seen
the Ultonians holding a fair of lamentation, and rai:>ing a Rt'iith^ and erecting a
stone, and writing his mune, to BaiU Mac Buain, the Riyh-dhavihna [royal
heir] of Ulster, by the side of Trdigh Bhaile^ [who tlied] whilst he Wiis coming
to meet a favourite and beloved womim to whom he had given love ; for it is
not destined for them that they should reach each other aUve, or that one of
them should see the other »dive. lie darteil out after teUing the evil news.
Aillinn fell dead without life, and her tomb was raised, etc. [as before in the
case of Bailt^ And an apple-tree grew through her grave, and became a
great tree at tlic end of seven years, and the shaixj of Aillinn's head upon its top
[that is, the top, as in Buile^s case, took the shape of Aillinn's head an.l face.]
At the end of seven years, pot-ts and prophets and visioners cut down the
yew which was over the grave of Bailt'y and they made a i)oet's tablet [^Tahall
Filidh] of it, ami tiiey wrote the visions, and the espousiUs, and the loves, and
the courtships of Ulster in it. [The apple-tree which grew over Aillinn was also
cut down and] in the same way the courtships of Leinster were written in it.
When the MovemiuT-evc (iSa/HAa//i)had arrive<l, (long) afterwards, and its fes-
tival was made by Art, the son of Conn, the iMKi't!* and the professors of every art
came to that feast, as it was their custom, an<l they brought their tablets with
them. And these Tablets also came there ; and Art saw them, and when he saw
them he asked for them ; and the two tablets were brou^Jit, and he held them in
his hands face to face. Suddenly the one tablet of them sprang upon the other,
and they became united the same as woodbine around a twig, and it was not
possible to separate them. And the}' were preserved like every other jewel in
the treasury at Tara, until it was bm-ned by Dunlang^ the sou of Enna^ namely,
at the time that he burned the princesses at Tara.
Ut dicitur :
*'The apple tree of noble Aillinn'' (etc., as supra, p. 4GC).
(S) Sliabh Fuaid.—FviAd's Moantain, a mountain near Kewtownhamilton, In the county of
Armagh.
(9) Jiuirtheimhne, or Magh JIuirtMmhne., an ancient plain which extended from Drogheda
to Dnndalk and CarlingforU.
476 APPENDIX.
APP. u. lOrigtnal of the Poem o/^Ailbhe, dcmghUr of Cokuac Mac Akt, from
^ ^ the * Book of Leinster', (MS. H. 2. 18., T.C.D.) foL 105. a.b. (see
AUbhi, ante, p. 467).]
danghter
of Corma€ ^ 4 1, . ^4
MaeAirL Aitoe ingeti ChopniAic inic -Ai|tc, cecinic.
*^'^ Uaja in U\ce -00 Lumtuine
llteic teinne iCAige Ain,
^\ \\^\\ cit) xj'ingin 11 Chuint),
Voitcof A moing^*'*^ Attoing \A\r\
If y[\\\ f AmtAim Loml^ine
Vl^'i 1bA]\ IIaca bAite
Vt^icoc]"Atnton A UhecTiA,
Vpif in ^bAitt A h-dte.*
A\bAlt Abnni Apt) a
IbAjt l3Aite bee nojibbA, ^"\
Ce 'oo be]ACAj\ itbAitje,
tVif ciicAc 'OAine bo]\bbA
If f]\if f AmbAiin LomtAine
Vpi 'Oatti 'oubAf ca6 'Ofigf erro,
P]\icocfAmtAji A UhetriA,
^\w 6itce 'OjvoinniA 'Of ignerro
1]' f]\if f ATTitATTi LombAine
Pf 1 flACCAib pn-ocuill Aille,
If ffif f AmtAimfe UetriA
Vfi f cACAib UAccAif bAinne.
A LiiimtxAine in f AnACAif
Cottic 'OAbeAfg AC Sf lib bfAin,
llAnAciif l^efrA tTlAgen
Ha SuToe LAgen AnAif .
A LinnitAine nACAmtuAit),
tlACAiTicAix)tex) TtleAfcoin THuAit),
THAnibecif LecA t/UigiDec Lif ,
Goin 1)1 c bAite f ocbecif .
Cfi-ofeAf c mo meAniriAn mine
Ingen fig Uemf a cuA-oe,
Ocitf civi-ofeAf c mAnmAn
JittAtifAX) ALmAn UAfe. U.
A \yinmtAine nACAmtuAit)
A 5)\Ain gAiLe, a jjiein fluAig,
THa f opf AmtAix) f eo Af fee
po'oif fe Af nee in cac UAif . tlAf
* .1. A hAtin-o.
(10) The tl in both these irordt ought to be dotted; bat we arc unfortunately not In po9>
•enlon of the necessary typo to express a d'.itcd ri.
APPENDIX. 477
[translation.] ^pp J,
AilbhS, the daughter of Cormac Mac Airt, cecinit.
A cold day for LunUuine,^^^) mSh^^
In half a cloak pursuing pleasure, danjfhter
It is cold, too, for the daughter of O'Cuinn, ^ Cormac
Who washes her hair in a full basin. (c\^aL
It is what I liken Lomlaind^^^) to, S60.)
To the Yew of Rdith BaiU,
To what I liken his Tethna
Is to the Apple-tree firom AU*
The apple-tree of high Aiiinn,
The Yew of Baii^ of little land,
Though they are put into poems,
Ignorant people do not understand them.
It is what I liken Zom/aiW^>i) to.
To the dark-shaded Buck of Drigrend,
What I liken his Tethna^^*) to
Is to the docs of Dromm DrignentU^^*
It is what I liken Lomlain4 to,
To beautiful White-hazle rods.
What I liken Tethna^^*) to
Is to the shadows of the top of milk.
O I Lumlain^ > >> hast thou reached
To Lee ddBhear^^*) at Srubh Brain f<^*>
I have reached Ferta MaghenS^^>
By Suiilhe Laghen^^^^^ on the east.
* I. e. from Ailinn.
(11) I hare t« expreu ray regret that I am quite unable to trace either the history or allu-
tlont of this singular poem. There Is an ezplauntory note in the margin of the old book, but,
moMt nnfortunatt'ly, the Ink is so decayed and injured by friction that it is illegible for any
aatisfdctury purpiiso. Who the person culled Lumlulni^ Lumlaini, or Lomlaini, was, I am at
a total loss to know. The name appears to have been a familiar one. or deNcrfptive, com*
poimded of VMPr». er lorn, (bare), and luinl, or laini (pleasure, merriment); so that the name
would signify the bare and cheerful man,- an a))pellation somewhat borne out by the lino
which follows, which repre.Hcnts him as pursuing his sports In ' half a cloak'. This, I admit, la
but taking the component parts of the name at their ordinary value : and such a process
does not at all, in every case, a]jply to the bi.'tter understanding of the real name of an
unknown pcTsonage. It is singular, however, that there really was nucIi a family name in
IreUnd as O'Lumluini, as will be seen (him the following entiles in the Annals of the Four
Masters, at the following yean:—
A.D. 1170. " Corbmac (."a Lumhtijii, the chief professor [or master] of Cluain Ferta Brenainn
[Clonfert], the sole remains of the professors [i. d, the last of the great scholars] of Erlnn In
bis time. died".
A.D. VJ'tO. " Corhmac Ua Luimluinn, Bishop of Cluain Ftrta Brenainn [Clonfert], and high
Mge of Krinn, died ; a saintly senior of long ai;e". (It may bo presumed that the biahop was
son to the professfir, and that the family was a literary one.)
(13) r^-ZAna-- Whether this Is a icul personal name, or a name only descriptive or figura-
tive, I confcHs myself unable to determine. It must be a ]>roper nu'nic, or else an abstract
noun subdtantive expresKing some property or qnality of Lotnluinii hinnelf. In the second
and fourth stanaas, by placing the posneiwive pnmoun *a' (hij«) l>ef<ire 'Tt'.thna\ the word is
made to signify 8<ime appendage, or beloved objects of Lumluiui ; but in the fifth stanza,
this pnmoun in left out, and the emphatic sufflx (j'f) inserted to fill up the measure; thus
leaving the word Tethna an indc]icndent noon, and apparently a proper name. Ko such
aamc, however, han, to my recollection, come under my notice before.
(I;)) Dromm Drignrnd Tlie mountain ridge of DrigHtnd-, a place unknown to me.
(14) Ue for L*ne) l)& Bhtarg, near, or at HnAh Brain ; its situation is unknown to me.
n^) l^rubh Itrain^ or Bran's Stream.— 1'here weic two places of this name in Erinn; one
In the west of Kerry, and one in the north of TNter. It is to the latter that our poetess
refers; and the following note, furnished by I>r. John 0'Dono%-an tothctate Rev. Dr. )Iatthew
Kelly's translation of Cambrenxii Ererttu^ shows that the name and situation are still
known :— **jSn/6A Brain^ now Shruve-llrln. or Stroove-Brln. It is the name of a well-known
place in the north-ea^t extremity of the barony of Inisliowen, In the connty of I>onegaII.
Water oozes from the bank, and forms a well, near high water mark'*- Camb. /Sv., vol 11., p.
7«6, note 20. According to Dr. Keating, who quotes from the ancient Book of Cluain EiJhneeh,
the dit»ccsc of Rath Hholh (Baphoe) extended from JKas Ruaidh (liallyshannon) north and east,
along the sea, to Sntbh Brain^ and from Carn tfloM ((rrecn Mound) to Sruibh Brain. And
Dr. John U'Donovan, In a note to the Annals of the Fonr Masters, a.d. 1417, p. 832, sajrs:- -
478
APPENDIX.
APP. n.
PoembT
AilbM,
dauffhter
of Cor mac
Mae MrL
(circa A.i>.
S60.)
O ! Lumlaine, urge me not onwards,
That I be not touched by a Meschoin Muaid,^^^^
Were it not for Leca Luqdach Lis,^^'^)
Eoin Bic Baile^^^> would be in existence.
The hcart-lovc of my softest desire,
The dauji^Iiter of Tarn's king, in the North ;
Anil the beloved of my soul are
The young warriors of cold Almhain.^^^^
** It Is quite cviacnt that it (Cam Ctlns) is the hill now called the Tops, which ia situated on
the boundary of the ditH'e.se of Dei ry ami Kaphoe, and between Kaphoe and Donoghmore.
Donnghmure Church .stands to the right of the road, as you go from Stranorlar to CasUefln,
within one mile of tlie latter". Struvc Point is marked on Beaufort's Ecclesiastical liap,
inside Inishowen Head, on the bay which firms the entrance to Loch Feabhaill (Loogh Foyle).
(This Loch Feabhaill it«e\{ derives Its name from Ftabhall, the son of Lodan^ the father of
Bran^ one of the Tuatha Di DanannJ)
(IG) Ferta Maujhetu—ThXn name would signify the Graves of the Field, that is, of some
particular Held, or place. In our ancient laws, Alaighin dighona signified an Inviolable endo-
sure surrounding u man's hou.se.
(17) Snidhe L'litf/nn, — now Mount Leinster, in the county of Wexford, on the east aide of
which Ferta Main/ifn niunt liave been situated, according to our text. Suidhe Laighen is
believed to siirnify the Seat, or Sittlnj^-place. of the people of Lelnst^r. at some of their great
meetings. '1 here can b<> no doubt. 1 thinic, that tills mountain was the same as the SHabh
Suidhe Chonchffrb (fol. '^4 of the Hook of Leinster). or, more proj>crly, Stiubh Uigh^, Chonchorb^
that Is, the Mountain of Cucftorb'K Fate, or Death, as It Is called also In the same liooli, at foL
241. [See N\)ri; on f'uchorb, and Mftadhbh's Klc>r>', at the end of this Appendix (p. 480).]
(18) M'fchoin Afnaid. — Ucu Lwjdach Li». — E6in Bic Bttilc. Althoujih these words are all
intelligible in their direct and ordinary sij/nification, yet it would be toully impossible for
any one to <liscover. without some exijlanation, what connection they could* have with the
present text. This explanation has conie to lij^lit, in wln)le or in part, verj' unexpectedly, in
several distinct jilaces, none of them in illnH-t connection with the ijoeni, though one of
them h is reference to it. The tir.>t jdace in which the explanation is found Is In the ancient
vellum MS. chiefly connlstinc of Laws (class II. \\, 18.T.C.D.). a volume which has been already
so often referred to in the course of these Lectures. At pairc 4 of this volume. In the lower
margin, and apart, of course, from any connection with the laws, is to be found this very
stanza of our poen) which re()uircs the explanation, with some curious variations of the text,
an<l an interlined gloss, which, however, is not atTocted by the difference of text. The verse
rnns as follows: —
0 Plann of Line, urge me not onwards.
That I be not deluded by a Me»ehoin{a)
Muaidhib)
Were It not for Leca Lugdach Liu{c)
Eiiin Bic Baile{d) would be in existence.
T\AX) ^xocbiAcccoL-o inefdoin(a)
rt^^^^\^•6{h)
e6in t)icc t)Ailo(rf) nocbeicif.
The gloss (on the preceding words) is as follows : —
(a) barren, [impotent.]
(b) a Jealous man.
(c) blushes and di.sgrace.
(J) a kiss, and a strumpet.
(a) mef^oin .i. 'Dib|\44i
(A) tiiUAiti .1. fe]\ ecAi-o
(c) be<iCA lii^-ookt!; Ii|y .i. ^\uici ocuf
Aitif
(rf) eoin bicc bokibe .i. poic, ocuf
tr»ei|\'0|\c6.
Literally and ordinarily, a Afeschu (oblique, ife*choin) signifies a lap-dog ; Leca Lugdach
Liu signlrtes literally, the Flag-stones of Lntjaidh's Fort, or I'alace. Eoin Bic Bi%iU^ signifies
literally "Birds of little go«»d': out It would signify also "Little IJailtJ's bird-*", [in the
Dinnrtnchtu it is stated that ' Edin Baile, were Four Kisses of Acngns of Brugh na Boinni
(son of the Daghda Mdr, the great necromancer and king of the Tuatha DA Danann), which
were converted by him into 'birds which haunted the youths of Erinn'. This allusion
requires more investigation than I have yet been able to bestow on tlic passage.] The words
in the text, however, probably derive their poetic significance from .some acts of persons
of the names of Lugaidh and /inild. of any person of the latter name we know nothing
except the hero of the preceding Iragedy; but of the name of Lwrhaid, there arc many
remarkable men to be found in our ancient history. There was Lugh, or Lughaidh, Mae
Eithlenn, the famous philosopher, and king of the Tuatha O^ Dnnann, who holds so distin>
gulshed a place In the Second Battle of Afagh Tuirtadh; he was the foiuider of Naas, Jn the
county of KUdare, and hence that ancient city was calleil Lis L*>gha, and Lis Luighdhech^ or
Lugaidh't Palace. He was also the founder of the ancient TniHtin. in Meath, and one of the
primitive courts, or forts, there was called after hlra, Raith Lugfidhach, or Lis Lughdhaeh.
I should have little hesitation in referring the words of our text to cither of these ancient
courts, but that the following more appropriate application of them is made to what appears
to me to be a different Lis Lughdftach. The words occur in the Interlined Gloss to a poetn
APPENDIX. \ ^1/ 479
O I Lumlulnef^^^^ urge me not onward, ^pp, ji^
Thou Victory of Valour, tliou Sun of Hosts, ' — -
If it is like this our path shall be, poem b/
It shall cause our death every time [some time]. AiibM,
daughter
written by Cinaeth Cllnrtagain. (who died a.t>., 976), on the Manner of Death, and Place of Mae AirL
Sepulture of nevenil of the mo*t dlstlnguUhed Kings and Wurriors of ancient Krlnn, of the Mi- (circa a o.
le«liin race. My copy of thla p«n^ni, with the Glcws, I made myself »ome vcam atco flrom a 260 >
▼ellum MS. belouRlug to Mr. William Monk Mason ; and there In another copy of it In the Hook
of Leinster, but without the Qlosa. The poem consists of thirty -eight stanzas, and begins:—
pATiHA bACA^ in ewAin Warriors that were in Etnain,
1 tlAlft C|\tlAeAn, bl CeniA1]\, In Raith Cruachan, in Temair,
1 tuA(Ai|\ LuAi-oef cti|U\i-6, In Luachair, where champions trod.
In Aibnt), in 1a|\ tTluihAin. In Ailiinn, in West Mumhain.
The tenth stansa of tlils poem is that with which we are now concerned, and the followlnff
are the two first lines of it :- -
teic Con|\tii bi Stcib tni]*f> CwruCs gnve in Sliabh ifU,
Ledc tuijDed f o tecCAib tiff* LugkaidtC$ grare under the flags of his fort
The Gloss on this last line runs thus :—
rreofVA U?CC4\ tiff ttiigDcd .1. 5|xeff, The three flogs ofLiigaiJh't fort were, Mur-
ocuf ]\uicci, ocuf mebuU dor, and iibgrace, and Treachery.
There can be no doubt hut tliat the Lutjaidh mentioned here was L\ujaiJh'ma<-na-tri C4n,
that Ir "Kon of the three Cons (or Cii's"); that Is, of Citroi Mac Uair^.; CiKhulainn; and
Conall Cramnch. }Ie whm called Son of the three Cons (or Cu'.h) because it wan believed that
bis mother. BUuhnait, the wife of i'uroi, had had connection with the two other Cii's, ss well
as with her hu^band. It wa4 this Lugaidh that Iiilled Cuchufainn^ one of his reputed fathers,
at ttie pnat lluht of Mmrtheiutie; but he was followed home by his other reputed father,
Omnif Cmrunch, who overtook and Jellied him in turn at Coirthe Lnghnidh (or LughaitTg
Rock), In Ainjet-JKo$ (a district lyiuK on the west side of the itivcr Nofe, below the present
town of Hallyrawet, in the present county Kilkenny;. Luohaiilh was buried here, as will
be seen from the following lines of the thirteenth stanza of the poem :—
-ACA tc6r l,ui§t)Ot!: cc coif, Lughaul/t'* Rrave is, though silent,
p)n CA]\iin 111 muig AfjAcpoif. Under the Camn, in the plain ot Arffatros.
Whether the allojrod clremnstunce of LughauVs paternity, and that of slaying treacherously
CucfiHluiiiH, one of hU reputed fathers, be the most prominent of the three disgraces which
formed his urave In place of tiajrs, it would be useless to inquiie farther; but that the allu-
sion in Ailhhr* jKioni refiMK to him and thi-m, cannot. 1 think, be well doubted. Farther
speculntifrn, Imwever. would be fruitless, and J must leavi- the eluridation of the curious
mriaphoricjil witnlM in the tr.xt ti» Min»e more profound or ninre fortunate investl:;ator.
llie third allusion, by infereiwo only, to this stan/.ii In found in the MS. so often referred
to, Harl<M.in, 'rl^K ful. 127, ilriti.sh Museum. The follow iiii; words only apiiear in the lower
margin of the pa>:e : —
Coin bAili .1. bee ocuf mebul, no "Tlie lUrdsof /JaiV/, f. «, sin andshame; or
poc ocuf pi[i*6Ai]A. a kisM and sorrow".
Sereral other shiLrular fl^nratlve expressions occur in our ancient MSS , such as : —
** t>i in^n bAip .1. T)|\iiif ocuf "The two dauKrhters of Folly, Lust.and Evil
■ooAii\ir'. Counsel".
** p6c X>A bnonAi J .1. poc eu a ocuf " Tlie kiss of tlic two sorrowful persons, i. e.,
A-OAitn . t'"' ^*'** ^^ *^^'*^ •*"'* Adam", etc
I may mention one other remarkable instance of allusion to this Lera Lngdach Lis^ In a
poem given in the " Warn oi the Danes". The flrat versc of tlii.s poem is as follows :—
^ T)ub|\A^ fib ■ont f <>"OCAf , — Ton were desired to go to the South,—
tlnlAm U-if, — AC Iiii5;l'AC tif Iteady, too.— at Lughaidh's Lis
•Do -ocbAit) TAC ce^lAC CaiI : To battle with the house of Tal:
•Oa tma^C 6 Cemf A15 \:<<^ pf . From Temair of Fdl comes the roesMge.
Tliepoem is introduced tl.us:-When Brian UorotmA^ demanded ^f^^'f^//'"!''fj^^?;^'
tinn. tlR. latU-r sent the rhief poet ot !/f.idh (^f'l^<^'^''l'^'''' '' ''^'^^^^^^^
of ULtvr, to Induce him to come with his forces to the » »>»-^'»t^"«^^ ,"»""""' ,?,;^^^^^
poet arrives at O'Neill h curt, and addresses him In a long pm m, of w hlch | »»J* ;]^'*'/"J
stanza The Lwihadh Lis (<.r Li* Lvghachj liere means lara, so named from the .«uinie hugh
tram an ancestor of Brian, who had the surname of Mac Tdil (literally, "S»«n of the Adze ),
480 APPENDIX.
APP. n. [Of CucnoRB ; with the original (and translation) of a Poem on his
Death, by MEADHBn, the Daughter of Conan ; from the Booh of
aSSam. LeiiisUr (MS. IL 2. 18. T.C.D., fol. 24 b. b.)]
Jf^lS! (See ante, Note (17) to App. IL ; ante, page 478.)
(8.a 1.) ISliahh Suidhe CAoncAorJ.— This Cuchorb (in the gen. case, 'Chonchorb')
was the son of Mogh Corb, who was the son of Conchobhar Abradhruadh^ who
was Monarch of Erinn for one year only, when he was killed, a.m. 6192, the
year before the birth of Christ. Cuchorb had to his wife the celebrated
Meadhbh Leith-dherq, or * Meave, the Half-red', daughter of (Jonan of CuaUnaiy
but she eloped from him with the man who slew him. Cuchorb was killed in
a battle (of which our annals preserve no account) by Feidhlimidh Rechlmhar^
father of Conn of the Hundred Battles, somewhere in Leinster, — probably
at this mountain, where he was buried. His former wife, Meave, it appears,
was present at his hiterment, and pronounced an elegy over him in a poem
of eight quatrains. This poem is so curious, and one copy of it so ancient, and
60 interesthig in a philological point of view, that I am induced to give it a
place here. The poem is introduced by a short sketch of the queen herself:—
tlo bu-d ni6fv c|^<^, ne]\c ocuf cu- The strength and power of this
w AdcA m eiTibe ipn , f o|^ p]\ti e|\enn ; Meadhbh [Meave] was great over the
Ai^Mfi nA l^ijex) ]\i a CemAi|\ gAn a men of Erinn ; for it was she that
belt f ein Aige tiA mnAi. Ocuf if would not permit any king in Temair
\A con|\ocAdc in|\i5|\4Sic fO|^ cAcb [Tara] without his Iiaving herself as
Ceni|\A .1. llAid mei-6be. Ocuf x>o wife. And it was by her was erected
|\oine fi c|\eb tojAi-oe ipn |\Ait pn, the royal Rdith by the side of Temair^
imbicif TMJA, ocuf otLAtnuin ja^a namely, /?ffVM3f<f*</A /Me (20) [Meave's
t>^nA. Ocuf ip in meiib pn ■oo Raith]. And she built a choice house
|\oine in tnA|\nAi"oh -do Co1n6o^^b within that Rdithy in which kings,
incAn -po mopbAT) h6. -Ag fAfu* and the chief masters (Ollamhs) of
tiA cU)i6» pt fO|\ hp Concopp ic every art used to assemble. And it
8b6ib tl1'6eConco^^b If AnnT)0|\oirje was that Meave that composed the
nie^b in WAixbnAiT) op-oivAic. death song for Cuchorb when he was
killed. At setting up the stone which
is upon the grave of Cuchorb at Sliabh
Uidhe Chonchorb it was that Meave
composed the admirabledeath-song: —
• « • • •
niAcc mojAcofbb cebAf ctii, Moghcorh's son conceals renown,
Cunf e|\Af c|\ii ■oajxa gAib, Well sheds he blood by his spears ;
-AiL uAf A tigi bA tiA6, A stone over his grave, — 'tis a
"bAflAi-oe dLiAt T)Ai\ Cli6 mAit. pity, —
Who carried battle over Cliu
beeaoM hit foster-father was a carpenter. The FM mentioned here was the Lia Fdi^ the
ancient stone on which the nioD&rchs were crowned at Temair {incorrectly supposed, as my
readers are aware, to have been after^'ards taken from Erinn to Scone, In Scotland, and
thence into England; Incorrectly, for the stone so long In Westminster Abbey, upon wtiich
the English kings are crowned, whatever stone it may have been in ancient times, Is now
Imown for certain not to have been the celebrated Lia FAxT).
(19) il/mAam.— Now the Hill of Allen. In the county of Kildare, the ancient residence and
patrimony of Finn Mae CumhaHl; and the warm allusion to It in the text may, perhaps,
be taken to ^Ive some countenance to the Ide^ tliat Finn, or some one of his warriors, was
Implicated in the adventure, whatever it was, with King Cormac's daughter.
(20) Raith MeicUibhi.— This great old rath or fort remains still a cuuspicuous object, on an
eminence a little south by east of the III 11 of Tara.
(21) Clid JUdel.—Cliu was an ancient district In the barony of Coslea, In the county of
Limerick. It received the addition of Jfaei from lial, the sun of the monarch Ugaini M6r
having been slain there.
(22) Aih Finn Fd»/.— "The fair (or white) Ford of F&V\ This place Is not known to me;
bat It most, I think, have been situated in Leinster, and probably near the shore, or island
of B^g Erinn (which was anciently called InU F4il), In the bay of Wexford.
▲PPBIIDIX.
481
b^ -oepb A bftoe in ce^ iiai|\c ;
"DubiTMit |\i b|\Ati A b|\Ae,
5^itn\ A 5Ae |\i liAitc.
Ai\6eri i\o conuiAgmAif ai\ CAe,
AllX-OtJltl^ A f C1AC jM fC^kt,
po|\c* |\i liejxent) cftogtiAib c|\ia*,
Ha 6oT)tiAi5 fciAt jM CAC fce6,t
e^ ca| bi\e*§ biAtAif -oiA bi^xll
Se6c CA^A nA t^e in a ifrift,
lnn\Ae 'DID wAfi ca6 nAitc;
Ca CAt "oib, inpiAT) in bee,
tlAft wngbAt) c6c in caC ai|v:.
Cfi CA^A A^A pint) IT^it,
CAt AtA in Sc^it bAfCAe |VAen ;
CAt jTofCA^ bA fOftpA^ niA-o**
lpoce]\ ^A citiA^tt TTlAige mAein.
Ca* gtAiffe C|\ic1ie ^ ct6e,
nice [recte Inte] ■oiAinbAe bjte^A
AixMig;
CAt "bepnAif Jt nAbejXc in Cii,
1lAtAipbi|\ A en w c|\ij f Ag^ib.
• .1. ^obAt |\i itigAib liei\enT) 6,
t .1. CAnjin.
$ .1. rniAt).
§ .1. WAC a|\e.
I .i.SAe.
1 .1. f Offtit) -OA JOf C.
•• .1. ctienfe^
ft .1. IM.
tX .1. 11 bi tAigei* UecA m6|\.
My noble king, he spoke not fiUse- ^p. ^
hood; ' '
HiA socceM was certain in ereiy Poem hj
danger ; MeadMh,
Ab black aa a raven was his brow ; ??^^
As sharp was hiB spear as a razor. ?,olT*'
As white was his skin as the lime;
Together we used to go upon refec-
tions.
As high was his shield as a cham-
pion,
As long was his arm as an oar.
The fork* against the kings of Erinn,
sons of chiefs,
He maintained his shield in every
cause ;t
Countless^ wolves§ fed he with his
spear,||
At the heels of our man in every
battle.
Seven battles fought he for his land, —
He swept over them like any
razor;
What battle of them — admirable
the deed!—
In which he warded not off an
hundred in every danger?
The three battles of Ath Finn F&il,^^^)
The battle of Ath an ScdUS^^) of
bloody field;
The battle of Fossud,^— 'twas the
puissance of a hero,** —
Was fought by the Chief ft oiMagh
MaeinJ**^
The battle of Glaisd Criehd^^^) ho
broke [gained.] —
The man who had the deciding of
battles ;
The battle of BermuXX^^^^ the
Hound^*^ fought,—
His valour brought blood upon hif
spears.
* t. e., he was the sustaining forked
column Tor prop) of his countiy
against tne kings of Erinn.
t u f ., cause.
X i' e,y much, many.
§ i. e,j a wolf.
II I. e., a spear [so in second copv.l
if I. f ., the Camp (or residence) of the
Two Fields.
** t. e., Knight, or Champion.
ft 1. e.. King.
XX <• ^M ubi Laiyhes Beta M6r.
(W) Ath in 5rd/7.— "The Ford of the Champion". Not known to me.
(34) Magh MafAn.—'' Tlic Plain of JIae.n". It happens, sinKularly «noagh, that the sltnatlon
of this ancient plain can still be traced with sufficient if not perfect accuracy. By aa
Inqnisitlon taken at New Hoss, on the 9th of April. 1638, it was found that one William
Fwlonfe bad been seized of the manor of Uoretown, otberwlae Caniroise, and the cMtle tad
81
482 APPENDIX.
A PP. n. ^^ cTioff^iri 'oa A|Mn a ^1n, He defended by hU amiB his land.
- -^ — — t>A|\ m A|\b tM5 n jk|\ bo lac ; When he killed kings who were not
l»oem by CopiAin ^AtiAii Sipiif pcli, weak ;
MeadhbK t)A T)inrAXti -oit An iti wac. W. To conquer Crailiad^^^ he rmised s
«»"Kjjter contest;
(u.c!^T Alas, that dcstmction has come on
the son. [The son, etc.
APPENDIX, No. III. [Lect. I., Page 5, note ^•^J.
ThreePoems Tlivee Poeiiu hy 'Oulb^Ac U A t/ti5Ai]t, Chief Poet of ilie Monarch
uaLugair; t^AegAHAe {wlio flourished A.D. 432), on ilie triumphs of
(A.D.4W.) enriA Cenrelo^c and his son CpmcAnn, kifigs of Leinster
(from the Book of Leinster [H. 2. 18., T.C.D.], fol. 25).
I. I.
T)UbhcbACb .>1. ttl^Ain. CC. DUnnTHACH THE SON OF LUOAIR
CECINIT.
AtTOfu ininiA|\bAi5 ^i tAjiiib, It is difficult to contend with Lein-
t^Atti|\ refvoA, stermen,
tMAb^\AiT) tonjfcfi |voniA|\b cViob- In manly actions.
tA<^, Lahhraidh Loingsech^^^^ it was that
1 UuAitn cenbou killed Cobhthach
At Tuaim Tenha.
Tillage and 1«md«i of ITorctotm, as well aa many other lands that we meet with, not set fortt la
this note ; and nlsu. of one com mill, and fulling mill, called Fouck's milL, and the adTOwaoa
and rii|;lit of prcscntution to the church and rector}' of the Blessed Virgin Mary, of Iloretown,
otherwise Afafjhmaine. It was found In another Inquisition, taken at Wexford, the 17th of
August, 1<>4I. tlint Mat. Fitz-IIarrlfi. late of Mackmapne, in the county of Wexford, and
An^tacu. his wife, had been seized, dnrinu; the term of their lives, of the village and lands of
Afackinai/uf.. And acnin, nn the 16th of April. 1G41, in the same place, it was fbnnd that
Mat. I'itz Harris had Ix'en seized in his lifetime of the manor of Afaghmayne, and of the
villacc and land of Mnf/hmai/ne. (Horetown, I may state. Is now. or was latelv, 1^ seat of
WilliuMt Goir. F.Kq. ; it \n situated on the old road leading; from New Ross to Wexford, and
about throe ml'e* tM)nth-wt .t of Taclimon. See L^ici't' Topographical JHctUmary.)
(•2.'>) (!lai*M' CncM, literally, "the boundary stream".— Tliis stream was situated in the
county of Kild.ire, and formed* the eastern boundary of an ancient territory which extended
from it to a place called i-ad<i, in Luighis (Leix), in the present Queen's County. (Book 9f
Lecain, fol. m. 1 ()•.».)
(2H) Brrnas {nhi Laighes Rt.tn 3fiSr).—Dem(u raeanA, literally, a Gap in a Hill. Lai^tU
is tlie present diJitrict of Leix. in the Queen's County; and Rfta Mdr, (jlreat Rtta^ or
Magh litta, was the name of an ancient plain in that county. The name Is still prescrced
under the|An(;Ucized form of ' Morieh', und is a manor in the barony of Portnahlnch, adjoining
the great Heath uf Maryborough, in the Queen's County. (See O'Donovan's AnnaU qf (As
Four Mailers, a.m. 3;)20, note 9.)
(27) Hound.— Cu signifies a Hound; Corh (or, more properly forp) signifies Body: hence,
Cu-chorp, Hound's body. Corbmac Mac Cuilt-nnAin gives a diflTerent meaning to vorh: that
of " corrupt ", or '* chariot " ; but neither of tliese could well be compounded with OL
('2H) (htilian; an ancient name of Le'.nster.
(29) Labhraidh Loingsich.—Ue killed the monarch Cobhthach C<ul, his own grand-llnd^
A.M. 4C08, and assumed the sovereignty himself. Labhraidh was bom in Leinster. Tuaim
Tenba, where this occurrence took place, is the place long known as Dinn Righ. It is sitnated
in the townland of Ballyknockan, a quarter of a mile to the south of Leithghlinn Bridge, on
the west bank of the river Barrow, county of Carlow.
(HO) Eochu Centelach—VL\i^ surname of Cetuelach (literally foul-laugh, according to our old
etymologists) was applied to Eochu * father, Enna Cetuelach, and not to himself! HLifkther
was king of Leinster; and, to secure his fealty, the monarch Kiall, when come to the supreme
tiirone in a.d. 379, insisted on having the young prince Eochu placed in his hands as a hostage.
The prince, however, soon escaped to his own coimtry ; and years afterwards, when MUll
made his last expedition to the continent, he was followed in disguise by this EochUy who
found an opportunity of killing him with a dart, with which he shot him, acrom the rirer
Loire, in the year 406.
APPENDIX.
483
eodu Cetifetdfi wac entiAi,
t)A |\1 jXAcllAcIl,
Aft ngeiniLeo ^6\X niA|\bAfCAi\
lllAti
TTlAc ecliAcli.
IfCIt) nUA'DU tledc tUAC S^CtlAI,
Sa6|\ a bun^t),
tloTTiAfb ece|\fc6t mAC eogAiti,
IfCit) ire]\5tif mAC 11615 •01 tltcAib,
tlAfiguf n5AttnA|\,
Altltt mAC tlOf A TlUAIT),
^6ai|\ 'oA mAfibAT).
Ha c]\'i tluA-o-dint) bAtn tAjnib,
t/A^froA 1nc|^obAn5,
tHA|vbf AC tucAi-o* ocuf CotiAifte,
OCUf COtlAtU
e^c mAC CAif^pt^i ctot^i >iei\en'o,
COflA tU^ITi-O,
rent) inbA|\'pJin'o bencAif a ter\x>
Eochu Cenulach ^^^ the son of Enna^ ^pp, jjj^
Was a prosperous king ;
^ .1. i\iAbnt)e|\5.
After [Main haTing bound hostages, Three Poems
he [Bochu] killed Mali otDubkthMh
The son of Echaidh. (^if^*p
And Nuadhu Necht,^*^^ also, the son
of SetnOf
Noble his orig^
He killed Ecleracel, the son of Eo-
ghan
The high king of Munster.
And Ferghua Mac Roigh^ ("> also, of
the Ultonians
Of the gallant deeds,
It was Ailill^ the son of Roi Ruadh,
He found to kill him.
The three Red-heads<''> were of Loin-
ster,
A valiant cluster :
Tliej killed Lughaidh* and Conaird
Ajid Conall.
Ere, the son of Cairprif<^*> famed king
of Erinn,
With his multitude.
Stoutly the Fair-haized one cut his
head
Off Cuchulainn,
* i,e.y ILughaidh], the rcdstreakcd.
(31) Nuadhu Necht.^Ue was the son of Setna Sithhhaic, king of Leinstcr, and slew the mo-
narch Eterseel at Ailinn (near Kilcnllen, in the present county of Kikiare), a.m. 60»i^, when
he assumed the monarchy himself.
(32) Ferghut Mac Roigh.—Re was son to Rot Jluadh, and grandson of Rudhraidhe, monarch
of Erinn, who died a.m. 4981. Fergus was one of the most celebrated of the Knights of the
Royal Branch of Ulster ; hut, after the treacherous death of the sons of Uimeach, for whose
■afety he was guarantee, he passed in disgust Into (Tonnacht, where he was well receired hy
Queen Mtadhbh (Mcave) and her hushan(l, AiliUy who was the second son of another Roe
Rnadh, the king of Lelnster. He was subsequently slain, at the request of AUUl^ by Lughaidh^
that prince's brother, through Jealousy, lie was called Ferghu* Mac Roigh firom his mother,
Roieh,
(33) The three 72«i-Aead«.— Although these " Red-heads" arc set down here aa Leinstermen,
It is stated, in an ancient account of the death of Conall Cemaeh^ that they were of the
Eraeans of Munster Lughaidh Riabh-nderg^ monarch of Krinn, died, a.m. 6191, of grief for
the death of his wife, Derbhfhorgaill, daughter of the king of Lochlainn (according to the
Annals of Clonmacnois and other authorities). I have never read anywhere but here that he
fell by "the three Kcd-heads". Neither is it mentioned in the veij ancient account of the
death of the monarch Conaird M6r (a tale known as Bruighen Da Derga), that he fcU by the
Ked-heads, although they arc introduced into the story as messen gers of ill omen to him.
Conairi met his death at the place now called Bothar na Bruighni, near Tamhlaeht (or Tal-
Ucht) in the present county of Dublin, at the hands of British and 1 rish outlaws, a.m. 5160. Conall
Cemaeh^ one of the celebrated Knights of the Royal Branch of Ulster, retired in his advanced
age to the court of Ailill and AUadhbh (Meave), at Cruachain, In Connacht. Uere he was
well received, until the queen, in a moment of Jealousy, incited him to avenge her wrongs on
her husband, Ailill. The old warrior threw a spear at the king, which inflicted npon him a
mortal wound. Conall fled then, but was pursued by the three " Red-heads", who, at this
time, were In the pay of Aillill. They soon overtook and beheaded him, after which they
carried his head into West Munster, in revenge for the death of Curoi Mae Dairi^ king of
that country, who liad been shortly l>efore slain by Cuchulainn and the Ulstermen.
(84) Ere the ton of Cairpri.^ Cairpri Siafer was king of Erinn for a short time, at or
about the Incarnation ; but he is not counted among the Monarchs. It was his son Ere
that beheaded Cuchulainn after the great slaughter of MuirthHmhni^ and it was in revenge
of this act that his own head was cut off afterwards by Conall Cemach, as will be seen in the
note on AmUI^ near Tara [Appendix, No. XXVIII.].
(36) The ton of yatfraech.—'n\\^ was Attnghia, the sob of Satfraech, king of Munster, who
was the first person baptized by St Patrick In that country. Eithn^. Uathach ("the detestable**),
daughter to the Crimthan, king of Lelnster, mentioned in the next stanza, was his wife.
They were both killed tu the battle of Cill-Sotad, or Cill Omadh, near Leithghlinn, in the pre-
sent county of Carlow, a.p. 489. Of Degha, who slew the queen, we have no farther account
31b
484
APPENDIX.
APP. in. C^'o ^^^ 1lAT)^Ai6 Oenguf mumATi,
Con A yoLiiMtro
Three Poem* 1c Sof f AT) Chell bdpf dcAlb A dCMTO
of Dubhthach Va AlbtU
Ua Lugair;
(A D. 430.)
T)0|^oc^1A1|^ aito Cittic Ua^ a6,
Amni x>A|\cpebA,
5|\Ain coii?;ai]\j;c, b^ -00 lAgnib
CAH^pp1 rriAC "OegA.
Ci-o Aibtt mole cocAii 06 A,
"bA |\i ^AtAcll,
Co ^p1(^A1c <^6c 'oo|\|^AC in6c
C^MmtAn CAtAd.
Co|^d'|^A^A1^ I'utro UAifUj heixetro
tTlA|^^^A MA-OINAt),
I76 AtToit. cerToimbl/AT)
TiA tV'lg pAgtAtl.
Even the son of Natfraeeh^^^^ Oengkus
of Munster,
With his forces,
At Sossad' Chell, he left his head
With Ailill.
Tlierc fell there Eithne Uaihaek,
A name beyond tribes,
(A barbarous deed !) Of the Lein-
stemieu
[Was] Cairpri, son of Degha,
Even Ai/ilh^) Molt, till the battle of
Ocha,
Was a prosperous king ;
With thirty hundred, he was hurled
to death
By Crimthan of battles.
There fell there the nobles of Erinn,
As was foretold ;'^*'>
That was their fate, without dis-
grace,
The kings most noble.
It is difficult [etc.].
l-oetn "OubcbAch ceicimc.
CfvimiAn cloir^i coicit) he^Aenn
he6cA|A eljT^A,*
Dnumne 'oo|\ nnUb mole A,
uptii'oni beiAjA.
t)|MAitA|A p|\eti UA l)|\ef Alt t)e6l-Ai5
THic 1^A<^Ad!,
iTi bA|\ pApbpunnib i^bpeg tVib^A-
tA^,
In fCAt f 01 At Ad.
1n fcet rcAiti-o biLijA-o bAi-og "bAnbA
ITAn riioid i^ib|\iz;Ad,
In b|\ef betpAi, in b]Ae6 bAgAd,
1n 5LC6 giiimAd!.
1n pnnf AlAin-o Ly lAjnedAib
tip te|\5m6i|A,
In pAl fofcAit, A|Aced pnc6ip.
In fliAD X)e]A56ip.
• (.1. be^en-o).
n.
IDEM DUBTHACH CECINIT.
Crimthan, the famous king of [the]
province of Erinn,
The Hector of Elgga ;*
The topping chief of a thousand lau-
dations,
Of bristling mansions ;
A righteous word, the grandson of
Breaal JBeolach,
Son of Fiacha;
The vigilant chief on the border of
Bregia;
The shielded hero.
The fame which is proclaimed by the
boastful bards of Banha
Throughout the great world ;
The puissant king, the battle-torch;
The [man of] decdful conflicts.
The splendid countenance above the
Leinstcrmcn
Of the broad-bordered Liffey;
The munificent prevailcr in every &ir
succour ;
The mountain of red gold.
♦ (e.tf., Erinn).
(30) Ailill Mftlt.- Ailill (or Oiliolt) Molt wu son to the celebrated King DatM, and sncceeded
King [.aeijhnir4 In the monarchy In a.i>. 4.W. He wii8 kllh d In tlic battle of Ocha (qu., iichain^
near Taru ?>. a.d. 478. Crimhthnnn. the won of Enna Centefach, king of I^Ui^tcr, for whom
tliM pueni was written, took puit in thin battle against the monarch ; hut thU is the only place
in which I have (bund it stated that the monarch fell by him, except in a marginal note on
O'Duinn'i poem on the Triumphs of the Kings of I^einster. (at folio 24 of the Book of
Leinster.) [See OMVmovan's Annals of the Four Mastery a.i>. 47rt.]
(37) Ai teatforetolJ.—Sce stanxa 22 of the next poem, where it is sUted that St Patrick
foretold this victory for Crimhihan four years previously.
(A.D. 480.)
APPENDIX. 485
In •ootT "o^cnef '0]\on5<x DomtiAtro, The tree which vards the Domnann^'*^ ^pp, i„,
"Oon dtA|x dAtbAt, multitudes ' '—
In wAi-bm fo^t mi-oi, w^Ait) nii]r|\e6 Off the death-battle plain; Three Foom»
In nAi*m nAt]\A6. The defeat of Meath, mad, terrified; of Dubhihach
The serpent's knot. aV'tSS?**
In nei>c n4xnci\en'o, nd cAewnACAip The intolerable strength that camiot
Ct6'o nA cofCAT), be
CfUAiT) A-oefcob, CjMwtAn com- Subdued or checked ;
biiAiT), Hard his battle, Crimthan with tIc-
Ifco coTCOf. tory
And with trophies.
Ca* nA SAWAipe Af SAmAin, The battle of the <Samair,(") at Sam-
hainy
1f6 |\offOff A15, It was he that sustained,
t)A cue in niAi-6ni ac TlAii t)|xefAit, When he gave the overthrow at
^p niAig moiYAiT). Raith'Bresail;*^^
Upon Magh Mossaid,^*^^
(38) The Domnann multitude*. These were the men of Meath, poetically styled here the
Domnann inultitades, from Jnbher Domnainn, now the river aud bay of Malahide, in the
county of Dublin, bo called from a party of the Fir-bholg, the Domnann section of them,
onder their leader Stngand, having htndcd there. This Inbher Domnainn is mentioned in the
Tripartite Life of St. Patrick, where it is stated that he sailed from Inbher Dea (now Wlck-
low) to Inbher Domnainn, and from that to Ini* Patrqlc (the island of llolme Patrick), and
■o on to Ulster. Other evidences could be adduced in support of this identification. Indeed
a singular evidence of it remains on the spot itself; for, even to this day, the current and
eddy below the present bridge is by the inhabitants called ** Moll Downey", which cannot
possibly be anything else than a corruption of Maeil Domnainn^ Maeil being an ancient
name on tlie east coast of Erinn for an eddying or whirling current
(89) Samhair.—^ThiB is the river now corruptly called the Camhair, and, therefore, trans-
lated into the ** Morning Star". It rises at the western extremity of the chain of the Oailti,
or Galtee, Mountains; runs throngh the town of Bruff ; and passes into the Maigue a little
below Ururee In the county Limerick.
(40) Rdith DreataiL— It was at Rdith Breasail that the great convention of the clergy and
laity of Ireland was held under tiie auspices of the illustrious Ifuircheartach O Brien, king
of Mnnster (and indeed of all Ireland), in the year II 10. The situation of the place has not, I
believe, been known or identifle«l in modern times. Finding it set down in this poem, as in
the ronte of the valiant Crimthann, and in connection with the Siuir (the river Suir), and
In Magh Afouaid, leaves, I think, no further doubt of the district and province in which it was
altuated. A/a(/h MoMaid itself has not been, I think, identified by any writer of modem times ;
indeed I have never seen ttie name of this place in print at all, nor have I met witli any one
that ever heard of it l>efore. I have, however, myself l>een fortunate enough to meet with
two more references to Magh Mouaid besides the reference in the poem, and these are of so
clear a character as to leave no uncertainty whatever of the actual situation of this plain.
There is a very old story preAcrved in our ancient manuscripts, which gives an account of
the flrat discovery, in the fore.st, of the place in which now stands the celebrated city of
Cashel of the Kings. The discovery was made by two swineherds, one belonging to the king
of Eile and the other to tlic king of Aitucraighd, both territories lying to the north of (^hel.
When Corr, mn of Lwjhaidh, king of Munster, whose re^ddencc was situated farttier to the south,
heard of tlie discovery of this subsc(iueutlv celebrated spot, lie t(K)k immediate posses&lon of it,
and forthwith built a palace there, with tlic intention of making it his future residence.
ConaH, the kin<r of Eil/, having heard of this, w^is much angered. ** And then Conall, king
of Eili, said: 'Why is it that he has taken posses-sion there? for the place which he has taken
Is ours'. And lie ordered his people to go \)Ast Magh Mouaid southwards to Airceial that
night. And certain news reached them there next morning, namely, that a great feast had
been prepared by Corc^ son of Lughaidh, in Caiter. And when Conall heard this, he
countermanded the march, and went himself fontvard in a spirit of amity to honour the
housewarming of his friend by his prcAcncc (H. 8. 17.. T.C.D., fol. 675).
There is some reason to think, from passages in the Iri»h Life of St. Ifochaemhdg (or Pnl>
cherius). that the king of L'ilt* palace was situated somewhere near the ancient church of
Liath M<ir Morhnemhdg, now called l^eamokevoge, in the parish of Two-Mile Burris, barony
of Eliogarty (Eilt Ui Fhogartaigh), and county of Tippcrary. This valuable Life, however, con*
tains anoMier reference to Miujh Mouaid, which will enal>le us to fix its southern boundary
with precision. At the time that St. Mochaemhdg Sfttled at Liath MOr^ Failbht Flann
(who reigned a.d. 622 — H'M) was king of Munster, and residing at Cashel of the Klnga.
The king took a fancy to a meadow belonging to the saint, and had his horses turned
into it to graze. St. Mochaemhdg having heard of this act, went and had the horses
turned out of the meadow. When the king heard of this, he waa very angry, aud he
commanded soldiers to arrest the king of Eili and his children, and to kill them if
they would not ex]>el the saint out of that land. The saint gained intelligence of tbia.
and he went straight to Cashel, where the king was. After some sharp conduct on
both sides, the parties made peace, and the saint returned quietly to hia chorch.
486
APPENDIX.
APP. III. ^^c eririAi CenT)fetAi5, comtAni,
Con-o fotro ptie,
Thre« Poems t)Affit Siiaip t>A^ glian Aj^ige,
of ihtbhthaeh Set t)6n Sitre.
UaLugair; °
Ac6eff TniT)A6 TTlAige ^me
Se6 Off mAje.
1Tlo]\finT) meffie^, ocuf ITlAfceti,
Ocuf rnurriA,
rne]\AiT) CO bpikt nAtiT)e|\tiA
-Ac At mic tupiA.
The son of perfect Eima Cend§etmek,
Head of an original fiunilj ;
The iSnm<*'> flowed orer the knees of
his hones
Passing by Dun-SigheS^^^
The conqueror of Erinn all;
The victor of [Cnoc] AnS,^**)
The hero of Magh /tne(**> was seen
Passing oyeiEsa-Maighe.^**^
The great fjsdr-man of MeiHech,^*^>
void of MoMten,^*^)
And of Miighna ;
For ever shall liyCf what he did
At Ath'Mic Lugkna.^^)
Some nlghU after this the king had a rision. A oomelj Old Man« with a beaming eoimte-
nance, came to him, and taking him by the hand, led him fl'om his chamber to the battlement
of the walls of Cashcl on the south side, Arom which he saw the whole of Jifagh Feimhen tail
of a host of white saints in floweir forms. The king a&kcd the Old Man what noble host
they were. The Old Man answered, that they were St. Patrick and the saints of Erinn, who
had come to the relief of St. Mochaemhdg; and he ftarther told the king, that if he did not
make terms with the saint, he would soon die. The king slept then, and he saw again that
the Old Man took him by the hand and led hhn to the battlement on the north side, and he
showed him a vision similar to the first, namely, Magh Mo$$aid, filled with a flowery host, all
clothed in bright white garments. And it appeared to the king that they stopped at the
point of contact of the two bordering territories, namely, between Magh Ftmhin Kad'Magh
Mostaid. Tliesc were St. BHgiJ of Kildare, and St. /W of auain Credhail (now KUleedy, in
the county of Limerick), accompanied l>y all the holy virgins of Erinn, who had come to the
relief of St. Mochaemhdg, who was the nephew and pupil of St lU,
I need not Miy more now than that Magh Mouaid, at least its southern part, must hare
been that part of the present barony of Eliogarty which adjoins the northern boundary of
the ancient Corca EathracK, now the barony of Middle Third, in wlxich the city of Cashel Is
situated.
Of Rdith Breasail, which, according to our poem, was situated in the plain of Mosad^ I can
glre no farther account Even our profound ecclesiastical historian, Dr. Lanigan, had no
conception of the situation of Rdith Breasail, as will be seen fix>m the following passage :
'* Our writers do not tell us where Rath Breatail was situated, but if wu arc to Judge from
the name. I should think It was in the dlstiict anciently Hy-Bretail, now Clanbrassil, In the
county of Armagh; or in the other 7/y Bresail, that formed part of Uy-Falgia [Ui FaUghtl
(the ancient Offaly) in Leinstcr"— Lanlgan's " Irish Ecclesiastical History", toL iv., p. 87.
(41) Magh Mo*»aid.See last note (4U), on Raith BreasaiL
(42) 5t'ii/r.— The river Sulr.
(43) Diln Sight.— Hot known to me ; but it must have been situated to the west of the
river Sulr, and in the direction of Cnoc Aine (now called Knockany), county Umerick.
("44) .'lind.—Cnoe Ain^, now ICnockany, near Bruff, in the county Limerick.
(■ib) Magh Find.—T\\e Plain of Fini, probably some place in Leinstcr, but unknown to me.
(46) Es» Maighe.-ThAt Is, the cataract of the Maigh, now the waterfall of Cathair Eua
(Caherass), the noble seat of Sir David Roche, in the county of Limerick.
(47) Mefnech.—Th\» must have l>ecn the name of a place bordering on the north side of the
territory which the i>oet receiver! in reward of the poem. (See below, note 69.)
(48) Masten—gcnitWe of Maistin.— This was the well-known MuUach Maisten (Mollagh-
mast), in the county of Kildare.
(49) A th Mic Liighna.— The Ford of the son of Lughna. Of this son of Lughna I have not been
able to obtain any account and it is only by an Inference (amounting, however, to certainty)
that I have been able to fix the locality in which the Ford was situated. The Book of Lein-
ster in the library of Trinity CoUcge, Dublin, and the MS. classed Harleian, 5280, in the British
ifusenm, both contain an ancient tale, entitled Scit Muicci Mic Ddlhd, or the Story ot the
Pig of Datho's Son. The true name of Mae Ddthd was Me$roeda, and he was called Mac
Ddthd, [dd thd] or the son of the two silent persons, because his father and mother were deaf
and dumb. Mac Ddthd was king of Leinstcr, and brother to Mesgedhra, king of Leinstcr, the
same with whose bruin formed into a dried ImII Coneobhar Mac Neua, the king of Ulster,
was struck in the head by Ceat, the son of Magach, of Connacht [See Appbkdix, No. CLVL]
Mae Ddthd reared a famous hound, whose fame spread all over Erinn ; and messengers came
to him from AiliU and Meadhbh^ the king and queen of Connacht begging a present of this
hound from him. Other messengers arrived at the same time on the same errand firom
Coneobhar Mae Nrssa, king of LHster. Mac Ddthd saw in this coincidence a chance of drawing
the two northern provinces Into a battle, or perhaps a war, which would weaken the powei
of both ; for the weakness of the restless norihems was the strength of the southerns. Mae
Ddthd told the messengers of the two kings respectirely that he had already promised the
hound to the master of the other, and that he saw no way of getting out of the difficulty
but by both kings, with their nobles and choicest warriors, coming to his court at an ap-
pointed time, to partake of a feast which he Intended to prepare for them, and where he
APPENDIX. 487
Uijin im C)i|Mnic1iAtiT) wac etinoii The Leinstermen around Crimthan ^pp, xir.
Tlefc-Aic cAtwAi, sonofEnna, '-
A6c tminci|x niwi iriAntJ^tetn, Strong and valiant, Three Poems
Tl iwcli A rAmtA. Except the hoets of Heaven with their o' Dubhihach
Creator. LVSiu'
There is none to equal. ^ '
^X6 CiMtntAtit) dinnef A|\cik6, It is Crimthan that excels every one
Co ipi^t puled, In the hloody cause ;
If 6 oenfejx iffe|\|\ x>o fit, He is the one man, the best of the
5Aet)et ngxjined. seed
Of the wounding Gaedhils.
If^ C|MniiAiin cinnef AfCAi, It is Crimthan that excels every one
C6cAib |\uAcViAp, In hundreds of expeditions;
floi|\Ai%) cfidA ctewtiA Ab|XAtAp, He has tortured the lands of his
met)bA CjxuAdAn. cousin's allies,
[That] of Medhbh [Meave] of •
Cruachain.^^)
If 6 |\o6|\eici 'oo pAcpAic, It is he that believed Patrick <**^
Cen t>iip trotiji'o, Without hard conditions;
riof 5Ab "OAnindAixAic thjy d|\et)Ait, He received him as a chaste holy
Oc KiAt "bitic. soul's friend,
At Rduh BilighS^^
might probably so arrango between them as to extiicate himself fhmi his difflcnltf . The
appointed time came, and the northern kings, with a selection of their nobles and champions,
arrired in due time at Mac Ddth^t court, which appears to hare been situated in the southern
extremity of the present county of Carlow {Ctatharlach). The generous host had killed for
the occsNion his famous pig (for some account of which see Battle of Magh Lina, published
by the Celtic Society, page 14, note n). The company having sat down to the feast, a dlffl-
Cttlty arose as to which of the northern prorinces should have the cutting up and distribution
of the great pig. After a sharp contest, in a comparison of the relative military merits of th«
two provinces, carried on chiefly by Ccat ifetc Marjnch of Connacht, and Conall Ctamach, the
famous rister champion, the cutting was conceded to the latter. Conall sat at the pig's taU,
and distributed it lil>crally to his own countrymen ; but when he thought at la^t of his nelgh«
boiirs of Connacht, he found that he had nothing remaining but the pig's two fore logs, and
these he threw to them disdainfully, and with a sneer which hinted that they were emblem-
atic of the speed with which the Connachtroen fled before the Ulstermen. A fierce conflict
ensued, blood was spilled in abundance, and the Connachtroen retreated northwanis. The
hound, which had beeu let loohe by Hac Ddthd, joined (he I'lstermen, and, coming up to the
chariot in which Ailill and MfatUibh were on their retreat, Hprang upon it; the charioteer
struck it In the neck with hU sword, so that the head fell into the chariot, and the body to
the groun(L I'hc hound's name was Ailbh^^ and it was believed that it was from it that Magh
Ailbht, (Ailbhe's plain) where It was killed, derived its name. This plain is believed to have
been on the borders of the pn»!k-nt counties of Cailow and Kildare, but within the border of
the latter, and a short distance north of the present town of Carlow. The king and queen
pursued their course northwards still, to Belaeh Mughna of old Roirinn (now Bailaghmoon, in
the county of Kildare, where Cormac Mac Cuileinidin, Ring and Archbishop of Cashel, was
killed in a.d. 903). over Ath Midhbhinni (u locality not now known), to Maistin (now the cele-
brated Mullnch Maiiten, or Mullemant, in the county of Kildare), past Dntim Criaigh (called
cm Dara, Kildare, at}this day), past Hdith Imghain (lUithanganJ, to Pidh n-OaibbU (the
wood of the Oabhal, or fork of the two rivers, which met near Clonsost, in the north-east
comer of ancient Ui Failghi or Offaly, and of the present King's County, north-west of Katli-
angan) ; to Ath Mic Lughnn (the Ford of the Son of Lughna) ; this ford must have been upon
the north-east branch of the Gahkal) ; past Druim dd Mhaighe (the Hill of the Two Plains),
now Drumcaw, in the parlnh of Ballynakill, barony of Coolestown, in the north-east comer of
the King's County [see O'l>onovan's Annals of the Four Masters, a.d. 15JX), p. 1543, note m.];
orer Droichtt Chairpri,— (Carprl's Bridge ; not known to me, but probably it was the same aa
Tochur Chairpri, [Carpri'b CauAeway], a place lying south of Clooard, [Cluain Iraird,] along
which the boundary line of Meath and Leinster passed to QtisiU, near Tullamore, in the King's
County.— [See Kcting in the divisions and boundaries of the five provinces of Erinn.]— Carpri'a
Bridge was over the Hoyne. in the present barony of Carbury, in the northern comer of the
county of Kildare); to Ath Chinn Chon (the ford of the hound's head), in Fera Bili (now
barony of Farbill. in Westmeatti). It was here ho (the charioteer) cast the hound's head
out of'^the chariot And hence the name of this Ath iMnn Chon^ or the ford of the hoimd'a
bead, now very probably Kinnegud.
I have denignedly followed the chariot of king Ailill and Queen JUeadhbh thus far, to the end,
that the authority of so ancient a tract as the story of Mac Ddth^s Fig should bear evidence
to the antiquity of the above several topographical names, as well as to the accuiacy with
which they have been identified by Dr. O'DonoTan in hia learned notes to the Annals of the
Four Masters.
((rO) Mcdhbh of Cn(achain.~T\\\% was the Meadhhh mentioned in the preceding note. Her
488
APPENDIX.
APP. III. 1«betiiiA6cti t)onAc tioconu|\^^iit>,
A\\ meitt CO til,
The bleniiig whidi he gave nerer
decays,
Upon beautiful 3f«/^(»*)
Upon DaMt head,(»«)
And upon CrimtkanH.
Dubthadi am I, son to Lrngtiid, [tic]
Poetic, fally sabtle ;
It was I that gave the judgment
between Laeghmri
And Patrick.*
It was I that examined and that sen-
tenced—
A cause without extincUon ; —
It was I that gave him revenge for
his violation,
And forgiveness.
It was by me an oratory was first
built,
And a stone cross;
It was my cloak that was upon Cnm-
thann.
In the battle of OcM,<^>
My lorica of iron, my shield of bronze,
My side, my friend, —
He admitted himself, the chief of
the chiefs,
That *t was it that saved him.
Pity the munificent king who was
defeated.
Whose career I witnessed ;
AiliU Moll,^^) the man who was sub-
dued.
Was the king of Connacht.
Seventeen hundred, without the want
of one man,
It is no sweeping fiUsehood,
Crimthann killed in the battle of
Oche,—
That number in the one day.
* -A]\ tlujL-OAic nT>e]\c wac t^e^\X f omA|\b Ot)pAr» ^nA pAc^VAic ^ucA-o in
mbpeclifeo .1. -a mApoATD ocui- nem -06 ia^caiti. [It was ux)on Nuadat
Derg, the son of Niall [and brother of Laeqhaire], who killed Patrick's
charioteer, this judgment was given ; t.e., to kill him, and give him Heaven
afterwards.]
contort, AM ill, wm son to Rou Ruadh, the king of Leinster, and consequently a far l>ack rela-
llre of Crimthann.
(51) It i$ he that believed PatHck.^lt was Patrick himself that baptized CHmthann, ac-
cordhiji to tlic Tripartite Life ; but my copy of that IraporUnt tract gives no farther detaiL
(."i^) BiUth l)iligh.—T\\lw Is the well-known Kavilly in the present county of Carlow.
(.13) i/e«.-She was the wife of Crimthann and daughter of Embrann, king of the Deisi,
(now the Decies In the county of Waterford). See Book of Lecain. fol. 101, b.b.
(.'>4) f/pon Dathft JJead.—TlxlB Dathi, who receircd the special benediction of St Patrick
on his head, and we may presume baptism at the same time, was the direct ancestor of the
(yRiain family, of Ui Drdna (now Idrone, county of Carlow), and of the 0' Cuileamhain
family of the ancient district of 8il Melta (that is, of the descendants of (|ueon Mell, to dia-
tlntnilsh tlum from Grimthann's sons by other wives), of whom the brave Colonel Klchard
O'CuiU^amhain, or Cullen, Licutenant-Cieneral of the "Catholic Army" of Leinster In IfrW,
was descended, as well as the present worthy Comarba of St. Lorcdn O'Tuathaily the learned
and Most Rev. Paul 0 Cuileamhain, Archbishop of Dublin.
(ft5) Oche, or OcAa.~Thia battle was fought a.d. 478, and although Oeha, where it was
fought, somewhere near Tara, was the spot (fJchain) in which. I beliore, Niallotthe Nine Hos-
tages was buried, it is remarkable that all remembrance of its precise situation should be lost
in modem times, although It (Ochain, or Oehun) Is mentioned in the Tdin Bo Chuaiignt as
sltnatod between the river Dubh and Slane, on the North of the Boyne.
Three Poems Ap imitlAd T)jkii,
otDubhthaeh Irron ChniinCAtvo. C.
UaLugair; '^ ' '
' "^ t)ubc)lA6 ttllfp WAC -00 tujAIT),
Lai-oc^ Uxncpokic,
tnd |\uc ir»tVib|\oiC ecn\ VoejAipe
Ocuf pArjVAic.*
m6 poiyAipc ifT\Ofp]\5Aitl,
X^t con •oib'ouT),
tn^ ]Auc ir»nei«\%) r»Af A^Ngii^ -06 ,
Ocuf -oilsuT).
tewf JL c6rnA bActAf -oiiNtAfi,
If ciAOf 6to6e,
Iff 6 wo fimtAd pAboi iin cb|MmtAn
ICAt Ode.
tno t6]\e6 uM]xn, mo fciAft utn^i,
niodnef tno 6a|\ac,
t)A|\occAtc f 6in, f e|\, ha tiAtixed,
1f]'et) pOI^ATIAdC.
THiff An ftAift fiAt fopf A iNoemit),
tl6iTn AccoTtnA|\c,
-dititt mole inci f A|\fniinniA|xc,
bA ]\i ContiA^c.
8e6c c6c x>^c cctiefbAiT) tiocnfiix,
n'lf Ar» ]Ao 61156,
lloiTiAfb CiMmcViAnx) iCAi Oce,
Sin pn o6tit6.
APPENDIX.
489
1f6 ]AOfb]Mffet).
"Oobfiff enriA -oA -piNiiridAd "060,
"OAtcif pall,
-Ap taib tl6itt b<x 5Ai|\ni gAfi CAi|\e,
AmniAii6ni uU.
t)ob]Mf C]MmcliAH'o cet]M ca^a
Va-oo -oetbAiTn,
1a]a feiff |\i meilltiiTnptninigiMtiT),
Ingin C^I^nb]\A1t1'o.
At>'Iaic ■OATtif a e6 niAlt tnonjAfi
TlAifAir pliut),
A|\t)oincALLA itiAtti poindtAiinA,
IpNowdiniuT).
Cof Alb f6tn co'oei]\et) ■oowAin,
t)tJA|* wo ■o^Atio,
Coixo-p et bAf caLaw z'^l^e,
AtAX> UAIIC.
VuiV cfvip3t)bA A|\Afetr»Ai5,
CpecbtiAir cotgWAitt,,
COUcflAlll* Tti cor»t)niAe^ pfcotii-
cim,
tronni-Aet, vonontiini.t
Ae|\b«l,t oc "bAtlA b|\e6cf tiAi-o,
Ha llAt,-© t1A1pT)X>C,
Cent) A6|\e6muipr», a 6eiiT)
-A c]\o6niui|\n riA ^Aipge.
prirA^N tib leftec tia c]\'iie,
^oixfAtigebAtn,
O 5UA1f ItlAfCAlt ]Mfnx>AlAin
Co tllAg Se|v^■o.
Se^A rAi]x TIA f A15 meipiefi,
Co [mtii]\ rnilAd ?],
Af -po-ocff 1 ^|^eff ci\e6ltA
Co Hcff nt)iTninA.
• Tlotnen tx)ci.
t tlotnitiA tocofum.
Four yean before that battle,
Without any default,
Patrick prophesied for Crimthann
APP. in.
_ _ Three Poems
That it was he that would break otDubhthach
[gain] it. V'^'^'^rt
(A.D. 480.)
Enna broke [gained] twelre prime
battles.
In which blood was shed,
Upon the Uibh Neill; c*') it was a
distinction without a reproach,
Was the whole defeat.
Crimthann broke four battles,
Twice, I assert,
After espousing Mell, ^"> smooth-
white, soft-pleasant,
The daughter of Ernhrann,
He bestowed upon me a slow hairy
steed,
Which seeks not to stale,
Because I was deprived of the other
on which I had been set.
And which to me had been ap-
pointed.
That it may be under me to the end
of the world,
The reward dT my poem,
That it is a horse of land and country.
Speckled, green.
There are three humps upon his body,
Sea-bound, slow-waved ;
ToRCHAiR, ^^'> it is not a soft wave
that threatens it,
FORMAEL,<*») FORDRUIM.^**)
His tail is at Bana,<*») the red-mixed,
Against a high cliff;
Stiff his noisy wave, his head
In the noisy wave of the sea.^*'>
Would you know the breadth of the
land
Upon which we shall settle.
From GtAi8-iN-AacAii,(*»> with which
we meet, [mere]
To Maoh Serad.^w^
Pass it eastwards, seek not Meis-
NECH '*^*-'
To (|the fishy sea?]
From It southwards by rapid motion,
To the cataract of DacxA.<^»
(Nomcn loci.)
(Nomina locorum.
0V>) Ailin.\f0U (or OiUoIl JAo/0.— He was the son of the famous king Datht^ and succeeded
his relative Ltyghairi, the (ton of Niall, in the monarchy, in a.d. 458.
(57) Vibh A'eill.—Thcjic \rcre the men of Ulster and Meath, descendants of Klall of the Nine
Hostages.
(W) Jfell, dauffhtf.r of Embrann.—See note (63) abore.
(£9) Torehair.—Formael. — f'ordruim.—Bana — T/ie tra.^Olais in Aseail — MagkS^radX, —
Mfei$nt<k.^£t Dimma (the cataract of Dimma).— These were the bounds, and a few of the
490 APPENDIX.
APP. ni. A^"© Acbef c X>Ax:h'i wac Ci\imcli- There, said DaiAt, son of Crmthamn,
AitiT), The residiDg land
Three Poemi In fotix) roi\Ai f, To thee quiddy shall be given,
of DMthath tiii%>|*co CO ttuAt %)ocbi4S, The territory thou hast chosen.
OlVXoT' ^'^ ^"^* ixAeogAir.
topographical features^ of the lands which had been bestowed on the poet, Dubhthadi, anthor
of the prc»cnt poem; and it could scarcely be expected, that after sach an Interral of time
— abont 1400 years— any one of the landmarks of so small a territory could be identlfled.
From the above description it appears that the territory extended in length flrom the rlTcr
Bona to tho sea eastwards; and in breadth trom Olau in Ascail (which must hare been a
stream), to the plain of JJagh iieradh, southwards and westwards, by which the boundary
passed on to the east^ without touching JIeim<ch, and C(mtinued then southward (and, I
think, eastward still) to Es or K(u IHinma, or the cataract of Dimma. This being laid down as
the outline boundary, we find farther that there were three remarkable hills or mountains on
the land, Torchair^ Formael, and Fordruim ; and it will be sufficient for our purpose of identi-
fication if we can, without exact local knowledge, fix within suflldenlly narrow limits the
localities in which, two hundred years ago at all events, two of these very mountains were
known with certainty to have been situated, if, indeed, I may not say that their Identic is
preserved even to this day In local names still In use.
This fact will be well understood trom the following grant of the fifteenth year of King
James the First of England, that is the year 1618 : *' Grant fh>m the King to Sir lAurence
Esmond, Knt Wexford Co. In Klnshelagh Territory : The towns and lands of Limenagh,
otherwise Llmerlcke, Bally choan, Kossballyvonny. and the mountain ot BallycahirvaUy - Ftr*
moylKOT Formoyle, 40 acres; Clon^tlose and Kahlndrohurly, GO acres; KiUcnerIn, 80 acres;
Larahin, 65 acres; Cooletegard, 100 acres; Itallyknockan, 20 acres; Kilbegnet, 41 acres;
Ballymackaw, 37 acres; Tenccarigy, 12 acres; Tenecurra, 62 acres; Agher and Cronaltan,
169 acres; Uallycollltun, 27 acres ; Cronedaroge, 37 acres ; Kilkavan, 142 acres; Ballymagll-
leboy, 68 acres; lUillyehIn, 89 acres; Dallyliam, 9 acres; Ballylasy, 85 acres; Tomnchelyand
Ballynesraghbegg, 107 acres; Coolcnoge, 130 acres; Mochollle, 186 acres ; Ban^ge, 56 acres;
Morgoros, 14 acres; one- sixth part of Kilbeggs or Killeblggs, Cowlemegawny, Bally voran, and
Ballyskeagh, M acres; together with all mountain, bog, etc, belonging to the premises, ex-
cept 20 acres in Agher and Cronaltan, next the church of KHgorman, assigned for the glebe
thereof: and except 20 acres in Kilkavan, next tho church of Kllcavan, assigned for the glebe
thereof; half of the entire fishing in tho river OieenQorman near the said lands, tIx., f^om
the main sea to the lands of Pallas ; and the entire fishing in the sea, bays, and creeks there",
etc.-[4 Feby., I5th Jac. I.].
I have given this grant verbatim to very near its end, in order that the position of the
moimtaln " Fermoyle" or ** Formoyle", the Formatl of our poem, should be clearly and with-
out any doubt established, as far at least as regards the district in which it was situ-
ated. All the places mentioned in this grant are or were situated in the barony of Gorey, in
the parishes, 1 believe, of Kllgorman and Kllkeran, a few miles north of the town of Gorey;
and, as the charter says. In the Klnshelagh territory, which lay to the north of the river
" Owenvarra", now the river " Owcnaraorroghd", which runs from the south and falls into the
•ea about three miles south-east of Gorey.
Again, in a grant from the same king to Sir Edward Fisher, Knt, of lands situated in the
same Kinshelagh's Terrltor>', we find the following lands ennmerated: Kilmnrry, 205 acres;
five-twelfths of Itallinglan, Monecheale, Bamefuiokc, next to Ballineskertan, and to the moun-
tain of Torchill, 77 acres ; together with all barren mountain, bog. etc., belonging to the pre-
mises; the advowson of the rectory of Kiltynell ; half of the fishing in the river Oteentarra^
near said land, ft-om the main sea to Ballycale ; and the entire fishing in tho sea, baya, and
creeks there", etc. [17th January, 15 Jac L, Patent Kolls, p. 3.18.]
From these two grants we may gather that a great part, if not the whole of the lands
granted to Sir Laurence Esmond, lay south of the river Owengorman, since we find that he
was entitled to half the fishing in that river, and that roust have been the southeiii halt It
would appear from tho second grant, that made to Sir Edward Fisher, that his boundary com-
menced on the north where Sir Laurence Esmond's ended on the south, and that his terri-
tory extended southwards to the river Owenavarra, the southern boundary of the parish of
Kiltennlll (or Courtown) mentioned in his grant And as we find, with certainty, another of
the hills or humps of Dubhthach's territory, namely, TorchiU (the Torchair of the poem), in this
parish, we may with good reason conclude that the whole territory extended ftrom Owengcv-
man on the north to Owenavarra on the ^uth, and from the river Bana on the west, In some
part of it to the sea on the east 1 believe that the river now passing under the compara-
tively modern name of Owengorman, or Gorman's river, was the ancient Olait in Atcail, or
" Stream of the Roar", or thunder ; and that the name is still in part preserved in *' Olatgor-
man"\ the present name of the sandbank which runs parallel with the shore at a short dii-
tance from tho mouth of this river ; it Is probable, too, that it was f^om the loud noise of the
waves breaking over this shallow bank that the stream first received its descriptive name. If
these Inferences be right, as indeed I can't but think they arc then the Et IHmma^ or Cataract
of Dimma, must have been the mouth, or some place near it, of the Owenavarra. And thus we
have the actual length and breadth of the splendid gift to />u&A/AacA O'Lugair^ which, accord-
ing to my measurement on Beaufort's Map, was six Irish miles long from west to cast, at its
northern boimdary, at least; and five miles broad flrom north to south ; but I believe it nar-
rowed considerably towards tho sea as it approached the southern boundary.
Should any objection be raised to the assumption, that the name of the mountain TorchUl
is identical with Torchair, it can be easily answered by reference to the well-known tendency
APPENDIX.
491
IpAC x>^\.p tiJAgi teTnniCAii\,
t)tJArn CpiintAiti. C.
tnittiuT) 1Tlit)e, md^vAT) tAgen,
\,^m x)Ap IrtiViAd,
Til tAinic yS bA%) domniAicVi i c|\i
Til C|MmcbAn.
The nine orders of Heaven, and the ^pp m.
tenth, the order <«>) ■
Of the mountainous Earth : Three Poems
They are the securities of the price of ihibhikach
vouchsafed Y^I^IS^''
For CnmthanrCs poem. C. ^ '
Destruction of Meath, magnifying of
Leinster,
Leap over Lulcach : (•*>
There came not a king so good into
body
As Crimthann,
Teem -oe eoT)eni.
Ca* cucAfCA^ CfitncliAn*
^o "tAe^Aif e LinwAf ,
Rop6 incAt i^AT) AglTIAlX,
TUO]\dA11\ 1TJ IMJIXAT).
CAt CtlCAfCAp C]MTtlc)lAn
"Oo Cliu^c cp6n l^ofCAffl5,
Tlo-p^ iticAt f Aei\ 1^0^ Aip,
TcopcllAllX t^tlA5 CA-pU
Ca^ ciicAfCA|x C|MnicViAn,
"Oo T)Ai|\e nA|x t)ubAt),
Uop6 incAt cixuAiT) cl^i'ocb,
CAft cucAfCAf C|Mtnc1iAn
Tlip b6 iti5ie6 ceti f AetA|\,
t)lA|\ t|%OecbAT) \A C^XUAdAtl.
* (.1. WAG entlAl).
ITSM DE XODEM.
A battle which Crimthann* gave
To Laeghaire of numbers, —
It was the noble, lucky battle.
In which the kings were killed.
A battle which Crimthann gave
To brave CorCf^^*) whom he tamed :
It was the noble, prosperous battle,
In which fell the hosts of CaiteL
A battle which Crimthann gave
To Dair^t <"^ who was not black-
ened,—
It was the hard battle of swords,
By whicli were cut down the hosts
of Muuster.
A battle which Crimthann gave
Against Aililt^^^ the high, U?r-
rible, —
It was not a conflict without labour.
In which was subdued the king of
CruachainS^^)
* (i>., son of Enna).
of the people of the east and sontheast of Ireland to mo<lify topographical namei which end
in ar, air, and inn, to ail, ill, and so on: as lA>ch Aininn in Westmeath, now called Loch
** Ennill" ; Lodt Vair, In the same county, now called Loch Uail, or "Owel". So Sruthar (a
•trcam) is pronounced in the south, as well as in the cast, " Shrulo", " Shrcwill", or ** Shrowle";
and I am strongly of opinion that the present *'Owen Avarra", which could not hare bee%a
really old name, was more anciently called Sruthar Ovaire. It is remarkable that there ac-
tually was a townland fn this very locality bearing the name of **Shrowle", aa will be seen
ttom an inquiitition taken at Wexford on the 8th of April, 1631 (the sixth year of the reign of
king Charles the FirHt of FIngland), which found that "Onora Keayanagh*' was In her life-
time seized of the rlUages and lands of Clantefln, Kiltriske, Knockdanke, Banogeroe, Tulllbeg,
Knockcdille, Cooltrundi-ll, Corandonall, Mongan, BhroKle, etc. Of these lands Kiltrlske it
•till the name of a parish in the barony of lialleaghkeen, lying between the above river
•* Owenrarra" and the wa, on tlie "louth side ; and what Ut more remarkable still, the parish of
Donoghmore, which lies between the parish of Kiltriske,.to the north, and the month of the
same rlrer, contains a townlund which still bears the name of " Sbrule".
(fiO) The tenth oriler.—1\\\n\n, of coarse, the Church Militant on Earth.
((il) Lulcach.— \ am ut a total Iom to know what this is ; whether it Is the name of any river
or mountain, or of any place on the borders between Leinster and Munater or Meatlu
(6-J) Core of Caisf.l [Cafthel].— This Core, the elder son of Lughaidh, king of Mnnster, was
one of tlio three kings who formed the Council of Nine, who revised the ancient laws of Ire-
land, and compiled the Setichas Udr. St. Patrick and our poet Dubhthaeh hlmaclf were of the
number.
(€3) Dair4. -Tills wan Dair^i Cerba, the younger brother of the above Core, and chief of Ui
Fidhgcnti in the present county of Limerick.
492
APPENDIX.
CA* CtJCA|TA|\ CfimcliAii,
1c ef|\tJA1t) bAputAT),
Three Poema 1lAp6 incAd c^xuait) cLAit>eb,
of Dubhtha<h -OAf T-tAi%)eD fluAij taUt).
Ua Lugair;
Ca.I>. 480.)
A battle which Crimtlum gare
At Etruaidh}^^ where be went, —
It was the hard battle of swordi,
By which were cut down the host
of Ulster.
Tho* many did Crimthann gire
Of battles about roads,
Much more did Enna give
Of battles against warriors.
Ennaf of Ailinn^^^ broke
Twelve battles, without diflElculty,
Upon the plain-land of Tara,
Upon the host of brave CemaJ^>
Ten kings did Enna kill
Of the fair kinjjs of Funedh .•<«»^
Aedh of Emhain,^^°> Niall of AiUch,
Flann of Tara| to be counted.
Luphaidhf and Zorc of Limerick ;
Oengu8,§ victorious in assemblies ;
Maelduin, which was cause of
plunders ;
Aililif Cairpriy Caba,
Enna, the son of valiant Niall —
He was the king of purity ;
It was whence he met his last end
Was from the other Enna.
Enna, the son of valiant Niall,
Was a beautiful, sensible king;
By Enna of the battles
He was killed in the battle of Xuim-
Even Liamhain they went past —
The Leinstermen past it into Tarbh-
To the burning of Tara,
With Enna the high renowned.
t (i.«., Censelach).
X (i.e.f tlie son of Concobar).
§ (t.e., the son of Dunlaing).
(64) AilW.— Thin iniut hare been JiUll [or OiWI] Afo7t,Bono( king Dathi, whohftdbcea
forty yearn king of Connacht before his accession to the monarchy in a.d. 458.
(U5) Cmachain. — The Royal Palace of the kings of Connacht.
(00) Esruaidh,—'SQw the cataract of Ballyshannon In the county of Donegall.
(G7) Ailenn or AHinn. — This was one of the ancient palaces of the kings of Leinater. Its
remains are situated on a hill a short distance to the north of Old KilcuUen, in the county of
KUdare. (See Circuit of Ireland, published by the Archieological Society, p. 37, note 67 ; and
see the Story of Bail4 Mac Buain and the princess AiUinn [ante^ p. 472, ArrE?(Dix, No. II.}
from whom the place took its name, according to the Dinnseanchus, Blc. of Ball>-mote, foL
103. a. b.)
(68) C<ma.~This was the name of a hill not now identified. It was situated in the sonth"
eastofMeath, somewhere near tho present Garistown, and north of Lusk in the county of
Dublin. (See the ancient unpublished Tale of Tochmare Emer6.—The Ck>artahip of JSmir
and Cuchulainn.)
(69) Fuinedh.—ThlB was an ancient name for Ireland, signifying the western end, or ranaet.
(70) Aedh of Emhain, etc- It would be difficult, if not impossible, now to Identify with cer-
tainty the personages here named among their numerous contemporaries of the same names.
(71) Lianihain.—lsoyr called Dunlavin, in the county of Wicklow, an ancient seat of the
kings of Lelnster.
(73) Tarbhgha.—Smtit place between Dunlavin and Tara (but in Meath, I think), and not
known to me. There was a Cn<^c Tarbhgha near Crwuhain Ui Onnacht, which could not of
course be the place referred to In the texL
Cit) in6f •oojVAc CjMmcViAn,
"Oo dAftAib itn|\6cti,
t)A TtlO 'OOpAC etifJA
"Oo ^^t^ib ]M h6cu.
1lob]Mf enn<\t Client)
t)A t^t "oec ceil 'ooTiAing,
VojA cuA^IrmAiT; tiA Cetn|\A,
Vo]\fluo^5 Ce^xTiA cpcbAing.
X)ei6 |^^5 ]\omjkpb CiitiA,
"Oo pn-DpijAib V^niT),
-ACT) CinnA, tliAtt -Aitij,
ttijAit) if tope tutnnig,
Oenjiif § Ag fj\i 'oaIa ;
triAot'Duin bjk ^0ktAi]\5tie,
Aititt, CAi^xp^M, C^bA.
erinA WAC Tl6itt tiApAig,
nAp6 in |\i conrtAine,
IfAflTD pi Alp AtlUgDA,
"tApn iiermA tiAit,e.
enriA tiiAC tl^lbnJljXAig
flAbA pi CAemaAttA,
llA henriA tiA bAgA,
tlAbit 10 Ai biAtnnA.
ClT> tlAWAin pAloCAtl,
bApn CApfl 1 UApOgA,
"Oo VofcuT) riA CempA
Ia entiA riApT) rJAmpA.
t (.1. CenfetAij).
X (.1. TtiAC CondobAin).
§(.1. WAC "OuntAing;.
APPENDIX.
493
Am^WL in c^m ^ ttn-o,
"Oo U)|x;ii^ riA C]\u^cbn^,
bA gTi^tn feboA fUA6t>A.
Pja6t)a tocA^ t^Fi"»
"OAp AC "Otine Dojai^n,
t)A te|Mti]\ tA^in.
tllMtip t)A fCOIVAlb.
1lAfCui]Afec A neoiti,
"Dap niu|\ CApt ctiAnAij,
tlucrpAC giAtl ca6 TJonoAip,
te6 CO ITlAfcin nuA-ogUMti.
t)A wiA-OAi in tntinciiA,
tlobACAp oc ennA,
tlOpf AC tl|M An-oAlA,
RopfAc LAmA c|\6nA.
tlOpfAC tAniA C^X^A,
Tlic fc6tA cen bunA-o,
tlA \jet Cuin-o nA ctAi-oeb,
Ha ni6i\cVitiAcliAib muwAn.
CAin ctiCAT) x)0 ennA,
AtleiC Chuin-o nA cupi,
Sc]AepAtt ca6a cip,
"Do finT)]\tiini uiti.
Cikin cucA-o -oo ennA,
Ungi ■o6|\ ce6 tifpj
Iffin btiA'OAin DA nefpi.
HopfAC WAtl tApn,
"Ft^i tin-o ennAi imglAin,
Uoboi icli icAtmAin,
Hoboi mcf ip-obAi-o.
▲PP. UI.
tlAblCIf A CI5I,
1 cit^Aib cAnAiclibi,
til bepcif 'OA |\6cAib
A|\ UAmAin A cAtim.
flAbicif A cijp,
A CI L^Aib VA c6cib,
UUCfAC pAtt CA6 COICIT),
5Abf AC lAC A]\ ecin.
Famous the march he went
To the burning of Cruachain,^''*^
After demolishing Emhain ;^^*> Three Poema
It waa a valiant, contentious deed. otDubhihaeh
Ua Lugair;
Contentiously the Leinstermen went ^^' ^^^
Over the ford of Dun Doyhair;^^^^
Numerous were the Leinstermen,
As numerous were their steeds.
Thoy unyoked their steeds
Upon the rampart of clerical Cainl;
They brought a hostage eyery nine
men
With tliem to Mastin of pure
honour.
Honourable were the people
Whom Enna had ;
Numerous were their assemblies ;
Brave were they of hands.
Brave were they of hands-
It is not a report without founda-
tion—
Against Leth Chuinn of the swords —
Against the great tribes of Mumh"
ain.
The tribute which was given to Enna
From Leth Chuinn of the feasts, —
A screpall from every house,
Oifindruini'^^^ the whole.
The tribute which was paid to Enna
From Mumhain [was] with slay-
ings,
An uinge ^7> of gold from every man-
sion.
In the year that was next.
Good were the Leinstermen
In the time of Enna the pure ;
There was com in the land,
There were fruits in the woods.
Their houses used to be
Upon hills without decrease ;
They removed them not from the
roads
For fear of being expended.
Tlieir houses used to be
Upon hills and upon fair-greens ;
They took tlie hostages of every pro-
vince ;
They took them by force.
(73) Cruarhain.—TY\e IJoval Pnlace of Connacht
(74) Emhnin. The Koyal I'uUce of rutcr.
(7.'>) Ath Dune Dvghair.—'Uxc^ Ford of Dun I>oi;hair. Not known to me.
(7fl) Findt-uini - Alth(iiii;1i thin mclal appears in sevcrul places In our ancient writings to
signify goine precioiiM kind uf Wliito Bronze, It certainly app«!ara In other places to mean
carved, or ornamented Silver, which in the present inntance, and aometlmes elsewhere, would
Imply Kome standard piece of silver money. The Screpall of allyer waa the valne of three
pinginn», or pence.
(77) Uingi,— An uing4 (ounce?) waa twenty -fonr Sorepalla; a Screpall waa three Pinginm
The Cuil-
The
Orders
Wiidom'
494 APPENDIX.
tAbfAiT) t)f efAl b6U6, Labhraidh, <'»> BreMol Belack^
pA^ti mAc tiA ^Uxuli^ ; FiachiL, the son of the king :
tl^-oib ]\A^n enti^, From them descended Enna ; —
Hi fc6tA CO ua6a. It is not a story to be contested.
C<xe. [A Battle.]
APPENDIX, No. IV. [Lect. I., Page 8.]
Original of passage concerning the CuiLmenn, from the Book
of Leinster (the MS. classed H. 2. 18., T,C.D.\ foL
183. a.
Concom5A]\u1iA qAA, ptit) 1i-ei\enn -00 StienchAti Uo|i-
peifc, X)\\y in bA mebop teo U^in Do CuAtnge itiriA 651 ; ocuf
Afbe]\cACA]A riAt) yecA]\ -oi a6c btojA nAmmA. Afbepc
lAnum SencliAn piA •oaIca ouf cia "oib no pAgAt) a|ia ben-
nAcc 1 cn\e X^et^ no yojtAim nA U^nA bejACA in fui f^nt
•OA^A^if in CViutmenn. tDolttno 6mine .n. tlinene ocuf
TTluiigen niAC SencAin X)o cliecc fAi]A.
APPENDIX, No. V. [Lect. I., Page 9, and note '"^ (ako
Lect. II., p. 31).]
"Seren Original (xoith Translation) of a passage in an ancient Law
iom^ Glossary^ compiled hy tDubAtcAc ITIac ^i^Abipg, explaining
the ^^ Seven Orders of Wisdom'\ from the MS. classed H. 5. 30.
T.C.D. (under the word CAOg-OAc).
Caoj-oac .1. Ainm Jl^Ai-b, r\^e mA]A 6Anvif nA c]ai cao5at)a
f Attn ; pogUMnn-oe, X)eif5ibAl, ScAiAUi-oe, poi^AceA'otAi'de,
S<\oi CAnoine, '0]Auimcti.
^5pn nA ]^eAcc ng^AAi-b eAj;nA.
ITogbAincioe .1. feA]A aj a mbi eotuf 1 noeic te<\b|iAib
t)'pocoi]A Aire, uime pn 5oi|\teA]A "oe f eA]i ciA6cAnA f ocoipeAC.
X)e'p5ibAL .1. feAp A5 a mbi focoijie uite .1. t>A teAbA]t
X)6a5 nA f ocoi]AeAc.
ScAiitn-oe .1. fOAii Aj A mbi qiiocA •o'AiceAccAib nAotntA
in A fogtoim.
'Poi]AceA'otAi*6e .1. fOAji A5 a mbi sitAmA-OAc, c]\ofAn, ocuf
pottAbA, octif pime, ocuf peACA gj^ene, ocuf e^^A.
Saoi CAnoine .1. feA]A A5 a mbi eotuf CAnoine, octif
(or pennies); »nd a HngifM wms the weight of eight [or as it is said in another place twentj-
fonr] grains of wheat, grown in good land. (See Boole of Ballymota, foL 181, b. h., etc) This
was the value and weight of sllrer.
(78) Labhraidh was the son of Bretal Btkuhy who was the son of Fiacha Baiddhii^ son of
ColAair ifi^, monarch of Ireland, who was slain a.d. 122.
APPENDIX. 495
cAHAf SjeUx lofA .1. bjA^iteAp n-X)e (ipn inAt) jLAn i mW) app. v.
.1. eACn<\ Ca-oIaIC C<Ml6ine. The "Seven
X)|iuitncU .1. feAji aja mbi eotuf lomt^n riA ti-eA5nA, on orders of
tcAbA^i Af mo -OA njoiiAceAp cuiltneAii juf in teAbA^A Af WgA ^*****" '
X)A n50i|\teA|i ^oei^ b|ieiti]\, in a n'ocAcqAAijteA^A .i. i n-oeg-
tonAigteAji An ciomnA mAit ^oo ]Mnne 'Oia "oo TTlAOip.
[translation.]
[^Caogdach, i.e, the name of a grade (or man of degree), because
that he chants tlie three times fifty Psabns ; student, disciple, liis-
torian, lecturer, doctor of the canon, druimcli.
These are the seven grades [or ordci-s] of wisdom.
Foglaintidh [a student], «.«., a man who has knowledge of ten
books of science, and hence he is called a man who is acquiring
science.
Desgibal [disciple], i.e., a man who has knowledge of the whole
of science, t>., the twelve books of science.
Startiidhe [liistorian], i.e., a man who has thirty holy lessons in
his course of learning.
Foif'ceadlaidhe [lecturer, tutor, or teacher], i.e., a man who has
[professes] grammar, criticism, and orthography, and enumeration,
and the courses of the year, and the courses of the sun and moon.
Saoi Canoine [doctor of the canons], i.e., a man who has know-
ledge of tlie canon, and who relates the Gospel [story] of Jesus ; i.e.,
the word of God (in the pure place in which it is to be fo\md) ; i.e.,
catholic, canonical wisdom.
Druimcli^ i.e., a man who has perfect kno\Cledge of Wisdom,
from the greatest book, which is called Cuilmen, to the smallest
book, which is called Ten "Words, in which are well arranged the
good Testament which God made unto Moses.]
The Druimcli was the Fei'leighinn, or Ollamh, in universal learn-
ing. These were the graduated professors in the collegiate educa-
tional course, whether lay or ecclesiastical, whether attached to a
church or ecclesiastical establishment, or in an achadh (or field).
The following very curious memorandum is found on an impaged
vellum slip, between pp. 73, 74, of the MS. classed H. 4. 22.,
T.C.D., — a MS. of circa \A), 1450. It professes to give, quaintly
enough, a sort of philosophical 'pedigree' of Scholarship, and is
valuable as distinctly referring to the degrees of learning described
by Mac Firbis in the foregoing extract : —
ScotAite, triAc beigint), mic CAoicuAi-d, mic fogtAncA, mic
X)eiifcipuiX, mic fUA-o Ucjai, mic fUAt) CAnoine, mic •o^iuim-
cbAi, mic 'Oe bi.
[translation.]
[School-boy, son of Lesson ; son of Caogdach ; son of Foglain-
496 APPENDTX.
APP. Tu. tidh; son of Disciple ; son of Professor of [profane] Letters ; son of
^ .„ Professor of the Canons ; son of Druimclai; son of the Liyincr Grod.l
w2dOT?\ "^^ Staruidhe, or Historian, it will be observed, is not connt^d
as a Graduate in this curious pedigree.
APPENDIX, No. VI. [Lect. I., Page 10.]
o^Tvn!!^'^ Original of passage from the opening of the poem of CuAn
Ua t/OCAin on Tara^ containing a reference to the SAtcAijt;
from the Book of Ballymote (fol. 89, a. a.).
cuAn o toch^in cecmiu.
UeinAi]\ C05A riA cuUxd,
ii\]\X)CAc<M]A Ctio]\niAic mic Aipc,
niic Cuint) Ce-ocAcliAig conin<xnic.
CopmAC bA CtlTTOAlt A niAit,
Oa ]"ai, bA pb, bA ftAic,
bA p]\ b]\eiteTfi \^e]\ |r6ne,
bA CA|\A bA coigele.
ConmAC i\A cbAi CAegAit) CAt,
[X)o f] ibAiT) SAbcAii\ UemjiAcb,
If in cSAbcAiji pn ACA,
Anuf •oech pinn f enctif a.
If in cSAtcAip pn At)bep,
Secc n-Ai]\'0]Ai 6if ent) inbi|t ;
Coij pg riA collet) 'oof^ni,
Til C]ienn if a hoi|tp.
If ^nci ACA -oe 5AC belt
IriA trobig CAc p 00151*6;
In A n-obig p Uempx cai|\
X)o TI15 5A6 cuiji-b cedtAij.
Coim5neT6 comAimfepAt) caic,
Cec p x)iA ]AAibe 'oo]\Aicb,
CpcAt) cet 06101*6 f [oqiuAiob],
Oca c]tAi5it) 00 cjAom cuaicIi.
APPENDIX, No. VII. [Lect. I., Page 11.]
The saitair Original of passage concerning the SAtcAiji of Tara, quoted
ofTwra. from the Book of the Ua ChongbAib, in the Book of
Ballymote {fol. 145, a. a.), and in the l/eAbAii bume LeoAin
{MS. classed H. 2. 16., T.C.D.; col. 889).
"Oo p5neA'6 t)m, gnim nA*6AnntA Ia Co]iinAC, e^on SaIcaija
APPENDIX. 497
CtiojimAic "00 ^n6t, e^on -00 tinoibc pn ocuip reAndA-d app. Vn.
Ci^enn, itn pirrocAn mAC inboc|AA, ocuf im ptAt pu ; co|to
fc^AibAt) coimgne-oA, octif cjiA^bA coibnitifA, lAemint) a ^iig
ocuf A ]\un\e<\6; ocup a ca^a, ocuf a com]\ui5ti, ocuf a HAn-
f AncA AtiAtt 6 toipAC 'ooifiAin conici pn : Conit) p, •oin, Sal-
CAijA Ueni]AAc Af |\em, ocuf Af bunAt), ocuf Af ropuji t)o
I'eAncAi'oib 6penn opn cuf Amu. »»»»»» \^^bAjt
HA htlAcongbnAtA cecinic.
APPENDIX, No. VIII. [Lcct. I., Page 12.]
Original of passage referring to the SAtcAi^t of Tara in the TheSaiMr
Preface to Dr. Keating's History of Erinn, ^ "**
-Aguf If cpe belt cutntA a me'OA^A'OAct "OAriA •00 5A|itAoi
SAtcAip riA UeAm]\Ac "oon ppiniteAbA]\ •00 bio-o A]t u^AtAtfiAf
OltAiTiAii\ TI105 CiiMonn fein, Ajuf SAtcAi|i CAipl -00
Cli]Aoinic Cho^AiTiAic ITIic CuilionriAin, Ajuf SaIcaha tia tlAtin
•00 CVi|ioinic AengufA Ceite tDe; oiji mAp if loriAnn pfAtm
Aguf 'ouAn no 'OAn, niA|t pn if 1011 Atin PfAtcAi]^ no PfA^ce-
jiiuni Aguf X)uAnAnie.
APPENDIX, No. IX. [Lect. I., Page 13.]
Original of passage concerning the Cin X)]\otnA SneccA, from Jh® cin
the Book of Ballymote {foL 12 a.) and Book of Lecain snwhUL
{fol. 271 6.)» ^oth in the RLA.
A Cin X)]ioniA SneccA in becfo conui5i CefAHt.
APPENDIX, No. X. [Lcct. I., Page 13.]
Original of a second passage in the Book of Lecain (fol 77 6., JJlJ,^
coL 2), R.LA., referring to the Cm X)|\oinA SneccA. stuchta,
X)o cliinoitfeAtn qu\, in gencAtACf a Ua nX)iA]imA'0A a cpoi-
nicib nA njAci-oet, Aguf a SaIcai]! Cho]tniAic hi CAipt, Aguf a
V/cbAp X)uine X)a l/eAc1i5tAf , ocuf a te^b^AAib ptAinx) ITlAinif-
cpeAch, ocuf A Cm tDponiA SneccA, ocuf a tiAn-oAtAib octif a
tebjiAib Aipipn, copo cVieglornifem co tiAen inAt).
APPENDIX, No. XI. [Lcct. I., Page 14.]
Original of a third reference to the Cm X)|\omA Sne6cA in the ^^
LcAbAp l/CCAin (fol, 123 a.), in the R.I, A, sn^chta,
Acbe]AC Cm 'O^aoitia SneccA cotnAt) AmtAit) box) coip.
32
498
APPENDIX.
TheCVn
Drama
APPENDIX, No. XII. [Lect. I., Page 14.]
Original of passage in Dr. Keating's History of Erinn referring
to the Cm X)]AOTnA SneccA.
Cuippom po|" Annf o c^AAobi^AOiteAt) fteACCA THhAgoj t>o
]\6ip An teADAip gAbAtA "OA TlgOiptl Cltl X)]AOTnA SneACUA,
Agup i^ut CAinig pA-opuig A nCiprin -00 bi An c-ujda]^ pn
Ann.
The Cin
Drama
Sneehta,
APPENDIX, No. XIII. [Lect. I., Page 14.]
Original of passage in the Book of Leinster (the 3fS, classed
II. 2. 18., T.C.D.), concerning the Cm '0]\omA SneccA; (a
memorandum written on lower margin offol. 230 b.)
[Cpn'm rriAc] X)uac1i, itiac ^aij ConnACC, oIIaiti ocu|" fAit),
ocuf yiu f encliAjYA, ocuf f ui ecnAi ; if e ]ao chmot jenetAige
gAe-oel ...... ^ . . . . m oen tebo]\, e'oon, Cm X)]AomA
SneclicA. * :*?• .
Pedigree
of Duach
tidlach.
APPENDIX; No. %IY. [Lect. I., Pages 15, 16 ; note <"^ ]
The Pedigree 0/ 'Ovac JaLac, King of Connacht in the early
part of the Fifth Century.
There is considerable difficulty in attempting to fix to a year the
date of the reign of Duach Galach; but liis Pedigree is accurately
preserved. He was the grandson of Eochaidh Mnighmheadhoin^
who was Monarch of all Erinn, a.d. 359-379, according to the
Four Masters ; and this Eochaidh was father of the celebrated
Monarch, Niall " of tlie Nine Hostages", whose eldest son, Laegh-
aire, was Monarch at the time of the coming of Saint Patrick.
Duach Galach was, therefore, first cousin of King Laeghaire, as
well as of his predecessor, Dathi, the last pagan Monarch of Erinn.
Eochaidh Muighmheadhoin, Monarch of Erinn, died a.d. 379 (ac-
cording to the Four Masters) ; he left Five Sons, of whom Brian
became Lord, or King, of Connacht, and who was the common
ancestor of the O'Conors, the O'Flahertys, and other great families
of that province. Eochaidh was succeeded on the throne of all
Erinn by Crimhthann Mor (of the Eberian race), who, after a reign
of seventeen years, was succeeded in his turn by the youngest son
of Eochaidh^ the celebrated Niall " of the Nine Hostages". Another
of the sons of Eochaidh, Fiachra, was the father of the Monarch
Dathij who succeeded his* uncle, NiaU, on the throne. The imme-
diate descendants of Nially Fiachra^ and Brian, were as follows : —
APPENDIX. 499
NIALL (**of the Nine Uostagea*Ot Monarch, ▲.!>. 879-406 ^pp^ ^iv.
Pedigree
Laeghairl,M.i'29-U9 £o^an [a quo the Conal Oulban Coirpri ?L2jIf**
I I OHelUa.] [a quo the O'DonneUa.] | ooiaen,
LuoHAiDii, If. 479-604 Muiredaeh Corbmae Caoch.
KUIBCHEABTACR, M. 604- 538 TUATHAL HAOLOAUH,
I M. 628.639.
DoMUXALL, M. 669-662, Joiutly with Fkabqus
I
EocnAiDH, M. 662-664
FIACURA
Dathi, M. 400-429 Amhalgaidh, King of
I Connacbt; ob. 449.
OtuoLL Molt, M 469 470.
I ILC. bef. 469
CeUaeh ^^^^
£oghanB4l, K.C.; ^^/ j^ H^\^
Aililllnbhanda, K.C.
^1 f^^y\
BRIAN, King of Connachl.X^ \; ' ^"
Duach Gatach^ K.C. [the youngest of the 24 80n»
I of Brian.}
Eogan JSremh, K.C. Ernin
Muirtadhach Mdl
Feargu*
i I t
Eofhaidh Tirmehama^ Duach Teangumha^ K.C. (ob. 499, Feargna^
(a quo the O'Conors, etc) I at the Battle of (a quo O'Ruaire^ etc)
Seaffhait.)
Senach
(a quo O'l-laherty, etc)
the foregoing Genealogicjil Tables, it will be understood that
signifies Monarch of all Erinn, and " K.C." King of Connacht.
The dates of the obits mentioned are from the Annals of the Four
Masters.]
In a prose tract in the Book of Bally mote (fol. 54), on the
Names and Reigns of the Kings of Connacht, within the Christian
era, or rather, from about the time of the coming of St. Patrick,
32 b
rin
"M"s
500 APPENDIX.
AFP. XIV. the number of years during which each reigned is shortly stated,
Pedigree ^^^ ^^^ above named Kings are recorded in the following order : —
of/>uacA Amalgaidh, 20 years; OiltoU (or AUtU) AJolty 11 years; Duach
Galach^ 20 years ; Eogan Bely 37 years ; Eogan Sremhj 27 years ;
Ailiil I/tbhanda, 11 years; Duach Teangumhoy 7 years. But neither
the number of years nor the order appears to have been exactly
stated there ; as in both respects the record, though exact enough
as to names, is imintelligible when compared with the Annals of
the Four Masters, and other authorities. In the present state of
our critical knowledge in the department of Irish Chronology, it is
unfortunately impossible to reconcile the apparent contradictions of
such authorities m such cases as those of which the above is but
one among many instances. Perhaps, if we could ascertain with
certainty the order of succession in which the princes above named
followed one another on the provincial throne of Connacht, we
might be able to make some approximation to the exact date of the
accession of each. Of OUhll Molt we know that he resigned the
throne of Connacht for that of all Erinn in 459 ; and as his uncle
and predecessor, Amhalgaidh, died in 449, it may be correct to
state that OUloll reigned 1 1 years in Connacht. Perhaps, also, it
may be accurately stated, that Amkalgaidh had reigned 20 years.
But from the very clear and formal assertion of Gilla-na-naomh
0*Duinn, it would seem to be imdoubtedly certain that the reign
of Duach Gaiach must have been before that of his cousin, Amhcd-
gaidh, instead of subsequent to the promotion of OUloll Molt to the
throne of Erinn.
The prose tract in the Book of Ballymote, above mentioned, is im-
mediately followed, in that venerable MS., by a Poem of seventy-four
stanzas or quatrams, on the same subject, ^mtten about a.d. 1150,
by Gilla-na-iHiomh 0*Duinn; and in this poem it is stated, as a
kno^vn historic fact, that from the death of Duach Gaiach to the date
of the Battle of Seaghais, 79 years elapsed. The date of this battle
is pretty well known ; it was the battle in which DuacKs descen-
dant and namesake, Duach Teangumha (also King of Connacht), is
recorded to have been killed. It is stated by the Four Masters to
have been a.d. 499 ; but according to O^Duinn, five years later, or
A.D. 504. This record, therefore, would fix the date of the death
of Duach Gaiach at a.d. 420, or at latest, at a.d. 425 ; and an
examination of the above Genealogical Tables, with reference to
the probable period at which he flourished — ^grandson as he was of
the Monarch Eochaidh, who died a.d. 379, and first cousin of the
Monarch Dathi\ who ascended the throne a.d. 406 — must, I think,
suggest the strong probability of the truth of G'DuiniCs statement.
It is right to observe, however, that in a tract on the Pedigrees of
the Connacht families of this race, in the Book of Ballymote (fol.
54, a. a.), Duach Gaiach is spoken of as having siu'vived to come in
contact with Saint Patrick, to whom he is said to have personally
made submission.
APPENDIX. 501
APPENDIX, No. XV. [Lect. I., Page 15.] >ff. xt.
Original of a second reference in Br, Keating'e History of^^ «»
Erinn to the Cm X)pomA Sne6cA, {in the Early History ofsmSlL
the Milesians.)
Cuipiof Veniuf fgolA 'tia ftii-de \[e mutiAt) tia ml b6ptA*,
A]\ TtlAig SeAtiAip, 'fAfi gCAtpAig X)A TigAipmionTi Cm X)pomA
SneAccA EoTHENA AiTiAit A-oeip An pie.
[Thus in the ancient grammatical Tract (or Uraichecht) in the
Books of Ballymote and Lecain: —
Peniuf ^AppfAig c|\A, mAC CogAm, ocuf lAp mAC llemA,
ocuf gAeioet mAc Ccitini, tia cpi f Ait) no ]\eipfeAt) iia beji-
turA ec Aput) 66ce]\eAtn cmicAcetn Apichce.
Fenius Farrsaigh [or Fenius the Antiquary], son of Eoghan^ and
lar^ the son of Nema^ and Oxudhel, the son of Ethiur, the three
Professors \^Saidh'], it was that invented these dialects, et apud
Eoteream civitatem, they invented them. — (Book of Lecain, fol.
152, a.)
APPENDIX, No. XVI. [Lect. I., Page 15.]
Original of a second passage in the Book of Leinster (H. 2. 18., JJ^^"
T.C.D.; fol. 149 6.), referring to the authority of the Cm Sntchta,
*OpomA SneccA.
-A cm 'oiiomm^ snechu^ so sis.
-A^^bepAC -pencAiioe, boi tongef mgen x)6b|\ib Ap cmx) Ttlic
tllilit) m bepe, 'oofpAlA An^rut) mApA ifpn nociAn -00 THuip
Uippen, con-oAi^jAAbACAp m b6]\mn. t)ACAp \\e m bCpmn pe
tllAccAib tnilct). AfbepcACAji iA]M#m, |*]M meic 1T1iti"0, da
rocu t)oib A cip yem, ocup ni c]\eicpcif cen cmj^cpA fjuu
Ap CAip-oer 'ooib. IS t)e ac p\\ cpemoA mnA m bC^te, co
bpAi^, A|\ [pp] imcperiAic Ia tia mriA ipn t)omAn olcbetiA.
APPENDIX, No. XVII. [Lect. I., Page 17.]
Original of a Verse of the ^ebpe -Aengutf (the Stanza foroftht
September 3), %oith its Gloss, referring to the Library of^£!l^ad
l.ongApA'o, in the time of Saint Cotum Citle. tliy)?*""
coLtTiAn 'onorriA penr^,
LotigAnAt) gniAti ALAib,
triAc nisse co iniLib
o chonx)euib niAn^ib.
LongApA-o coifpn-o Amuij cbuAcbAC 1 cuAipcipc OppAige
.1. m Uib poipcbellAm .1. 1 TTIais jApAt), a tit)iptipc 5^1^'^
tury)
502 APPENDIX.
AFF. xvn. f AiTToitut), ocuf 1 Citt 5^b]tA 1 Steib TtlAiitje, a tef totijA-
of the l^A'o. Coifpnt) .1. pn-ofAt) jeAt, Tnojt cjie tia choffAib; no
JJJlJJjy^ jtepTTOA A fcoffA. Suit) teprro, ocuf fencliAif , ocuf bpe-
(vL cen- cliemTiAif, ocuf pli"oe6cAi h6. IS cnuige 'oo|\AtA Cotum
Citte fO]! Ai5it)echc, cop cheit a tiiib|tA fAi]i, ocuf fAcbAif
Cotutn Citte biiecbiji fOjA a tebjiAibpub .1. conA|ibAC 5]temAi
t)oc ep, otfe inni ittia iroetiAif) t)|ioc1ienech. Ocuf iffet) on
|to coTTiAittco, Ap mApAic nA tiiibAi]\ beof ocuf ni t^jAnt)
nAch f e]\ eAc.
IncAn t)in, bA mA^^b LongAjAAX) Mfjev innipc eotAij, ciaja
teAbAjA C]Aenn 'oocuiciTn in Ai-ocliepn. tlo ipAC nA CIA5A
ipAbACAji tiubAH\ cech "OAnAi ipn AjAACut ipAibe Cotum Citte
Eochuicfec Ant). Ocuf TtiAccnAigit) Cotum Citte ocuf CAch
ui ipn C15 pn, ocuf foccAic uite pn c1iAi]Ain chinch nA
tebAp, conit) Ant) Acbe]\c Cotum Citte: l^ngApt), otfe, in
OpAAigib .1. fAi CAC "OAnAi, AcbAch innop^A. ^ocai coa pjie-
nu5At) pn, ot bAichin. -AniAi]\i"e a|a p\K hinAit) int>, Ap
Cotum Citte, ocuf t)ixic Cotum Citte: —
IS mAjib t^on [if mApb t/on],
X)o Chitt gAjAAt) mof nt)on,
t)6]nnt) conitAji AccfeAb,
1c t)ich te^int) ocuf fcot
-AcbAch t/on [AcbAch l^on],
1 Citt gAjAAt) mo|A in 'oon.
If t)ich tegint) ocuf f cot
lnt)p e^Aent) va\\ a ho]i.
APPENDIX, No. XVIII. [Lect. II., Page 29.]
an2?nuri»h O/'UecA, the ancieut name for Italy in the Gaedhelic.
namefor That Letha was the ancient name applied by the Gaedhil to Italy
(and particularly to that part of Italy in which Rome is situated),
appears to be certain, from many old authorities. It is, however,
true that the same word was also used in reference to Letavia or
Armorica, that is, Brittany, in France. It is so used in the Trans-
lation of Nennius, in the Book of Ballymote, and the MS. H. 3. 17,
rr.C.D.) (See p. 69 of the "Irish Version of the Historia Bri-
tonum of Nennius", edited by the Rev. Dr. Todd, S.F.T.C.D., for
the Irish Archaeological Society, in 1848 ; and see a somewhat pert
note (Note XI.) at p. 19 of the Appendix to that volume, by
the late Hon. A. Herbert). See also Note H, on "The Ancient
Leatha", from which Mr. Herbert might have learned to be a little
less authoritative in the tone of his remarks, in the "Tribes and
APPENDIX. 503
Customs of ffy-FiacIirach^^ edited by Dr. O'Donovan for the same App.zvni.
Society, 1844 (p. 411), Dr. O'Donovan refers (ubi supra) to the
fifth, sixth, and ninth quatrains of St. Fiach's Hymn to St. Patrick, ^l^t^rish
as appl^-ing the word Lethu or Leatha to Latium in Italy, and quotes gg** ^^
Mr. Patrick LyncVs statement, on the other side, that this is an ^*
error (see Lynch's Life of St. Patrick; Dublin, Haydock, 1828;
pp. 74, 75, 77, etc., and Note, p. 820). He refers also to the gloss on
the FelirdAenguis (at 27th June), and to a very ancient Irish stanza
quoted in the same work, as showing that the word was intended
primarily for Italy ; he quotes, to the same effect, a passage in Duald
^lac Firbis' Genealogies ; and he refers to two additional authorities
in the Book of Lismore and the Book of Feenagh.
The following passages (including those referred to by Dr.
O'Donovan in the Felire) will be found, I think, conclusive on the
subject. The people called the " Britons of LethcC^ were the people
of Armorica or Brittany ; but the word Letha is translated " La-
tium**, or "Italy**. Of the former use of the word we have
examples in that passage from the Irish Translation of Nennius (in
the Book of Ballymote, and in H. 3. 17) : —
Ocuf If lA-o pn 'bi\eACAMn tcAifrA, " And these are the Britons of
etc. Leatha", etc.
And in the following passage m the MS. H. 2. IG (T.C.D.), col. 781 : —
O ScA^Ai J "btJAnAn-o, injiti A\(c " It was from Scdthach of Bua^
^emme, "00 b|\ecAin l^etA, fopog- naimi, the daughter of ^ ;7 Gemin^^oi
Umtto CuduUMn-o tiA cl,ef4\. tlie Britons of Lvtha (Letavia] that
Viichuhinn learned the feata of arms".
And in tills passage in the Tale of Fraech Mac Fidhaigh^ in the
Book of F(^rmoy (at present in the possession of the Kev. Dr. Todd,
S.F.T.C.D.) :—
nobu-o co6niA|Ac ca|\ toej nibe6 "That would be courting over a
pn, Ap Donn. II1 h-eA$, a|\ mi'oii\, living calf* [1. «?., courting a woman
oi|\ TOO mA|\b Con4\W Vl^Aed coriA whose husband was livingj], said
deitifxrin a toncbAixoAib tetA, Ag Donn. " It is not", said J/iflfir, "for
innfAige co h-elpA. Conall has killed Fraech [the hus-
band] with his hand, in [among] the
Longbards of Letha, while going to
the Aljw'*.
This Letha was probably Letavia, or Brittany.
The following authorities, however, all specifically record the
exact meaning of the word Letha : —
The gloss on Fiach*s H}Tnn, (Liber Ilymnorum, T.C.D.) is this : —
TJo f Ai-d cA|\ etpA h-uile, He [the Angel Victor] sent him over
X)e TnAi]\, bA ATTinA \^etA, all tlie Alps, —
Coni-o f Ai\55Ab LA 5eptnAti, This was by far the most admirable
-AtiDcr 111 x)e|xitipc bet A [.1. IcaUa, of runs, —
ubi piic 5ei\tnAn.] Until he took up with German,
In the south, in the south of Letha
[C c, Italia, ubi fuit German.]
504 APPBKDIX.
AFP. ZTiii. In the Fdiri Aenguis^ at March 12, (in the Leabkar Mot Dtma
~ Doighrij commonly called the Leabhiar BreaCj in the R.I.A.) it
•ndent buh is written as follows : —
Italy. Sl^i50i|\ Abb nti^m^ t^in tei^. ** Gregory Abbot in f^ of Borne
OF Letha**.
And in the verse of the same poem, as well as the gloss upon it,
at June 27, as follows : —
Ho pi\onieA c|\e niA|Aci\A They were tested through martyr-
AcA Tnoi\ tpuim ci\etAin dom,
.U11. nT>enb|\4\tA|A cAtir They are a powerful great sea, —
1 HtJAim LetA tetAtn [.i. a nomine Seven Yaliant brothers,
t^cium .1. U>tA.] In Rome of broad Lbtha [ue., a no-
mine L€Uium, t. e^ Letha.]
Lastly, in the Glossary, H. 4. 22. T.C.D., p. 58 (a MS. of a.d.
1460), we find the word derived and explained,
be At A .1. et)Aib, no beiteAc. Leatha^ i. e., Italy, or breadth.
APPENDIX No. XIX. [Lect. II., Page 32.]
miwiT*''" Oriffinal of passage in the t^Ab<N]i mop *Oun<\ X)oi5}\e (in the
It. I. A. — commonly called the UeAbAjA t)]Ae<\c), containing
the word Cuitmenn.
PponiA pint) 'o'Pei^gAt tuac UittiAm |roji in Cuitmenx) ott.
APPENDIX, No. XX. [Lect. II., Page 32, note <»>]
wewiT""" Original of passage concerning the word Cuttmenn in an
ancient Glossary, classed No. 74, R.LA, — and another in the
ancient Glossary in the vellum JUS. classed IL 3. 18., ZlC.i?,
fol. G03.
CotAmnA ]:eA]\b .i. CuittnennA feApb .i. q^oicne bo.
Cuilmenn .i. lebA|\, uc efc, be|\CA in f ai 1'ai]a -oA^Aeif in
Chuilmeinn.
APPENDIX, No. XXL [Lect II., Page 36 (note 23).]
%^^sidhe. ^/^^^ ^^" Si-be. [Sit).— i:e|iri<>e.— benp-oe.]
The term si* [pron. " she^*"], as far as we know it, is always ap-
plied in old writings to the palaces, courts, halls, or residences of
those beings which in ancient Gaedhelic mythology held the place
which ghosts, phantoms, and fairies hold in the superstitions of the
present day. Of the ^^ep-p-be [pron. " farr-shee", " man of the
Sidhs*''] and the ben-ptie [pron. "bann-shee", "woman of the
APPENDIX. 505
Sidhs^"] there were, however, two classes. One of these was sup- app. xxi.
posed to consist of demons, who took on themselves human bodies ^f^^
of man or woman, and by making love to the sons and daughters Bean atdhg,
of men, and revealing to them delusive views of a glorious pros-
pective immortality, seduced them into a fatal union, by which they
were for ever lost from God. [See an example of this class in the
" Sick-bed of CttchtUainn'\ in the Atlantis, Nos. II., III.]
The second class consisted of the cua^a tj6 TJAtiAtin, a people said
to have been devoted altogether to the practices of Druidism and
the Black Art, This people, in fact, were the possessors of Erinn
at the coming of the Milesian colony; and having been con-
quered by the Milesians, and disdaining to live in subjection to a
more material and less spiritual power than their own, their chiefs
were imagined to have put on the garb of a heathen immortality,
and selecting for themselves the most beautiful situations of hills,
lakes, islands, etc., throughout the land, to have built for them-
selves, or caused to spring up, splendid halls in the midst of those
chosen situations, into which they entered, drawing a veil of magic
around them to hide them from mortal eyes, but through which
they had power to see all that was passing on Earth. These im-
mortal mortals were then believed not only to take husbands and
wives from amongst the sons and daughters of men, but also to give
and receive mutual assistance in their battles and wars respectively.
[Sec the same Story published in the Atlantis.]
Numerous instances could be adduced to prove that the word
signifies a hall or residence of those immortals. The following
stanza is taken from an ancient poem by Alac Nia, son of Oenna
(of whom I know nothing farther), [in the Book of Ball}Tnote, fol.
190, b.] on the wonders of bptij (or btxog) riA boinne [the Palace of
the Boyne], the celebrated Hall of the -oaJda m6i\, who was the
great king and oracle of the cuaca "06 ■OAnAnn. This poem begins :
" A chAemu b|\ej bpr tiA-o b|\er" (" Ye Poets of Bregia, of truth, not
false"), and this is tlie second stanza of that poem.
ITejAix) in p-o Ai\ fop fijit, Behold the Sidh before your eyes,
If fo-oepc '01D If ci\eb fig, It is manifest to you that it is a
tlo jniT) tAipn 'OAgDA tix)Ui|\, king's mansion,
t)A 'oinn, bA 'oun, Am|\A bpig. Which was built by the firm
Daghda ;
It was a wonder, a court, an ad-
mirable hilL
(See also the most curious, though comparatively modem. Fairy
Lullaby, printed in Petrie's Ancient Music of Ireland, vol. i. p. 73.)
From all this it will be evident that fe^p-de is a man of the im-
mortal mortal Si(Uis, and that the benp-de, so freely spoken of by
modem writers on Irish Fairyism, was a woman of the Sidhs.
[See also the 'Tripartite Life of Saint Patrick', where the
daughters of King tAejAipe ask him if his priests clad in white are
gods or < pjA-p-de', t.«., m^3n of the p'6e, or Fairy mansions, or phan-
toms.]
506
APPENDIX.
▲pp.xxn.
Extract
from the
TdinBo
ChuaUgnd,
APPENDIX, No. XXII. [Lect. II., Page 38.]
Original of the description of the champion tleocAit) ITIac
l^AtenKMn, from the Ancient Tale of the Uaiti IDo Chu-
Ailgne.
Uatiic bui-oen Aite atto 'otiA, pn cuUvig cectiA i StemAin
TTIi'oe, fop TtlAc Kot. t1i coming Uvet i-p diAemiti tia in
tAec f Alt in Aipnuc nA bin-oni pn. ^otc cobAC t)e|A5-buit)e
fAip. -Aiget) ]:ocAin, ]poi^letAn tAiff. tlofc t^ojlAff, jop
fAjA-OA, n^e cAin-oel-oA, gAjieccAC nA cint). ^ep coip cucpummA,
if^ fACA, ]:ocAet, ]:otecAn. t)e6it "oeii^g, tAnAioe teiff.
*0e6ic niAnroA, nemAnoA. Co|ip get, cne]XA. CAffAn get-
t)e]^5 1 ^TAi-oi UApi. 66 6iji ipn bpucc oy a b]Aunni. 1/ene
•oef^jAot ]\i5 niA -oeix^pttiuT) "oe "oejAg-op pii get cnep*. 5^t
fciAch CO cuAgm'itAib •oejAg-oijA f^in- CtAit)eb 6]^-'otiijin,
inctAp"! yo\\ A critiii. ^Ae ]:aca ^AeDoji-gtA^", ]Ae fAgA peig
jTobApcA, CO fUAnemnAib togA, co femmAnnAib pn-o|iiiine
inA tAim. CiA fuc Ate, bA]\ -Aititt ]m ^ejAguf . llACApecAtn-
mAp Am Ate, bAp Ipepgiif . 1)" tec ngtiA-o f Ain ; if gAtiuo
comtAint), If ton-o-b]^uch nA]Acon cAcn cAnic Ant), TleocAit)
mAC IpAchemAin o tlig-oon-o acuaio Ant)fAin.
Extiaci
from the
TdinBo
Ckuailgni.
APPENDIX, No. XXIII. [Lect. II., Page 38.]
Original of the description of the champion ^epgnA, from Hie
same.
UAnic btiit)en Aite Ant) t)nA, ipn cutAig c6cnA i StemAin
Tnit)e, fop mAc tlocb. t/Aec teccon-focA, ot)0]it)A in Aipinuc
nA btiit)nipn. Ipotc t)ub ^aija. Sich-bAtt]AAt) (.i. cop^A |:aca).
t)]AACC t)e|\g p\ cAftAi imme. t)|\eci:nAif bAn-A|\gAic ipn
bpucc Of A bfunni. l^eni tinit)i p\i cnep*. Sciac cpo-t)e]ig
CO com|\Ait) f Aip. CtAioeb co ni|\t)iipn ApgAic bA)\ a chtiu.
Steg mttec, 6]i-c]iui tiAf u. CiAf uc ^te, bAp -Aititt p Pepgup
tlACAfecAmAp Am Ate, bAp ^epgup. ^ep rpi puicce pn.
pep cp'i pAicci. Pep cpi pAmACA. pep cpi mbpipri. pep
cpi TTibuA-bA. pep cpi TTibAgA. PepgnA mAC pint)connA, pi
bupAlg UtAt) ACUAIt) AntJfAin.
Extract
f I om the
T4iH Bo
APPENDIX, No. XXIV. [Lect. II., Page 38.]
Original of the description of Prince 6pc, from the same.
UAnic buit)en Aite Ant), t)nA, pn cutAig i StemAin Ttlme,
fop triAC tloi^. If hi fop'iit) eq^AmAit pip nA but)nib
APPENDIX. 507
Aite. Aitt bjiuicc "oeiiig. A\\X b]ttiic gtAiff. Aitt b^iuicc afp. ttet.
gtupm. -Aitt b|AtiicT: UAtie, bl^e, b^tiA, bui'oe. Iciac Aitte, Extrwt
ecjioccA iiA]ni. UrTOfeo ttiac thbec, nibiiect)e|i5, co ^bjAUCc JJJJ ^*
copcnA, ecup]\ti bA|i met)6ii bAt)efpn. 66 6i]t if inb]tticc c»i«tf«fi»^
Of A bfunni. l^ene 'oe ffot fig bA 'oefTOncbux) t)e t)ef5-
UAui 6if bAfpn f ciAC. bit 6if itia imcbimcliiiitt. CUM-oeb
ofouif n bee da cboimm Aice. gAe Aiifc ecfomm 50 fOfCA-
CAib UAfu. CiA fijc Ate, bAf -Aititt fi Pefguf. 11 At)
fecAffA Am, Ate, bAf Pefguf, inriAf tia bumnipn, ha in
niAC bee pt inci "OfAebAit fi UtcAib "OAf meif ; acc oen
bAT) t)6i5 timf A Atix), eomcif iac pf Uhem]\A im Cf e mAC
pe-oitmi tlocfucAigi. UlAep'oe CAifpfi tliA-^ef.
APPENDIX, No. XXV. [Loot. II., Page 41.]
Of the Date of the UAin bo ChuAitgne. S^ l,*"*
The following is the entry, in the Annals of Tighemach (Paper MS. CktutUifni,
in T.C.D. — II. 1. 8.), recording the death of Cuchulainn. The year
is entered in the margin, in the hand^vriting of O'Flaherty, " Ann.
Chr. 39":—
Kt. mopf ConctitAinn fO|\cif- "Kalend. Mors Concu/atnn fortU-
pmi 1ie|\of Scocoi\tirn, La ttigAix) simi hcros Scotorum, by Luyaidh
ImAc-tiA-ciM-Con, octif tA li-epc] [the Bon of the three Cu*« ^'•), and by
niAc tnic CAippi^e niA|:e]\, .tin. Ere] the son of the son of^*^) Ca\rpr€
mbbA-otiA A AG f AH tiAi]\ x)0 jAib NiajerS^^) VII. yean was his age
gAifgcT). .XU11. An cATi boi ATI- wheu lic took anus.^"^ XVII. when
■DiAig UAriA t)o CuAitgne. .xxuii. he was in pursuit of the Tdin Bo
An cAn AcbAt. ChuaUgn€. XXVII. when he died".
The words in parenthesis, above, are ^vritten in the margin of
the MS. (H. 1. 18., T.C.D.), in another hand, with a reference to
the text. They are correct. The text itself is not accurate (see
below, not^^**^). It is unfortunate that in this MS., as well as in
many other places, the age of Cudiulainn is recorded in numerals
only, all, probably,^ originally copied from the same ancient autho-
rity; if we had it given in words at length, we shoidd probably
have the tnith of the record. However, it is not only extremely
improbable that the hero could have died so young as at twenty-
seven (considering what we know of his life and exploits, not only
in his own country, but abroad), but we have another detailed
account, much more consistent with probability. It is that pre-
served in the MS. classed H. 3. 17., in the library of T.C.D. (p. 765).
(79) See Not« (18) [Afpkhdix No. IT.], pott, pp. 47ft and 479, as to this Lughaidh.
(80) The«e wonln. " the ion </", In Italics, should he omitted. Ere was the son of Cairprd^
not his grandson.
(81) Cairpri Nit^fer was Monarcli of Erinn (i.i*., king at Tara) according to many of the
ancient Tales ; jet his name docs not appear in the Riim Rioghraidhe^ nor is It recorded Sn
the Annals of the Four Masters. [Sec an example of reference to this Monarch, po«/, ArpsvDix
XXVIII^ and particularly at page 61 H ]
(82) That is, was admitted Into the order of Championtf, or, as it would hv exprewed in
modem times, of Kni^rhthood.
510 APPENDIX.
App. XXVI. APPENDIX, No. XXVI. [Lect. H., Page 44.]
DMcription Original of the description of the Monarch Co]tm^c TUac ^dipc,
GyfUSSiiae A' ^^ Assembly of Tara (at the commencement of the third
B^ of '{;S- century); from the Book of BallymoU (foL 142 b. 6.), on the
congbhaiL authority of the lost Book of the Ua ChonjbAit.
Hi uAf At opnit)e |ao jAbAfCAii ftAitiuf ocuf fOjitAtnuf fep
n-CjAenn peAcc riAitt .i. Co]tmAC Ua Cuint) ept)e. IDa lati
in bic t)o gAC TtiAit piA liTTO iti jMSfiTi ; bAimef ocu-p ctAf ocuf
mu^ACoiAA-b, bAi pi) ocuf f Aime ocuf fubA. tli bAi gum, tia
t)ibep5 |r|MA jAepn acc ca6 tia nitiAt) 'oiitAi-6 fcoein.
'Oo]\ecmAin5 lAputn, mAiti feA]t n6]Aenn ic ot Ipep Uem]tAc
im CbojATriAC, ycACC atto. ApAt) -po riA jiigA bA im cofCAX) tia
fteigi .1. V^rS^r 'Oub'oe'OAC, ocuf Cocaix) gunriAC, tja pg
tltAt). *Ounlun5 mAc CnriA tliAt), pr t/Aigen. CoiiniAC CAf ,
TTIAC -AltlltA OluiTH, OCUf ^lACU tTllllLteCATl ITIAC CojAITl, t)A
pig niumAn. tliA m6\\ TTIac l/UgAit) pijiqM .i. niAC niACAp
Cho|MnAic, OCUf Acx> niAc CchAch nnc CoriAitt, "oa jiig Con
nAchc. Oenguf jAipuiteAc, ]\^ bjieAg. pepA-OAC mAC -AfAit
mic Cumn penne-OA, p Ttli-oi.
IS ATTitAio t)© cingof AcnAtgi OCUf mop-OAlA Ia p\\m C^tenn
If in Aimppfin : ca6 |\i cunA ttAcc 1115 uime, ocuf conA
feAtbAjip o^^-OA f A ceAnn ; uAip ni gAboAif mionnA pg'OA fojijio
a6c a f ai caca nAmniA.
-AtAint) cAinic CopmAC ipn mopoAit pn, oip ni CAinic
fATTiAit A t)etbAfon ACC ConAipe ITI op mAc 6t)epfce6it, no
ConcobAp mAC CAcbA-o, no -Aenguf niAc in *OA5t)A. bA 'oep-
fCAigcec cpA, ecofc CbopmAic ipn t)Aitpn. ITIong toACCA,
focAffA, fop6]AOA f Aip. 'Oepgbocoi'o CO pint)iti, ocuf co mitu
6ip OCUf CO CUA5t)pUininib Aipglt) f Aip. t)pAC COpcpA, CAf-
toAccA uime. l^iA-oeAlg oip fop a bpuinoi. Ttluncopc oip im
A bpAgAi-o. Xjom joAt, cutpAX)AC, CO ntDepj in*obut) (oip)
uime. Cpif oip 50 ngemAib t)o bg togmAip CAipif . 'Oa Aff a
mogbAigi, op-OA, CO pblAib oip uime. X)a f teg opcpAi nA tAim,
CO nouAtAib im-OA t)on cpeoumAe. IS eipm lApum, cpucAc,
CAem cen Ainim gen ACAif . tDApteAC bA fpof -oo nemcon-OAib
potAX) in A cint). 'OApteAC bA -ouAt pApcAingi a bet ; bA 51 ti-
te\\ fn6ACCA a copp f Aep-oenmAc. t)A CAfmAit y]\\ f Apcti CAitti,
no pAn f teibi a jpuAit). CopnAit pii bugA a f uiti. CofmAit
fpi CAicneAifi ngopmtAinni a mAitgi, ocuf a AbpA-b.
IS ^pn cpA, cpucb OCUf ecofc fo nt)eochAi-o CopmAc ipn
m6p'0Ait pn fOAp nCpenn. Ocuf ifet) Acbepcfom, if ipn
comt)Ait If Aipeg-bA -oo ponAt) An6]Mnn piA cpei-ooAm, uAip
ipAt) nA fmAccA OCUf nA peccA t)o ponAt) pn "OAitpn mepuf
AnCpinn co bpAt.
APPENDIX. 509
The following passage is, however, very strong in favour of the aw. xxt.
record first above quoted. It b indeed subject to the same obiec-
tion, that the numbers are expressed by numeral letters, not by T<Un Bo
words in full. It is, however, so minute in the calculations it con- c»««"^A
tains, that it is but right to insert it here in full. It is taken from
the Book of Ballymote (in the R.I.A.), where it occurs at fol.
7. a. a., in a tract which is identified in a note in the margin, in the
handwriting of no less an authority than Charles O'Conor of Bally-
nagar, as the S}Tichronisms of Flann of Monasterboice (see Lect. III.,
p. 53 ; and ante) : —
Ipn ceAqxAiTiA-o bliA'OAin 'oeg t)o ^iige CoriAijie ocuf Con-
cobAi]\ ]\o 5enAi]\ Ttluipe; ocu-p .xin. b^ y\Ar\ x>o Cboinciit<MTTO
ATTOpn ; ocuy ipn ceAcivAtnAt) btiAtDAin ia|a ngein Ttluipe,
l^luAiget) Uatia t)6 CuAilgne. -Af yottuf Af pn gunAb
rAe)XA UAin tiA biAUi-oin ; o\\ X)6t5 ^y atto f ati occmAt) mbiiA-
•OAin x>e-z t)o ]w^e ConAine j^LuAiget) Uatia t)6 CuAitgne.
Secc mbuA-oriA •oeg b^ i^uAti "00 CoincutAitTO Airopn .i. if a
x)^]\A bliA'OAin 'oeg a}\ .xx. vo jtige OccApn lugupo in
I'LuAiget) ce-oiiA. Occ TnbtiA'onA ia]i fluAiget) Uatia t)6
CuAiLgne \\o geriAUx Cpifc, ocuf bA ftAn x)a btiA'OAin t)e5
•00 in 111 pe An tip n ; ocuf .xi. bbux-oAn bA fbAn t)'OccApn in a
pige Annpn, ocuf in .in.et) btiA'OAin .xx. -00 jiige ConAijie
ocu]' ConcobAi]i; ocuf t) a btiA'OAin ia]\ ngein Cpifc ccApoo
CucutAint) ; ocu]" .uii. btiA'OAin .xx. fAegut ConcutAin'o
copn.
[XRANSLA-nON.]
[In the fourteenth year of the reign of Conaire'y^^ and of Concho-
bar,^^^ Mary [the Blessed Virgin] was boni, and thirteen [years]
Cuchnlainn had completed at that time ; and in the fourth year after
the birth of Mary, the Expedition of the Tain Bo Chuailgne [took
place]. It is manifest from that the Tain was sooner than the
Bruidhen ;^^^ for it was in the eighteenth year of the reign of Conaird
that the Expedition of the Tain Bo Chuailgne occurred. Seventeen
years had Cuchulainn completed at that time, that is, it was in the
thirty-second year of the reign of Octafin Jugust [Octavius Augustus]
that the same Expedition took place. Eight years after the Expe-
dition of the Tain Bo Chuailgne Christ was bom, and Mary had
complet(id twelve years then, and forty years complete had Octafin
[Octavius] been in his reign then ; and in the twenty -sixth year of
the reign of Conaire and Conchobar, and in two years after the birth
of Christ, Cuchulainn died ; and twenty-seven years was CuchfdainrCs
age to that.]
(83) Conairi M6r, ^lonarch of Erinn (see account of the Bruighean Da Derga^ In Lectnrt
XII., ante). According to tlio Annaia of the Four blasters, Conairi ascended tbe throne
B.C. I01>, and was killed b.c. 40. The former date is evidently wrong.
(84) Conchobar Mac Seua, King of Lhiter, contemporary with tbe Monarch Conairi.
(8d) Tlie Bruightan Da Derga, when Conairi M6r was killed (B.C. 40).
510 APPENDIX.
App. XXVI. APPENDIX, No. XXVI. [Lect. H., Page 44.]
DMcription Original of the description of the Monarch Cojattiac TMac Aipr,
cJ^eMae o' 'A« Assembly of Tara (at the commencement of the third
B^k Vut century); from tlie Book of Ballymot-e (foL 142 6. 6.), on the
congbhau, authority of the lost Book of tlie Ua ChongbAit.
Hi UAi^At opni-oe ]ao jAbAjXA^A ft^iciuf ocuf fOjAtAmuf feji
n-6]Aenn ^eACc riAitt .i. CojimAc Ua Cuinx) ep-oe. IDa ILati
in bic "00 jAC rriAic ]ma tint) in j^igpn ; bAime|' ocuf ctAf ocuf
miipco]AA'6, bAi p-b ocuf f Aime ocuf ftib^. t1i b<\i juin, n^
t)ibe|i5 fpiA |iepn acc cac n^ ninAt) 'outAi-6 fo-oein.
'OojAecmAinj iA]Aimi, triAiti feA]\ n6|Aenn ic ot ^ep Uem]\A6
im Clio|MnAC, ]:eAcc Ant). -ApAt) -po nA pgA bA im feojXAt) nA
fteijT.i. Pepsuf *Oubt)et)AC, ocuf CocAit) gunnAC, t)A pg
tltAt). *Ounltin5 niAC CnnA tliAt), pr t/Aigen. Cojattiac Cap
mAC -AitilbA Otuim, ocuf ^iacu tnuittecAn tuac CojAin, t)A
P5 TtlumAn. TIia mop ITIac l/UjAit) Ppcp .i. mAC niACAp
ChopTHAic, ocuf Aexy ttiac CcbAch nnc ConAilt, t>A pj Con
nAchc. Oenguf J^ipiiteAc, p bi^eAg. ^epvoAC niAC -AfAil
mic Cuinn 'pennet)A, p THi-oi.
IS AmlAit) t)o cingcif AenAigt ocuf ni6|At)AtA La pjiu Cpenn
If in Aimpppn : cac p ctinA ttAcc pj uime, ocuf conA
CAcbAjijA 6]\t)A f A ceAnn ; uaiji ni 5Abt)Aif mionnA P5t)A po|i|io
ACC A ]AA1 CACA nATnTTlA.
-AtAint) CAinic CopnriAc ipn m6]At)Ait pn, oi|a ni CAinic
fAifiAit A t)elbAfon ACC ConAi|\e 1T16|a hiac 6t)e]Afce6il, no
ConcobA|\ mAC CAcbAt), no -Aenguf mAC in *OA5t)A. t)A t)ep
fCAijcec cpx, ecofc ChopmAic ipn t)Ailpn. ITIong Ioacca,
f ocAp^A, i:o|i6|At)A fAip. *Oep5boc6it) co pnt)iii, ocuf co milii
6l|A OCUf CO CllA5t)|\tlimnib AljAglt) f Aip. t)j1AC C0]\C|1A, CAf-
beACCA iiime. biAt)eAt.5 6i|i yo^^ a b]iuint)i. Ttluncopc oiji im
A bjiAgAit). beni 5eAt, cubpAt)Ac, co nt)ep5 int)but5 (oip)
uime. Cpf 6i|A 50 ngemAib t)o I15 bogmAiji CAipp 'Oa AffA
mogtAigi, 6jit)A, CO pbtAib 6i|a uime. X)a fteg 6]ic|iai nA b^im,
CO nt)tiAbAib imt)A t)on c|\et)timAe. IS eipm iA|\um, cjiucac,
CAem cen Aimifi gen acai]\ X)A|\beAc bA fpo]' t)o nemcont)Aib
jAotAt) inA cint). *OA|\beAC bA t)UAt pApcAingi a bet; bA giti-
te]t pieACCA A cojAp |"Ae|At)enmAc. t)A CApriAit pii ):A|Acti CAitti,
no pAn i^teibi a jjiuAit). Cof mAit ppi buJA a pjiti. CopnAit
fpi CAicneAtfi ngoiAmtAinni a mAitgi, ocuf a AbjiA-o.
IS ^pn c|AA, c]\ucli OCUf ecofc yo nt)eochAit) Co|\mAc ipn
m6|it)Ait pn fOAf n6|ienn. Ocuf ifet) Acbepcfom, if ipn
comt)Ait If Aifeg-bA t)o fonA-6 An6]Mnn pA c]ieit)eAm, uaiji
ipAt) nA fmAccA OCUf nA f eccA t)o f onAt) pn t)Aitpn mef uf
An^inn co bfAt.
APPENDIX. 511
-Afbe|\CACA|t mAiti fe\\ nG^ienn cac 'oon'Ou'6A'6 fOjA a tetz^ ap.xxvi.
f^in Aco .1. et)i|\ pi5|tAit)i, ocuf otUMnnAio, ocufo^tutA, octif De,crt-rti<„
bjiuguf), ocuf ATTifA, ocu|^ ca6 t)ATft otceATKx; o|t bA t)e]tb teo of king
in"oo|i]\t)ti5U'6 '00 gencA atiC]mtiti pn 'OAitpn Ia pjiu 'P6'o'La, SSTSttfr
co]\ob ^ "oo biAT) in-oa co b|iAt. Vi^^\\ on cati |\uc AmAitigin ^mLu^
gtunget, in pti, c6'o h\<et An6]unn jtobA t^ pte-bAio in
Aentui biieicemnAf cuf An imACAttAim in "oa UhtiA]t inCAtriAin
THaca .1. pe^Acejtcne pb, ocuf tlei-oi mAc -A-onA, niA tuignij
oltATHAn. Da -ooiica "oin, acac in tAbpA "oo tAbAiiifeAX) nA
ptit) ipn pi 151 tip n, ocuf ni|A bo tei|\ "oonA jMgAib ocuf t)onA
pteA'OAib in b]ieiteniniif jiucrAt). IS tAf nA pjiuf a AnAenup
A mbpec, ocuf Aeniuf ocuf eotuf , f o|\f nA 1115, ni tmcemni ce-
'ouf A ]VAit)ic. IS menn, "ono, ot ConcobAp, bie-d cint) no ca6
An-ofom on-oiii cobpAc, acc An bpec 'outAig 'ooibfeom -be, ni
picf A AnAitt, gebix) CAC a n'opeccA 'oe. UAttA-o "ono, bpeiteAm-
nAf A|\ pteAf)Aib Ant)pn acc a n-oucliAig -be, ocuf po5Ab ca6
•oirepAib Cpenn a 'opecc t)in bpen^einniif ; AniAib pojAbfAt)
bpeiccA CcAC mic t/UCCA, ocuf bpetA ^ACcnA mic SeAn6At)A,
ocuf gubpecA CApA-oniA-o Uefcti, ocup bpetA Tno|tAint) mic
TTlAin, ocuf bpecA CogAin mic X)tipptACC, ocuf bpecA X)oec
tlemci, ocuf bpetA bpi^i -AmbAi, ocup bjieifcA *OiAncecc o
teigib. Ce pobA-OAppn ni cuf ipn Aimpp pn, conAimuicAp
mAici fCAjA nG^enn comuf nAi ocup in-o]xi "oo cac ia|i nA
miA'OATTi'LAdc ]\o jAbf At) If nA b]\e?!:Aib tleimeA-o. tie mcAfc
CAC A]i "OAn A cele Apip co cAnic in m6jit)Ailpn im ChopmAC.
tlo -oeitigfe-o -oin, A]\if Aep caca 'OAnA p\iA Apoiti ipn m6|A-
t)Ailpn, ocup |A0 boiwAit) CAC "oib fop A -dAn tjUeAp
[See also the l^eAbAp bin-oe UecAin (M.S., T.C.D., H. 2.
IG.) fol. 886.]
APPENDIX, No. XXVII. [Lcct. II., Page 47.]
Original of the commencement of the Preface to the ^^Book of Extr»ct
-AcAitV (in the vellum MS. classed E, 3. 5., T,C.D.) to^Se booiT
1 4 \ 4 4 of AcaiU,-
toe -oon Liubup f o -Aici LL Ap Aice UemAip, ocup Aimpep -00 »ttributed
Aimpp Coipppi LipecliAip, tfiic CoptriAic, ocuf pepfA x>o imuiLc*^
CopmAC, ocup cucAic A -oenmA, CAecViAt) CopmAic t)o -Aengup ^**'^
gAbuAiTDecb, lAp piiACAch ingine SopAip mic -Ape Chuipp "oo
CheltAch, niAC CopmAic. Aipi 6chcA in c-Aengup 5<3^buAi-
•oech pn ac 'oigAit gpeip ceniuit a cuAcliAib t/Uigne, ocup
•00 cuAiT) A cec mnA Ant), ocup ac ib toim Ap eicin Ant);
ocup po bA c1i6]VA "OAic, Ap in ben, ingen t)o bpAchAp t)o
t)'i5Ait Ap CeltAcb mAC CopmAic, nA mo biAt)pA Ap ^icin x>o
512 APPENDIX.
AP.xxm, cAicheAtn ; ocuf ni |iiiinienn tebtj]t otc t)o t)6nAni \i\f in
Extract HiTiAi, Achc '00 cuAit) |ieinie "oo inx)f Aipx) HA UemjiAd. Ocuf
toUieftSoT^^r F^i^^^ n5]Aeine ]\o pAchc co UetnpAig, ocuf geif t>o
•ttriiTtSr ^^^t^^S ^^T^^ t<Mch -oo bjieich irroce iA]t piinexi ii5]t^itie,
toungc^f^ <v6c tiA riAiptn t)o ectriAicif irroce; ocuf \\o s^b -Aenguf in
3S5. ** CpimAtt CojAniAic AnuAf -oa heAtcAing, ocuf cue btiilte
t)i A Cett<xc TTiAC CojiniAic cop mA]\bu|XAii he; co]t ben a
beochAip x)Ap pjit ChojitTiAic co \\o tec CAech 1i6, ocuf po ben
A buptunn a ttoiauiiti jAechcAipe nA "CempAch, ACACAjAjVAing a
CetlAC, CO ]\o mA]\bu]XA|A be ; ocuf bA geif pig co nAinim
•DO bic A UenipAig, ocu]" po ctiipet) CopmAC attiac t)A beiger
CO -Aicitt Ap A1C1 UemAip ; ocup po ciceA UemAip a b-Aicili
ocup ni pAictcA Aicitt A UemAip; ocup cucAt) pigi n-Cipenn
•00 Coipppi l^ipecbAip, TtiAC CoprnAic; ocup ip Ann pn •oo
Eignet) in lebAp po; ocup ip e ip cuic 'oo CoptnAC Ant), CAch
Alt ACA " btA" ocup *' -A ineic ApA peipep ; ocup ipe6 ip
cuic -oo Cin'opAetAt), cac ni ocbA pn aitiac.
APPENDIX, No. XXVIII. [Lect. II., Page 49 and
Page 51, note. ^>*^]
Farther Original of the remainder of the Preface to the ^^Book of -AcAitt^
Preface to" ff^^'i^^y the explanation of the word Aicitt or -AcAitt.
the Book
ofiicM//,— -Aicitt pn, uch ott -oo tu^ie -Aicett, inxren CAinpni, Ann a
attributed './=J r^ ^ ^ \. - il ^ lll»
to king Cor- CAinet) ^ipc TTuc CAipppi A 'oepbpAcliAp ; ocup "oeipmipecc
:^,^«« Aippn:
Ingen CAipppi, vo pocAip,
Ip "00 pei-oteim tlocpocAij,
X)o cumAig 6ipc, Aeb-OA in pAint),
J^et 1 n-oijAit ConcutAinn.
tlo, Aicett, ben Gipc mic CAipppi bA niApb "oo cumAit) a
pp Ant), Ap nA mAjxbAt) t)o ClionAtt CepnAc; ocup t)eip-
nnpecc Aip :
ConAtt CepnAch cue ceAnn 6ipc
tie cAeb UempAC im cpAc cei]\c ;
Ip cpuAg in gnim t)o t)ecAit) t)e,
Dpipet) cpi'6i UAip -Aicte!
TtlA po bAi Apt)Apc t)ti5et) Ann, ip i eipic cucAt) Ann pn,
Acbc TtiA po bi pAeppAch Ap triAig Dpej, Amuit t)o beipcneA
pAeppAch t)on t)ApA teicb, ocup t)AeppAch t)on tet Aite, im
A tec A pAep Aicittnecc ocup in tec Aite i n-t)Aep Aicittne.
UlAnA pAibe pAeppAch^**^ oppA icip, ip i eipic cucAt) Ann
^ CW) s^oi\pAit .1. cm giAttriA ffiA t^im, cin ctii\ii b6t a6c pjipcin .i. ^i-oiciu
tiAtnA. ni ptmet mbi-o T)oti f uvit Uvif in tog pn .1. ceni cAi]\e Aimpp c6i|S
no cit) Aintne* a mbfAicli .1. fcetde. [H. 8. 18. 380. 2". CD.]
APPENDIX. 513
pn Aifiuit 'oo biAt) A fAepiuxcli "00 leit ociif 'OAe|ip<\r •oon ap. xxvm.
ieit Aite, iniA tech a f Aep Aicittne ocuf in tet Aite 1 Ti-'OAe]t farther
AiciLtneclir. Si*^L^
iTiAnA poibe Ai^TXXjtc 'ouge'd Ann, if cepc cAicn attiuil Ato-jieBook
♦* £k44 *- ^ Aaiill, —
nepc. »ttrlbiitwl
Ocuf 'OO fACAcujif UTTi in f ejiAnn ocuf t)o cuACA]t bti-oef . J|J,^|J,?'^
13a iac *Oeip puijic l^e5hAi]\e, no pui]\c t/Aijtgi iac 6 pn -i*^*-
Ate.
-A toe ocuf A Aimj^eit ia|i CopmAC conici pn.
triAt) iv\|t Cin-opAetA-d itnii]\po, toe "oo *OAipel/in\Ain, ocuf
AiiTH"e]i t)o Aimj-eAiA IDomnAitt mic 'Ae'6A, mie -AinTni]\e6 ; ocu|"
pe|i]'A t)o Cen'0]:AetA'6, ocuf cuoaic a x)enmA, a incint) -oep-
mAiu "00 buAin a cinx) Cm-ofAetAnb ia]\ nA ^'cotcAti a oacIi
niAige 1lAch.
UeopA buA-OA in oacIia pn : niAi-om Ap ConjAt CtAen inA
Anpp, ]Ae "OomnAtt inA ppin-oe, ocu]' Smbne g^itc t)o -out
A|A getcAcc, oeuf a incinn ■oo^^ttiaic t)o buAin a cinx) Cin-o-
fAetAi'6; ocu]" nocA net) pn i]' buAixi Ann, Suibni -oo "out A|i
getcACc, Acc Ap i^AOAib t)o f cetAib oeuf x>o tAfoib t)iA 6if 1
n-eipint); ocup nocA ne-b if buAi-6 a indiin-o "oepmAir "oo
biiAin A cinn Cinn^AetAit) acc a neoc po pACAib "oa "oegfAip
tebAptDA t)Ap A liei-p 1 n-Ci^Mnt) ; co pucAt) lie "oa teijef co
recli b)\icini Uuaitia *OpecAin ; ociif cp feotA t)o bi if in
bAite; foot teigint), fcot yeinecAip ocuf fcot ptit)eccA;
ocuf CAC ni xyo ctuinex)fuin t) AmAin-op nA cp fcot oaca
tAe X)0 bi "OO gtAn mebpu caca nAivce ; ocuf "oo cuif pum jtAn
fnAici ptitjeccA fuicib, ocuf 'oo fcpbfum iac AtecAib, ocuf
CAibtib, ocuf J10 cuip feic a cAipc tiubAip.
[The following is the original of the version of the latter portion
of this passage*, quoted in the Note f"), at P. 51, from the MS.
classed II. 3. 18. (in the Library of T.C.D.), fol. 899] :—
Ociif if Ant) x>o ]M5net) a tejif a UiiAim n*Ope5An, a com-
pAC nA cp p\Ai'oet), it)if cigib nA cp f uAt) .1. fAi feineAcbAif ,
ocuf fAi ptit)occA, ocuf fAi teigint). Oeuf in neoch t)o
CAn-oif nA C]ii fgotA gAch tAe t)o bi Aigipum cpe jeipo
in int>ctecrA gAcn nAivce; ocuf in neoch bA hincAij^encA
teif -oe, t)o bopi*6 gtunf nAiche ptmeccA fAi, ocu]' po fgpibcA
Aice he A CAitc tibAi]\.
[The following is the poem by Cinaeth O'lIaHigain (a.d. 973),
alliKh'd to in the Note (*") at Page 49. It is preserved in the Book
of Ballymote (fol. 189. b.)] :—
t)tiwA tiCpc CAfiAf ]\o hjiinm- Erc*8 mound, whence is it named ?
flij^cA<» ? ni liAnnf A1V1 pn. It i8 not difficult to tell tluit.
'ei\c rt\^c CAi]\piM niAi?eT\, rriAc Ere waa the son of Cairpri Nia-
|H?ti ilufA nuAi-b, fi VAiJen. _Ocuf fear, who was the son of Ros Ruiidb,
33
514
APPENDIX.
PnrtlMr
extract
from Pre(kc8
to the Book
otAeata,—
Attrlbnted
to king CS»r-
Airt,
AP. zxnn. ir^ ^l^c i\o ben a cent) t)i cTiomcti-
tAinn. -peDtew ■ono, TlofrjxocliAig,
ingeti Clion6obAii\ mic tleffA, beti
CliAii\pi\e, [mAtAip] epc ocuf AicLe.
ComoctJi-ocit) CoriAii Ce^xnAd x>o
t)i5Ait Concul/Ainn |X)p e^xc, co
COpdA11\ An-O ei\C OCUf CO CtlCAT) A
6enn co Cem|VAig fpiA CAifetbA-*.
Co CAinic -AcAtl A t)e|\bpu|\ A litltV-
CAib 6 A puf .1. 6 ^Uvn niAC Ca|\-
bA-o, T)iA dAimu-b a b|\AtA|\; com-
bAci tiAi cf^t DC pibA; con cn6-
ititii'6 A cjMtii in-oci ; ocuf A-ooe^c a
1iA'6nACAt OCUf A "ouniA Aipm An
f AlCf et)1 A^nACAt e|\c OCtJf A T)timA.
tln-oe TJtjmA epc octif "OuniA -Aicle
nominActif.
CmAecli M. liA|\CA5An fopf.
CinAe* .h. liAjtCAjAn. cc.
^caII/ A|\Aicce CemAi^
HofCApfAX) 015 A hemAin,
HocAineA-o incAn AcbA^
AinT)e]\ get ^toin mic CApbtit).
Ingen CAijxpiM -ooixodAiix —
Injen t)o lpex>1im TloipocliAig —
•Oo cuniAi-o e|\c, ei\ccA jXAin-o,
5Aex) A n-oigAit Condti Wkin-o.
ConAtt Cei\nA6 cuj coAnt) e^c
•Ooctjm Ceni|\A im r\^At cepc,
CpuAj injnitn -oo^Mgner) -oe,
"bpiffet) c|VAit)i tiA]\ Aicte. A
t)\jniA pn-o, •otiniA nA n'O]\tiA'0,
■OuniA C]\eT)ni gfUA-o a]\ 5|\tJAt),-
"OuniA nion'oe|\nA'0 gtecc gte,
t)uniA e|\c, -ouniA Aicie. A
CAnjA-oAix WAiifre uVa-o
1m ConcobAp nA cu]\At),
tlof eprA-o 5|\Af)Aint) git gtAin,
t)*-AcAilt A]\ Aice CemAi^x.
t)timA ne|\c n^ aicdi c]\eAf,
Sin T)|\uim fpi CemAi|\ Annef ,
©pc If Ann cAinig a|\6,
t)e]\b|\Ac1iAi|\ AtAinx) ^icte. A
King of Laighin (LeiDflter). And it
was Ere that cut nia head off C«dl»-
iainn, FedUm Nockroikuigh (of the
ever new beai^), daughter of Com-
chobar Mac Nessa (Kiog of Ulater),
was the mother of Ere and Acmu.
And Conall CeamacA now came to
ayenge Cuchdaum on Ere ; and Ere
fell on the occasion, and his head waa
brought to Teamavr to be exhibited.
AcatlL, his sister, came oat of Ulster
from her husband, namely, Glan^ the
son of Car bad, to lament her broUier ;
and she was nine nights at moicnuM,
until her heart borst nntwiae withm
her ; and she desired that her grave
and her mound should be in a place
from which the grave of Ere and his
mound could be seen. Unde Erc*t
Mound, and Acalts Mound nominatur.
Cinaeth QHartagan this below.
Cinaeth OfHartagan oecimt,
Acall hard by TVmem*,
Was beloved by youths fhxn Sma-
nia —
Was mourned when she died,—
The white spouse of Glan, son of
Carbud.
CairprCs daughter that died —
Daughter to Fedhlim Nochrothaigk-
Of grief for Erc^ of whom vena
were filled.
Who was slain in revenge for
Cuchuiainn,
It was Conall Cemach that brongfat
Erc*s head
Unto Temair at the third hour;
Sad the deed that was effected of it—
The breaking of AcalVs noble heart
The mound of Finn^ the mound of
the Druids,
The mound of Credrd, cheek by
cheek;
A mound at which was fought a
gallant fight,—
The mound of Erc^ the mound of
Acall,
They came — the noblest of Ulstei^—
Along with Conehobar of the cham-
pions;
They performed bright pure games
For Acall hard by Temair.
The mound of Ere is no narrow
work.
In the hill by Temair on the
south —
Ere, it was there his career was
ended.
The beautify brother of AcalL
APPENDIX.
515
DttWA HA n'OiMiA'o ^^x Atief ,
CeniAii\ tiA iMg, in tMgtef ,
tp]\i UeinAi|\ Ar\A\\\. AttAXX
If Atinpn Aub^ifr ^CAtU A
TIOCO CA|>t) A|> CAtWAItl C|\Alg,
thiT) f eAn|\ im buA|\ tio im ^jiAii^,
11oco|\ Ate 1 UeniAii\ za\X
X>en buT> feAi\i\ itiA <AcAtV. A
O^La^ 'Otl CAinpt\1 TllAfOAf,
eo6AiT> 5A|\D, 5e]\A1C 5A1T)et,
CAt\niAit\c combeiit tii wa clAitin
P|\ipti mngiti, fj\i liACAiLU A
X}o biti^ ceifc ftiAiftmg Arifin,
t>A|\ in Jin CAi|\p|\i cpicnir ;
T1a6 flM* A lltlAin CAI-OI CALt,
8e* ogmnAib Aitti <AccaLV. A
"b^vAcliAin pnt> A liAitlinn UAif,
If OltlttA A C|\UACllAin CptlAli,
CAi|\pi\i tliAT) 1 UeinAii\ CAtt,
t)iA|\bo inJeAii fiAtt -AcAtU A
In cinAT> lUAT) A^ ne6
nobAe CAitL C|\iT> A|\ ca6 le^,
C^|\ in Ggif, TTlAine WAitl^
t>o jAi^ti -oe i\e nACAitU A
WA^it) TIaiA ConAi|>e CAin,
TnA|\AiT> TUi* CAifpjM cnidAig ;
Til niAH\ Cff A pu no CALt,
Hi niAij\ Cju;, ni wai^ <AcAtU
'SAnt)f Ain |>OA'AnAC* in ben,
Ingen ai|\'0|\i nAn^Ai-ocAt;
flocUM-oex) tM in llAtf a caII,
t)A fUAlp A YiAi-6eA^, ACAtU A
Se wnA If fcA]\|\ |>obAei a^ bit 6d,
XJA|\eif TTluif e inAc)iAH\ ["O^J
nie^b, 8A*b, SA]%A1X> fCgDA,
KAin-o, [recte ITAinx)]
e|\c, If ewef , If AcAitU A
5tl1T)1in TTlAC "OO T)0 |\AT> mfdjig
Ca]\ mcDb l/efroe]\5, t)a^ TTleob
nT)ci\r,
t)A|\ SAITH}, '0A|\ SA^UIT), 'OA^
irAinT),
t)Ap 5A11\b, 'OA|\ efC, T)A^
ACAlLl. A
The mound of the Druids, by it on
the south
Temair of the Kings, the kingly
Court; —
By Temair on the east hither,
It was there died AcalL
There did not Lay upon the earth a foot,
One betterto bestow kineandsteeds;
There was not nursed in Temair
within
A woman better than AcafL
A soldier of Cairpri Nia-ftar^
Eochaidh Garbhf — champion of the
Gacdhil,—
Was anxious to hare some of his
children
By the maiden, by Acall,
1 will giye a high character, therefore,
Upon the daughter of Cairpri of
territories, —
That for her abduction no time
within was found.
Beyond the beautiM young mai*
dens, AcalL
Brother to Finn from noble ili/uM,
And to Oilill of hardy Cruackainj
Was Cairpri -Niadh of Temair
within.
Whose bounteous daughter was
AcalL
The place in which our horses are
There was a wood through it on all
sides.
The Land of the Poet, Main^ the
modest,
It was called before AcailL
Still liFCS the Rath of comely Co.
nair^^ —
Still liyes the Bath of Cairpri of
territories ;
Easa Uves not here nor there;
Ere liyes not, Xca// liyes not.
It was there was buried the woman.
The daughter of the high KiDg of
theGaedhil;
For her was raised the Rath yonder
When she had met her fate, AcalL
The six best women that in the world
were.
After Mary the Mother [of God,]
Medhbh^ Sadhhh^ fair Saraid, Faind,
Ercy and Emer, and AcalL
I beseech the Son of God, who sent
His anger
Upon half-red Afedhbh^ upon red
Medhbh,
Upon Sadhbhf upon Saraid, upon
Faindf
Upon Garbhf upon Erc^ upon AcalL
33 b
AP. xxnn.
Fmiher
extract
from Prenes
to the Book
of AcaiU,--
attrtbated
toUngCVr-
mac Mm
AirL
516
AFP£NDIZ.
AP. xxvin. I^OTAfCAcli |\obAe i n'Oinn-TliJ,
— Da -pUjiit t^oclA pipnricnim,
Farther ^et)At)A]\ ^Ai-oit if ^Ai ti,
extraet -pnit- inAenret\ in AcAitt. A
ftxnn PreniQS
to the Book
of AeaiU,—
attribated StiAi]\c iii'0]\em -oegDAiii t)ACA,
to king Cor. c^Anri CepriAig mic t)iA|\iiiAT)A,
32^1. ** ^egHACAjX CUAtlA cofe,
ImcAebAib ua^a -Aic\/e. -A
CA111115 50 reATn]\Ai5 HA ^mj
CoLtini Citte rAti rnifnini ;
Ciitti'OAi5^eAi\ teif CAg^Af Ann, —
SAn intic Ap liAT)nAcu -Aca'LV.^*''>-A
Fogartachf who was in Dinn-Righ,
Was King of Fotla [Erinn], with
fair deeds
Gaedhil and Galls once found.
The valour of the one man at
Acall.
A pleasant party, active, oomeljr,
The SODS of Cenuichy son oi Diar-
mait;
They slew companlefl ere now,
Upon the cold sides ofAcalL
To Temair of the Kings came
Coltim CilU^ without fatigue ;
A church is built there by him, —
In the hill in which [wasl buiied
Acall
Of Flann of
MonoMter-
baice.
APPENDIX, No. XXIX. [Lect. lU., Pages 56, 57.]
Original of the entry of the Death of1plAt\r\ tnAinirc|\e6 in the
Annals of UigejAnAC (a.d. 1056); and Original of passage
concerning ptAnn in Hie l/e^bAjt g^bAUv of O'Clery,
The following is the original of tbe passage quoted from Tigber-
nacb : —
ptAnn tTlAini|^|AeAC ti5'0A|i jaoitoioL ei-oijA t^igionn ocuf
cfencuf, ocu|: pti-beAcc, ocuf poii\ce'oot in .1111. Kal. "Oe-
cimbi]!. XU1. bun. uicAtn ]:eticicei\ in xpo. [xpifuo] pniuic.
The passage referred to in the text [p. 57] from tbe Book of
Invasions is incorrectly printed there as a quotation. The original
is as follows, to whicb I have added an exact translation. It is to
be found, not at p. 52, but at p. 225 of tbe MS. classed 23.5 in
the library of the R.I.A., — tbe teAbA|\ ^^b^ilA of tbe O'Clerys.
-Af •oonA tliogAib pn |ao jAb 6]\inn o *Oaci itiac jpiAdjiAC
50 TTlAotfeAcbAinn Tnojt ttiac *OorfinAitb, "oia nAnmAnnAib
ocur "oiA noi-beAt) 'oo jAigne An ciig-OAji oip]\'oe|\c 'plAnn
jTepieiginn 1TlAinifr|AeAC buice, Saoi eAgnA, ocuf qionice
ocujf pbi-oeccAe SAei-beb nA Aimp]i, An •ouAnjpo pop TI15
UeAtnpA cAobAige iA|AucAin.
[TRANSLATfON.]
It is for those kings that took the sovereignty of Erinn from
Dathi, the son of FiacJira, to Maolseachlainn Mor^ the son of
Domhnally for their names and their fates, that the illustrious
author, Flann the Fer-leighinn of Mainistir Buite\ the Saoi of the
wisdom, and chronicles, and poetry of the Gaedhil, made this poem
below : " Kings of faithful Tara afterwards", (etc.)
C"') This last quatrain is written on the upper margin of folio 190 a. a^ with
a (t) xefeiring to it from the conclusion of the poem, same colmnn.
APPENDIX. 517
APPENDIX, No. XXX. [Lect. III., Page 58.] app.xxx.
Original of Hie entry of the Death of UigeimAC in the ^^Chro- Tightmach
nicum Scotoruni' (a.D. 1088). theAnnalUL
1088. "CijeiAriAc 11 a b|AAin, •oo Shit 1Tlun\et)Ai5, cortiApbA
ChiA}\Ain Chill AriA mic Hoif, ocuf ChomAin, "oe^.
And in the " Annals of Ulster" : —
1088. UigepriAC riA b]toein, -Aipcinned Clu^riA mic tloif,
•065.
\Ti(jhcrnach Ua Brodtiy Airchinnech [Erenach, or lay Impro-
priator] of Cluanmicnois, died.]
APPENDIX, No. XXXI. [Lect. III., Pages 58 to 60.]
Of Hie foundation of Clonmacnoise, Fonnd|^on
This account is preserved in a Tract on the Foundation of Clon- uoi*©.
macnoise, and on the succession and reign of Diarmait^ the son of
Ferghns CeirrbheoU, in the sixth century (in whose reign Tara,
cursed by Saint Ruadarij was deserted, and ceased to be occupied
by the inonarclis of Erinn), in the Leabhar BuidJie Lecain — the MS.
classed II. 2. 16, T.C.D., fol. 869.
APPENDIX, No. XXXII. [Lect. III., Page 63, note '^ and
Page 67.]
Of (he fragment of an ancient vellum copy of the Annals of
Uige^xnAC, bound up witli the Annals of Ulster ^ in thenmUot
Library of Trinity College, Dublin. nghemnck.
The following is the letter from the Rev. Dr. Todd, P.R.I.A.,
referred to in the text, and which I received from him while the
first four sheets of the present volume were actually in type : —
** Trinity CoUege, October 6, 1858.
" My dear Curry,
*' Tlierc can be no doubt that the sheets at the beginning of the MS. of the
Annals of Ulster in Trin. Coll. contain a fragment of an ancient copy of
Tiyhernach, The fragment begins in the middle of a sentence.
** * [ipijit 5tunttiA]\]''***^'oie ■oottiimCiJi \\\ femDiu occipjf efc o Cln\imcutiT>
tllA tlAp tiet A ^A^lif uc aI.11 'Oiciinc.
*' See Dr 0'Conor*8 Tiyhemach^ p. 25, at A.D. 82 (which date, however, is
wrong, for All Saints' Day was not on Sunday in that year).
** The dates in this MS. are all given by the years of the world, and generally
the y^ri'a on the first of January is notCKl, and the epact. The year following
the above record of the death of Irial Glunmar is noted thus :
" * 1111 XXX 1111. Kt. en. ui. f . U x.
**This means the Year of the World 4034, which, I think, is intended to
coincide with a.d. 34 ; for in that year the First day of January was 6thyeria,
Tor Friday). The Lunar Epact, however, which I suppose to be meant by
/.x., was 15 ; but your copy (I have not had time to look at the original) marks
the /.x... (thus), as if there was a letter illegible; so that it might have been
I.XU,
** This computation goea on ttMM|||^^^||M||h^|neiit. There are
a great many years vacanii iM^^^^^^^^^^^^^K^ xmoai wa.y
(88)Tliellnttw»i
518 APPEVBIZ.
AP. xxxn. K^ KLCeUi,); and it b potsible that thefemajbetomeams in the tnuaacrip-
tion of tne Kl, for the clironology is evidenUj wroog.
Of the An- '* The last entry in the fragment la at foUowa :
j^J^^j^j^ " .iiii'oix.<"'^ Kt. en. 11. t. xx llifotiitntir iti becYileefn meoicdcitti
^ui iticei\p|\ecActif efc eb|VAice, ^p^^ece, idctne, 8ipflce,W CaVoAice,
ACtice<"> poncice.
**' Then follow twelre KL ; and the page ends with the date tiii.t>.xxii, but
without any other entry.
" St. Jerome was ordained priest in a.d. 378, which was aji. raooovding to
the common chronology) 4382 ; and the first day ofJannary in uiat year was
11. f, or Monday, — so that it is just possible that this may be the year intended,
although some other computation of the aji. era seems to be adopted.
** Dr. O'Conor was not aware of the existence of this fragment ; oth^wiae he
might hare supplied from it the * Hiatus*, or a part of the * Hiatus*, whicb
occurs in the Bodleian MS.
** It is, however, much less f^ than the Bodleian MS., whidi is eridenoe of
its antiquity ; for in all probability the Annals of Tiphemachf as they were left
by their author, did not contain all the entries which we find now ; eadi sue-
cessiye copyist being anxious to fill up, firom such other lecoida aa he was
acquainted with, the vacant KL
** Nevertheless this fragment contains several most interesting entriea, which
are not to be found in 0'Conor*s edition. Our MS. generally omits tha notices
of foreign ecclesiastical and civil history, which occur in 0'Conor*B editioo, and
gives the Irish history more fully.
" Take this specimen :
[OCoNOR, p. 29 (A.D. 130).] __ [OuB MS.]
.iiiitxxix.
CuAcliAt Ueclicnion f. Ati. ,xxx, Kt. eti. iii.ir.'Uiii. CaA Aidte hi
If he cecriA ]\o riAifc. DO|\tim "Lai Jen condAiji eibrn m ac Con|\A6 Ia Cua-
ocur Af |Mr i\o lACA-oh a]\ cuf. tAt UeA6cwA|\ iuac ITiAchAi^ pinii-
Ku mAt ITlAC tloclii\Ai'oe |\. Atl fA^A, OCUf Cu AChAt |\epiAt]ic Atinif
OAtnAin XXX111. ,xxx. ocuf if t>o cecriA -po tiAifce*
ocuf f|\if f onicAt) in 'bo^omA lAjen.
"HI At TTlAC Tlod^XAi^i |\epiAtiic in
eiViAin XXX111. Annif .
'* Then, after five blank Kl.^ follows the Chronological note, similar to (but
not altogether the same as) that in O'Conor ; after which there are nineteen
bUnk Kl. All the matter which Dr. O'Conor has printed in Italics, p. 30, 31,
is omitted in our MS.; and the next entry, dated iiii.c.1111., is the deaUi of
Tuathal Teachtmar, and the reign of Feidhlimidh in the following year. The
Italics in 0*Conor are again omitted, and our MS. gives next the reign of
Bresal (O'Conor, p. 32). Then (0'Conor*s Italic entries being omitted^ we
have the death of Cathair Mor; then the reign of Cotm Ced-Cathach^ ana the
division of Ireland. The entry which 0*Conor gives at aj). 171 (p. 83), with
all that he has printed in Italics, is omitted, and the next entry in our MS. is
under the year :
" 1111. c.xxx^. Kt. en. ti. f . t. xii.
** Ui-pivAice Cined f epiAuic in eihAin Annif xxx.
" This may suffice to prove to you the identity of this MS. with the Annals
of Tighernachf and also to show how far it differs (h>m Dr. 0*Ck)nor*s copy. Ton
will see that the principal difference is the omisrion of foreign historical matter.
** I have considered very carefully the passage of Tigherttach^ to which yon
ealled ray attention : ^ Omnia monumerUa Scotorum usque Cimbaoth incerta ercait.
I thought at first tliat there might be some emphasis in the past tense, bramt,
* they were uncertain, but are not so now*. But on consideration, I believe
that the writer only meant to say that the ancient historical records of Irdand,
rehiting to the i)eriod before the reign of Cimhaofh^ are not absolutelv to be
retied on. He had just before said that ^Liccus is said by some to have reigned*;
(89) [A.M. 4509.] (90) [SyrWce.] (91) [?Atque.]
APPENDIX. 319
and, to apologize for this uncertain way of speaking (* regnute ab aliis febtub ap. zxxu.
Liccus*), ,he adds the apology : * Omnia t/ionumenta Scotorum usque CimbcLoth — '' ■
incerta trant \ Of the An-
" Ever yours most truly, «»»•■ of
"J. H. Todd*', ^fff^^^nach.
The following is the entire passage, from the commencement, as
it appears in the copy of Tighemach, in the MS. classed H. 1. 18.,
T.C.D. (p. 113). I have inserted in the note the only variations in
it which occur in the R.I.A. MS. (classed 83. 6).<^^
UegnAiie inchoArijf hie igictiii ^nnuf . xii. -Ancijom p pco-
loniei p|Aimo conjiegnAcuni efc dtio<:|ue TnAce-ooniA pcoto-
meuf eu Seleuopf. ppmuf |\. ibi pofc 'Al<\XAn'oe|\[]\um ?]
p..lipuf, <jui ec A^ie-oeuf AUxxAiroen Airoir tin. jAegnAf pjAimo
Anno pcolomei jtesnAjie incipienf K. 5®* Kl. aci. Anno p|Aio|Ae
•ouif fji. -AlAXAn-oiti <:|ui ec pitipuf jaex ttlAce-oojAum cum fUA
-Apiuxoiie O^Ao-oice a TnAce-oonibuf ippf ftiA-oenuA [fUA-
"oence] OlimpiA-oe mAC|Ae AUxxAnt)]!! occiftif efc pofc <jtiem
p. CAfAn-oe]! Anno ,x\x, a <juo hejAculef -AlAXAn-oiM pliu^^
3CU11 ecAuijf fue Anno ctim \[ex a mAC|Ae f ua ince|\]:eccuf efc.
-Asonuj^ |\ex Aype Tnino|Aif a Setuco pcolomeo occipif efc
po]x <|ueni |A. *Oimoc|Ai]f <^tii non poliepcit)ef pliuf Annif
XU111. in An-oo xuin.® pcolomei |niic iniciACUf jaegnA^Ae in
CAtfioin CiombAOt pUuf <|iii \\. Annif xuni.
Tunc A cUeniAip Cocai-o buA-bAC ACAin tigoine t^egnAfe Ab
Abif ]:ei\cu|i t/iccuf pe]\]fqiippmu|' olbm Ab tIgAine im-
peiiAfre.
OmniA trioniimencA Scocopum up CimbAoc ince]ACA e]iAnc.
hoc cempoi\e CiAemon |xoicuf ec T!linAn'oe]A comicujf ec
Ueupf [UeopAAfcuf] pilojfopbuf clA]ie]iunc.
U. CefAn-oe^x U. TnAce'ooniA obic <^ui [etc., etc.].
In all these copies of Tigheniach, as well as in those described by
Dr. O'Conor (those in the British Museum), the passage, " Omma
monumejita^, etc., occurs in Latin, and with no material variation of
language."'^ And if the observation did not occur elsewhere, or in
any other form, the remarks of the Rev. Dr. Todd might, perhaps,
(92) The nXK. MS. omits the flrit llnea of the paasage, the first page of that MS. com-
mencing an follows :—
Arideus /rater Alex. Magni occittu est in Olym, cxv. et An, Urb. Conditae 4.36 oecitus tti
Antigonut Rex AsUr Hinoris oceinu est An. Rom. 463. Eodem tempore tniUatus e$i reffnar*
in EmanitL, !«., An Eamhaln Clombaoth Mac Fiontain qui regnavii annit XVIIL Interim
a Teamhair Eocha Boadhac athair Ugaintf ab aiiis fertur. Not vtro pertcripHmut oHm aft
ipto Ugaln^ tunc ibi imperatum esse. Omnia Moh umkxta Scotobdm usque ad Ciombaotb
IKCBRTA F.RANT. Ctsonder Rex MacfdonUe obiit An. R. 466 (etc., etc). [The words printed
In small Roman are written in the MS in the Gaedhelic character. The words in Italics
and small capitals here are all, in the MS., in Roman running hand.]
(93) The whole passage in O'Conor's Tighemaeh is as follows; the whole of the first eleram
or twelve lines above being omitted, though in his preface (p. xiiL) he says that this T.C.D.
copy begins with the same words as RawL 48ft, in the Urit. Mas. (see text, p. 67, 68) :— ** Jv
▲Hxo XVIIF Ptolemjci iNrriATus kst rkovabk in Eamaiv Cimbaoth nuAB FmTAn, jQnn
BXOXAVIT ANRIS XVIII. TinfC IV TRMAIB EaCHAOH BUADHACH ATHAIB UOADIBJi^
AUI8 rBBTUB LlCC^UH. r&SSCBIPSIMUS OLLUM AB UOAIITB EXOHASBB. OimA 1
SCOTOBUM U8QUC ClMBAOTH IXCEKTA EBAKT. HoC TEMPORE ZENO STOIOOS :
COHIODB ET ThBOPBBASTVS PRILOSOPHUfl OLABUBBnXT.£=l*TOLE]LBUB T
c<EPiT, QUI xegxavit akbis XXXVIIl ; etc., etc
520 APPENDIX.
AP. XXXII. be considered sufficient to account for it. But I have found an im-
of the An- P^^*^^ parallel passage in one of the oldest tracts in the Book of
naiB of " Ballymote, which is certainly not a version of Ttghemadu
Tighemach, ^^ f^,]^ 5^ ^j^g ^Qo\i of Ballymote contains a page of Synchronisms
which I am unable tx> identify as by Tighemach or Flann. That they
were not believed by Charles O'CJonor, of Ballynagar, to be Flann's,
appears evident from the memorandum at the head of the next leaf
(fol. 6), in the liandwriting of that great scholar, in which he marks
another Tract, commencing there, and not connected with this pre-
ceding piece, as the S}Ticlironisms of Fiann. The tract at foL 5
begins :
P]MmA 6cAf THuttoi.
It proceeds then to record all the several ages of the world and
their respective lengths, pointing out at what dates they are con-
sidered by chronologists to have begim and ended. It states that
from the Deluge until the coming of Parthalon to Erinn was 1002
years. It then synchronizes the subsequent colonizations after Pcot'
thalon with various personages mentioned in the Old Testament and
in ancient history. Passing down to the Greek empire under
Alexander, it then records that it was in the Fifth year of his reign
that Cimhaoth began to reign at Emania, and that from the taking of
Erinn by Partlialon to the reign of Cimhaoth was 1202 years. And
immediately after^vards we find these words : —
TliT)AT) veffA octii" iiiT)A'o ■oei\bA The accounts and the historiefl of
l^cetA ocuf fencuf A f e^ n-epenn the men of Erinn are not known and
conigi CimbAcC TUac |:iiix)CAin. are not certain until [the time of]
Cimbaeth Mac Fintdin,
The writer then gives a list of Thirteen Kings of Emania afler Cim-
haoth^ and the years of their reigns, down to Concobhar Mac Nes9a;
and states that it was 206 years after the death of Concobhar that
Cormac Mac Airt became Monarch of Erinn, and that this was in
the Fifteenth year of Tiberius Cassar. He then proceeds to record a
number of dates connected with Church History; records that it
was in the thirteenth year after the Crucifixion that St. Peter went
to Rome ; gives the date of his death, as well as that of St. Paul ;
records the times of the Eight General Persecutions of the Christians ;
and then states that it was in eight years after the eighth Persecu-
tion that Cormac began his reign at Tara. The tract concludes, on
the same fol., with a short chronological account of several incidents
in the Christian Church down to* the coming of Palladius and of
Patrick ; but it contains nothing further relating to Erinn.
It appears to be certain that this tract is not a version of Tigher-
nachj with whose work it has no correspondence further than in
containing (but in the Gaedhelic, and with considerable difference of
expression) the remarkable sentence above quoted.
The second Tract of Synchronisms above alluded to is at fol. 6 of
the same Book (the Book of Ballymote). It is headed, in the hand-
APPENDIX. 521
AP. XXXI r.
writing of the venerable Charles O'Conor of Ballynagar, as "The ^..^ .
Book of S^Tichronisms of Flann of the Monastery" : umIji of °"
LeAtxxp Com<Mnip]ieAccA plAinn tnAini]X]\e6 fiojpAriA. Tigiumach.
This tract, however, cannot be a part of the former, since it includes
the same period ; and it is remarkable that Flann^ a writer contem-
porary with, though older than Tighernack, and of the very highest
authority, makes no such remark with respect to the period before
Cimbaetks time, but simply records the synchronism of the Ulster
King in its proper place. This tract also begins at the beginning,
with Adam himself; and it carries down the record as far a^j the
Battle of Alagh Mucruiinhe (in which the Monarch Art was killed),
A D. 195. The object of the piece is to mark what kings of the Assy-
rians, Medes, Persians, and Greeks, and what emperors of the Komans,
were contemporary with the several Monarchs of Erinn in succession.
When the writer of this tract reaches the time of Cimbaeth, he
simi)ly enters it in connection with Alexander, by saying (fol. 6 b. b.)
that :
-AtAXAnc4M]\ .1. c. ]M§ St^eg .«. Alexander the First was King of
t)bA*iiA, ocuf CitnbAet ITIac pn- Greece five years; and Cimbaeth Mac
c<Mn in^ |>e. Fintain [was] in his time.
After which he continues only :
UotAweuf m^c tAinge .xU ocuf Tolamtus [Ptolemeiu], eon of
rtlA^A moii5i\uA'o iii[Ajp6 octif Tied- Zain7^[Lagus], 40 years; and Macha
CAi* Tlig-bepg ocuf UgAine m6|\ Mongruadh and Rechfaidh Rig-derg
inA|\e fof. and ugain€ Mor in his time too.
The tract then enumerates Eleven only of the kings of Emania from
Ciinhaelh to Conchobhar-; but five additional names, not clearly dis-
coverable here, arc preserved in the poem of Eochaidh 0*Flainn,'^
On Cimbaeth and his Successors, — written more than two himdrcd
years befDre TighernacKs time.
It was, I am convinced, in this poem of Eochaulh UFlcdnn that
Tighernach found the names of the kings of Emania. It was from
the same authority that both Flann and Tighei'nach took the names
and facts of much eUe in their annals both before and after the era
of Emania. Eochaidh wrote historical poems on the Succession of
the Monarchs of Erinn from the ver}' beginning, yet he is quite silent
as to any doubt upon the earlier periods. If the sentence which now
appearij in Tighernach were written by him at all, it is, therefore, diffi-
cult to imagine upon what grounds, not known to liis own historical
authority, he could have been induced to make such a remark.
It is unfortunately impossible now to ascertain by whom the sen-
tence in question was first introduced into any record of the kings.
Was it written by Tighernach^ or was it copied by him from a pre-
ceding writer? If the fonner, was the Gaedhelic version, which
api)ears at fol. 5 of the Book of Ballymote, a translation from Tighev'
nach*8 Latin, and introduced by a subsequent scribe in a tract diffe-
rent from that of Tighernach? If the latter, did Tighernach translate
into Latin the observation of a previous writer in Gaedhelic ? If so,
who coidd that writer haTe bam^ieeiug that nothipg of the kind
APPENDIX.
523
•M •n.uivj t^ono co]\5]\ibAni com-
.. • r.^\ cm fO|\1eic1i Aiitifo.
iH'uins thus : —
mas, the son of Follachy who reigncil xp. xxxii.
one hundred years, ut alii aiunt. It '
is better, therefore, that vre write Of the An-
the synchronisms in a sci)arate stave ^^\ ^' .
Ijgjg/ Ti\jh€rnach.
;\ qu\ in coice^'O |m ■oo
v.. bliAT)tiOL -00 1 com-
Philopater, the fifth king of the
Greeks, five years in co-reign with
njjepnniAf. Tiffherntnas, (etc.)
.liniu's the spichroiiisms of tlie Assyrians, Medes, Greeks,
r«» Julius Cjesar, the first king of Rome, witliout intro-
naiiie of a single king of Erinn. Julius Ca?sar he syn-
. -til r»ur monarch, Eochaidh FeidhlecJi, and then continues
^ i\n\\n to the monarch, Fergal Mac Madduin, who was
•m.' in A.D. 718. Tlie prose is then followed by a poem
-, in which the kings of the whule period, exclusive of
:.ii, are given, us well as many curious liistorical facts
: •.•!' the Sjmchronisms of the Monarchs and Provincial
■I (ful. 23, b. b.), the following notice appears in the
ribuf llibei\tiic Ab Tle|>enioti, uf<|uo CodAi* Vcitjlcd ;
•.vs a poem of eighty-one quatrains, embracing the
I by the heading, and which is evidently intended to
I -irate and more convenient form, the absence of
Krin from the great poem of 1096 lines,
inmiediately followed by the following notice: —
•Mt' jkb 1le]\enion ufi^tie eoCAi-d V^^i-oteC oc incipic Ab
;,M|Xo TTlAC tleilt, ec VbAii*i cccitiic.
• doubt, then, that both poems are to be ascribed
I. the period from Laeghaire Mac Ntill, in 428, to
•'//«, in 718, which app«'ars in the prose tract, is
•*; this defect, however, is immediately supiJied
'»f fifky-one quatrains, which follows the last.
.\ ct\et>etn iti- Of the kings of Erinn after (the
Christian) Religion here down.
1 down to the death of Brian Boiroimhe, A.n.
; it ion of the monarchy by Maelsechlainn [Ma-
• died in 1022 ; and as the poet prays for his
'^fcjflTtlh^tf potm* mid prose pieces were written
A I ih4« tiiid id ih^ whoAjb poem we £nd thia
522 APPBNDIX.
AP. xxxn. occurs in the Synchronisms attributed to Flann^ or in the historical
poems known to be the work of that writer, who was contemporary
naia of ' with Tigkemoch, though a little older, and seeing that nothing of
Tighemach, ^jjg j^^^ occuTs in the historical poems of Eochaidh (yFUunn (200
years before both), from which both Tighernach and Flann unques-
tionably, as I believe, take their accoimt of the succession of the
Kings ? I can only say that it appears to me more likely that the
Latin sentence was a free translation of the more precise and fuller
Gaedhelic, than that the latter, as it occurs in the Book of Ballymote,
was an expansion of, by way of gloss upon, the former. But I have
no means of guessing at what time, or by whom, either was inserted.
It is quite possible that the original, whichever it was, was, after
all, but a marginal gloss, or observation of a scribe long subsequent
to Tighernach ; for the Book of Ballymote itself, it is to be remem-
bered, was -written three centuries after the time of the Annalist,
while the oldest fragment of Tighernach now known is more than a
century later still, and all the copies of his Annals in which the
Latin entry appears are still more modem.
That TighemacKs great contemporary, Flann^ found no reason to
doubt the historical records of the Succession of the Kings before,
any more than after, the local era of the Foimdation of the provin-
cial palace of Emania, is also clear, from the style of the elaborate
poetical tracts preserved in the Book of Lecainy pieces which we can
be quite certain were written by him, — detailed poems so elaborate
(constructed, too, with the special object of the instruction of youth
in the college in which their author taught), that it is quite impos-
sible to suppose he would have omitted to express in them a doubt
so serious, upon the authenticity of so large a part of the teaching
they contain, if he had himself heard of or shared it. The only
evidence we now have of the second Synchronisms in the Book of
Ballymote (the Tract at fol. 6.) being by Flann, is that supplied by
the marginal note already referred to in the handwriting of Charles
O'Conor. But the great Poems in the Book of Lecain contain
direct internal evidence of their authenticity. Unfortunately, that
invaluable volume is defective by at least nine folios at the com-
mencement, the present pagination beginning with fol, 10. The
Succession of the Kings, both before and after the era of Cimhaath in
in Ulster, is, however, complete ; and the particularity of the
account may be judged by the following short abstract of it.
At fol. 19. a., line 17 (Book oi Lecain):
ConiAiiti)"e]\At) t^igm ■ooitiAin ocuf The svnchroDisms of the Kings of
jAbAt ri-e|\enn |\o fciMbfom 1 cuf the World with the yarious coloiii»-
in titibAi]\ OCA f tAitli Hin wic tions of Erinn, I have written at the
peit fvo ^Ab |Mp 1Y1 'oomAin A|\ttif beginning of the Book, from the reign
ctif in coice* |\1 oo^iAeccAib ocuf of AVn, son of P«7, the first who as-
o pA|\totAr) niAC SefA t>o fo^AO sumed the empire of the world, to
eiMtro At\ttif iA]\ tToibn'o cuf in the fifth king of Greece; and trom
coicco bl.iA'OAin flAftA n5e]\niniji|* Partholan^ the son of Sera, the first
TTlic ITotlAir |\o5Ab |Mp ne^xenn colonist of Erinn after the Deluge, to
cocenn ce<o bUA%>An uc aIii Aiunc. the fifth year of the reign of TiglUm-'
APPENDIX. 523
IS fet\|> 'otiiiii T)orio cot\5]\ibAin cow- mas, the eon of FoUach, who reigned ^p. xzxii.
Anife|\At) tiA citi f oi\teicli Atitif o. one hundred years, ut alii aiunt. It ■
is better, therefore, that we write Of the An-
the synchronisms in a separate stave °*H<>' ^
here. 2V^*«r««».
He then begins thus : —
pilopdcef c]v\ iti coice^t) fi''%>o Philopater, the fifth Idng of the
^|\eccdib .11. Dl,idt>ti4i %>o 1 coin- Greeks, fire years in co-reign with
f tAicef n\i UigejMiniAf . Tif/hemmas, (etc.)
And he continues the synchronisms of the Assyrians, Modes, Greeks,
etc., down to Julius Csesar, the first king of Rome, ¥dthout intro-
ducing the name of a single king of Erinn. Julius Csesar he syn-
chronizes with our monarch, Eodkaidh Feidhlechy and then continues
the parallels down to the monarch, Fergal Mac Madduin^ who was
killed in battle in a.d. 718. The prose is then followed by a poem
of 1096 lines, in which the kings of the whole period, exclusiye of
those of Erinn, are given, as well as many curious historical facts
recorded.
At the end of the Sjmchronisms of the Monarchs and Provincial
Kings of Erinn (foJ. 23, b. b.), the following notice appears in the
original hand : —
Incipic T)e |\e5ibtjf llibef me Ab lief emoti, Ufque eo64^i^ t^ei-oted ;
And then follows a poem of eighty-one quatrains, embracing the
period indicated by the heading, and which is evidently intended to
supply, in a separate and more convenient form, the absence of
the monarchs of Erin from the great poem of 1096 lines.
This poem is immediately followed by the following notice:-—
t>c ivegibuf hibefme Ab 1le]\ctnon ufque eo6Ai* ^eyrAet ec incipic Ab
Coto U|\)ue AT) tAegAi|\e TUac ncitt, ec trtAiin cecimc.
There can be no doubt, then, that both poems are to be ascribed
to Flann ; but still, the period from Laeghair^ Mac N'eillf in 428, to
Fergus Mac MaeUluin^ in 718, which appears in the prose tract, is
still imsung in verse ; this defect, however, is immediately supplied
by another poem, of fifty-one quatrains, wliich follows the last,
headed :
"Oo t\i^Aib e^enn ia^ c]\et>cni in- Of the kings of Erinn after (the
fo pf . Christian) Religion here down.
This list is carried down to the death of Brian Boiroimhdj a.d.
1014 and the reassumption of the monarchy by Madstchlainn [Ma-
lachy] the Second, who died in 1022 ; and as the poet prays for his
long life, it is clear that these poems and prose pieces were written
before the year 1022. At the end of the whole poem we find this
curious quatrain, identif}'ing the author.
Cofo trtAtin fed t>ij;tA 'Di\einn, May Flann reach past severe pnniih-
niAc in-ofiii LicDA Ceigiri'o, ments, —
i:o|\ nem, niT)At T>icYiid -oc, [Flann] the son of the illustrious pro-
IliAicAin TM^tiJ liiiMge. fussor, —
To Heaven, it were no negative ap-
pointment,
To reach the royal mansion in the
sovereignty.
524 APPENDIX.
AP.xzzni.
[APPENDIX No. XXXni. [Lcct. III., Page 64.]
Maei^u/a, Original of stanza quoted by UiteiAtiAd from the poem of
'^i:^ ^ MJmurr ^^
O *OAe|AA'o in pobAit co gein p^-OAC fei'oiL
Coic cec if noe mbtiA-onA occmojAc co •oemin,
O >At)atti CO ngemeATTiAin oen mic tTlAi|Ae mine,
1c t) A btiA-bAin CAejAc n^i cec if cpi mite.
APPENDIX No. XXXIV. [Lect. III., Pages 65 and 66,
note <»'^.]
stanxa Original of stanza of an ancient poem quoted by "CigepnAC, as
3vi5a?^- ^ ^^ ^^^^ <>f ^'^ ^«^'* ^/ ^^- Pcitrick; and Extract from the
Dr.oconor'8 account printed by the Rev. Dr, O Conor of the V^P^ copy
S^A^Jiw*'* of the Annals of Ui5epnA6 in the Library of T.C,h.
O 5enemAin CjMfc, ceim aic,
.CCCC. foji cAem nocliAic ;
UeojAA btiA-onA f Aep iA]ifoin
Co bA]f P^CpAIC p|MTn Ap|XAlb.
The following is the Rev. Charles O'Conor's Description of the
Trinity College copy of the Annals of Tighemack^ alluded to at
page 66 (Lect. III.) ; (but see, also, ante, Appendix XXXII.) : —
Fol. 113. Jamque, his omnibus ita accurate, etsi breviter, enu-
meratis, valde dolendum est phira deesse a folio 112; idque eo
magis, quia quae desunt, ea ipsa sunt, quae desunt in Tigemachi
Codice Bodleiano (Land, 488).
Incipit hoc folium 113 ab iisdem verbis quibus Codex praediclus,
ab obitu nempe Alexandri Magni, quo tempore Cimbaoth Rex erat
Ultonicc. Desunt itaque in ambobus Codicibus omnia quae pnece-
dunt ab ipso mundi initio, unde Tigemachus, a?que ac Bcda et
caeteri Chronographi, exordium duxit. Codicem hinc ex Bodleiano
descriptum, fuisse demonstrat non solum hiatus iste in initio, verum
et ipsa scribendi ratio, quae plane indicat amanuensem non aliud
orens sibi impositum sensisse quam illud accurate imitandi quflf
descrilxjrat ratio ; iisdem enim abbreviationibus utitur ad unguera,
eademque barbara orthographia, quae Grammaticis, tam Hiber-
norum, quam Romanorum, Regulis omnino repugnat, quoque in
Codice Bodlciana valde displicet, atque ab imperito amamiensi
saeculi IStii ilium Codicem scriptum esse declarat. Maximam
porro ignorantiam prodit amanuensis, non solum in eo, quod bar-
barum hancce orthographiam serviliter imitatur, venun multo
magis in hoc, quod omnia describat, tanquam nihil omnino in
Codice Bodleiano desiderabitur.
Fol. 122. De est, exempli gratia, in Codice Bodleiano folium sep-
timum ; qui autem Dubliniensem inde descripsit nildl ibi deesse ratus
totom descripsit absque ullo liiatu, et ab anno quarto post captivita-
tern Patricii, transiit ad annum abinde fere centesimum, idque in ipso
APPENDIX. 525
medio paginte b, folii 122, minime advertens folium septimum penitus ap. xxxiv.
desiderari. Quis nescit, in tanta rerum nostrarum penuria, quantum
hoc ascitcritia Antiquitatibus llibemicis dctrimenti simul et contu- qJJJJJJ by
melia^ attulerit ? A captivitate Patricii transit codex Dubliniensis 2?t?S^-""
ad obitum S. Cianani Damliagensis, nihil inter utrumque referens, account of
nisi pauca quondam de Juliano Apostata, et de miraculo Hieroso- ^^[^^'*
Ijrmitano, quae idtima sunt verba folii septimi Codicis Bodleiani.
Desunt quidem in Bodleiano numeri annorum, qui in lioc codice '
appositi legentur in margini sed hi numeri manu recentiori descripti
sunt, idque perperam, et ex Annalibus Innisfalionsibus, ut qiiidam,
adluic reccntior, anno tcnsit in margine folii 121 b.
Fol. 124. Non nulla desimt in hoc folio, amanuensis ascitantia
omissa, quae in nostra Editione ex Codice Bodleiano supplentur.
Alia pariter in eodem folio omittuntur pagina b. quae eandem
oscitantiam domonstrant, linea quarta ubi nuDa mentos de obitu
Itce Clitan credaletisut, vel de annis ab obitu Patricii.
Charactcres hujus Exemplaris Tigemachi longe diversi sunt a
characteribus pnpccdentiiun foliorum, et longe plures sunt Abbre-
viationes verborum et syllabarum.
Fol. 133. Quae de hujus codicis apographo Bodleiano dicta sunt
supra ea plane confirmantur ex folio 133. £a enim omnia, quae
desunt in Codice Bodleiano, ab anno 7G5 ad annum 973, desunt
pariter in Dubliniensi.
Folio 134. Desunt etiam in hoc folio eadem, quae desunt in
Codice Bodl(;iano ab anno 1003 ad annum 1018, cujus chaiHicUr
exprimitur sic "Kl. iiii. feria, Luna x., Litera Dominicale E". Hoc
tanien ab aliis referentur ad annum 1019, quod etiam convenit cum
characteiibus sequentium annorum. Annus enim immediate proxi-
mus sic exprimitur "Kal. vi. feria, Luna ii., an. xiiii. circuli d(!cen-
novennalis et xx. paH millejinitum", C«?tera recto ordine soquuntur
pro ut in Codice Bodleiano, ad annum usque 1088, ubi haec leguntur
** Tigernachus hue usq. Scripsit, et hoc anno quievit" recto ordine
procedunt etiam inde ad annum 1178, ubi nieum Codicis Bodleiani
Exemplar ideo desinit, quia caetera, quae soquuntur in Codice Bod-
leiano, recentiori manu descripta sunt. Pono quae extant in Bod-
leiano dicersis vianibujt^ in hoc codici una, eadem(iue manudescripta
sunt, usque ad annum 1407, et folium IGl inclusive, ubi explicit
continuatio Tigemachi.
Ilaec sunt, quae, se(;lusis Partium Studiis, de ambobus codicibus
dicenda erant. Ca?tera, quae in Dubliniensi continentur a folio 164,
pulchrori manu, et characteribus, ac Lingua, partim Latina, partim
Hilx'mica, scripta usfjue ad finem codicis, Chwnici Scotorum^ titulo
designantur, et eadem manu scripta sunt usque ad folium 216. Ubi
chronicon hoc desinit in anno 1135.
Prima duo folia Historiam Universalem breviter attingunt a
creato mundo ad Nativitatem S. Patricii. Cffitera folia, numerodly
Historiam Hilntmicam pranjipue respiciunt, caquc omn
ex hoc codice descripta jam penes me habeo.
Caboloi]
526
APPENDIX.
Of King
Bochaidh
Entry in
Ttghermaek,
Reference
to Book of
Lelnster.
Ancient
account of
the Foun-
dation of
the Palace
of Emania.
APPENDIX No. XXXV. [Lect. IH., Page 68.]
Of 6o6aii5 buA-bAC.
But the most coirious part of this entiy is the assertion that
Eochaidh Buadhach^ the father of Ugaind M6r^ was king of all
Erinn, and residing at Tara contemporaneously with Cimbaeth^
King of Emania; when the fact is that Eochaidh Biuidhach was
never monarch of Erinn at all ; but, by a mistake of the original
compiler, or some subsequent scribe, his name is substituted here
for that of his father, Duach Ladhrach^ who was the contemporary
of Cimbaeth.
APPENDIX No. XXXVI. [Lect. HI., Page 68.]
Original of entry in Ui5epnA6 as to the Kings of Leinster,
Upi6A pig pob^i "00 t^i5biTi pop Qpinn 6 ca l^bpAiift
'Lom5fe6 co C^ubAip ttlop.
APPENDIX No. XXXVII. [Lect HI., Page 70.]
Original of commencement of an ancient poem preserved in the
''Book ofLeinster'' (K 2. 18., T.C.D.,fol 104), ascribed to
5ilU\ An Choni'oe'6 Ua CopmAic.
" -A Hi picit) pemij •OAin".
APPENDIX No. XXXVm. [Lect. III., Page 70.]
Original (with Translation) of the account of the foundation of
the palace of GiriAin TTlAdA, (b.c. 405,)— /rom the " Book of
Leinster'' (H. 2. 18., T.C.D.,/oZ. 10 b. a.).
Cit) "OiA UA GiTiAin ITlAfcA. til hAnnpAifi pin.
Upi pig bACAp pop b-6pinn i comptkchiup, -co UtcAib
T)oib .1. *Oic1iopbA TTiAC *OinimAin, a h-llpnnic 1Tlit)e; Aet)
HuAt) mAC bA-ouipn, mic ApgAicmAip, a Uip Ae-OA;* Cim-
bAecb iTiAC pncAin, mic ApgAicmAip a finnAbAip TTlAige
Imp.
X)o tliAc c6pA lApum, HA piKpn, pe6c mbbA-onA ca6
pip "oib ippige. "Cpi pecc pAcnA ectii\]ui, pecc tropuit),
pecc pbt), pecc noccigepn. Ha pecc rropuit) "oia pimpAt)
cpiA bpiccu; riA pecc pitit) -oia nglAmAt) ocup -oia tiep-
puAcpA; tiA pecc coipg "oia nguin ocup ioia topcut) mem
pAcbAt) in pep "oib in pige i ant) pecc mbtiA-OAn ; co comec
pip ptA^A .1. me^ CACA bliA-onA, ocup cen mech puAmnA
ce^ -OAtA, ocup cen mnA t)6cAib x>e bAnAi-oit). Uim6elpAC
ce6pA cuAp-OA ce6 pp -oib ippije .i. pepcA Acpi. Aeo puAT)
cpA, AcbAcb -oib Apcup .1. DA-out) no bAt)et) in ^ppuAit);
APPENDIX. 527
ocuf CO cucAt) A6o|tp ^ypr^ fit) pti, uTToe Sit) n--det)A, ocuf xxxvm.
CfpuAit). Hi fAp5Aib in C'Aet)pn cUvint) a6c oen injen .1.
TTIaca TnongiAUAt) a hAinnipt)e. Cotiaccais pt)e -pet <x tiA- act^tof
ctiA]\ t)on ^156. -Acbepc CimbAech ocuf 'Oictio|ibA r\\ chi- Sara^'
bejtcAif |\i5e t)o mnAi. jTeccA CAt ectip|AU, ocuf mAit)it) in ^Jt^lSS'
CAt |Ae TnActiA. 'OopumAtc f ecc TnbliAt)nA iitpge. 'Oo *
jtocliAip *Oicboj\bA 1 Cojtunt) |:oipt)e. 'Po]VAC<Mbpt)e coic
niAccu TTiAite .1. t)Aet, ocuf Dj\Af, bec<vc, ocuf tlAtUvd,
ocuf bopbdAf. ConAcceuA|A pve jAige. Acbepc THaca nA
cibj\et) t)6ib, A]i ni 6 ]AAchAib cue acc An]i6i ca^a A|a 6cin.
feccA CAt ecu]i|iu. t)|Aiffif TMaca in cAcn pop mACCAib *Oi-
chopbA, CO ]:A]A5Aibfec A]t cent) Aicce; co jaocuiji iac a]i
innApbA lApcAin int)icnubAib ConnACc. Uuc ITlAchA iaja^ Ain
CimbAed cucci t)0 ceite t)i, ocuf t)o cbAip5ecc a liAmfAise
imme.
O jAobACAjt oencAt)Ai5 cjtA, ITlAchA ocuf CimbAecb, tuit>
TTlAcbA t)o lAitAi]! meic n'OichojibA i]1|aicc dtAimpge .1. cAef
fecAil, ocuf jAocA po comtet) impe, conofpuAijA 1 mbA^iint)
ConnAdc oc pine cui]ac AttAit). Ia^i^aijic nA p\\ fc6tA t)i,
ocuf innifpt) p t)oib, ocuf t)o bepAic biAt) t)i con cenit)pn.
-Acbejtc fep t)ib: if AtAint) fofc nA CAtbgi, o^ncAigem ffiA.
Tlof beifpt)e teif fon cAitlit). CenglAmp in feffAin
A^tuf nifc, ocuf fAcbAit) e pn chAittix). Uicp t)Ofit)ip
t)on uenit), CAt)e in fef t)A coit) Lauc AfpAc. TTIebot tAif,
Afp, ciACUAin 6ucAibp Af noenuugut) p\i ctAimpg. Hi bo
mobol, Af lAcpini, Af vo genAmni uti AcecnA. Hof boif
CAc fef fon cAtle. CengtAiop cac fep t)ib A]\ niufc, ocuf
nof beif in o^ncengut le iac co htllcu. -AfbepcACAjt
UtAit) AmniAfbAt). tVicho, A]\pi^, a]\ if colt pyi rtAtA
'OAtrifA, ACC A nt)oifAt) fo t)oi]\e, ocuf ctAit)ec ]^A1cn im-
mumfA, copop bi bAf pfimcViAtif tllAt) co b]\Ach. Co fo
ch6j\Aint)p t)6ib in vun conA heo oip imniA mum .1. Ginuin
.1. 66 THuin .1. 66 iinmA THuin TTlAchA.
[translation.]
What is Emain Macha named from ? It is not difficult to tell ?
Three kings that were over Erinn in co-sovereignty ; they were
of the Ultonian race, namely, DiOiorba^ son of JJiman^ from 27*-
niuch of Midhe (Meath); Aedh Ruadh^ son of Bddhum, son of
Argatmar, from Tir Aedha; Cimbaeth^ son of Fintany son of Ar-
gatmar^ from Finnabhair of Magh Inis, These kings, now, made
an arrangement, that each man of them should reign seven years
[in turn].
There were three times seven guarantees between them [namely] :
■even Dmids, seven poets, seven military leaders [or captains].
Tba imnpniida to scorch them by incantations ; the seven poets
528 APPENDIX.
czxviii. to satirize and denounce them : the wven captains to wound and
to bum tliein, it' each man of them did not vacate the sorereignty
count of at the end of his seven years ; and to maintain the [evidences of thej
« *'*<»jy- righteousness of a sovereign, namely: abundance of fruit every
e i*auc« year ; and no failure of the dye-stuffs of every colour ; and women
1^. .. ^^^ ^^ ^^.^^ .^^ childbirth. They revolved three revolutions each
man of them in the sovereignty, that is, sixty- three [}'ears, in all].
Aedh Ruadh was tlie tirst of them that died, i.e. of drowning, he
died in E*i<'Ruaidh^ and his body was buried in that hill [Sidh]
unde Sidh AedJin [Aedli's hill], and Es-Ruaidh [or, the Redhaired
Man*s Cataract]. This Aedh left no children but one daughter,
f. ^., Mncha Mnng-Ruadh [that is, Redhaired Macha] was her name.
She demanded her father's turn of the sovertngnty. Cimbaeth and
Dithot-ba said that they would not give sovereignty to a woman.
There was a battle fought between them, and Madia gained the
battle. She sjK^nt seven years in the sovereignty. Dithorba was
killed in the Corann in that time. He left five good sons, namely,
Baeth, and Lras^ and Belach^ and Uaflachy and Borhchwf. These
di-nianded the sovereignty. MacJia said that she would not resign
it to tlieni, becaust^ it was not from securities she had obtained it,
but in the battle-lield by force. A battle was fought between them,
Madia gained the battle over the sons of Dithorba, so that they
left a slaughter of heads with her ; and she sent them into banish-
ment afterwards into the wildernesses of Connacht. Macha after
that took Cimbaeth to her to be her husband, and to take on him
the command of her soldiers.
When Macha and Cimbaeth had thus formed an union, Macha
set out to discover the sons of Dithorba, in the shape of a leprous
woman, i. «., having rubbed herself ^nth the dough of rye and rota
[some kind of red colouring stuff]. And she found them in Bairinn
of Connacht, cooking a wild hog. The men asked news of her,
and she told them, and they gave her food at that fire. A man
of them said: "Beautiful is the eye of the hag: let us cohabit
with her". He took her with him into the wood. She tied that
man by main strength, and she left him in the wood. She came
again to the fire. " What of the man who went with you ?" said
they. " He was ashamed", said she, " to come back to you after
cohabiting \nx\\ a leprous woman". " It is no shame", said they,
" for we will all of us do the same". Each man of them took her
into the wood. She tied each man of them by her strengtli, and
carried them in one tie with her to Ulster. The Ultonians pro-
posed to httve them killed. " Not so", said she, " because it would
be the defilement of the righteousness of a sovereign to me ; but
they shall be condemned to slavery, and shall raise a Rath aromid
mc, and it shall be the chief city of Ulster for ever". And she
marked for them the Diin vnXh. her brooch of gold [E6 J//-] from
her neck [or at her neck], i.e. Emuin, i.e. Eomuin, i.e. the E6
[brooch] of Macha at her neck. \E6 and wiw/n, brooch and neck.]
APPENDIX. 529
APPENDIX No. XXXIX. [Lect. Ill, Page 75.] ^hJE^^UL
Original of entry in the Annals o/UigepnAc, at a.d. 1405. ^^^
-Auijifcin Tn<\5]\<\T)oi5, cAnotiAC 'oo cAnoriAcoib Oit6n tia t^aS^^
llAom, I'Aoi, gcem jio mAip, a negno '6ia'6o aju^ •6oTTionx)o,
|iA tcijionn, A]\ fencA]', Aguf a]a eAtA-onoib iotttoa Aite
A)\ceno; aju]' ottotii 'oeig-ujilAbpo lApcoip Coppo; fep
cegoijt An boboipp, ^'S^'^X ^^^^^P lonroA oite, eit)!]! becliAit)
TiAorii, Aguf f^encAf-'OAXAib ; -oeg ati cet)AOin |\ia SAifioin, m^
An feif e-o btiA'OAin a]\ caojac [a Aoip] ; yo\\ yey^-b ^T5^'
UpocAi^i An cflAnoigcoijxe lofA C|\ifc -00 coigecc pop a
Anmoin.
APPENDIX No. XL. [Lcct. IV., Page 76.]
Original of legendary account o/TtlAetfucAin 0'CeA]\bAitt, of
^x\\\' ^Aictenn (Liisf alien) ^ in lx)c Lein (the Lake of Kih Ancient
larney), fvom tJie ancient vellum 3IS. called t/ie ' Liber 'j^llisuth-
Flavus Fergu8orum\ (Part i., fol 11 a.) J^"***^"
U|\iA|^ fojtAinnnj CAinicu'OA]\ o Cinnni]Ai -oo •oenuTYi
teiginn -omn^^Ait!)! AnmcAi\A*o t)|^iAin inic Ceinnemig .1. ITltiit-
fucAin tniAC CepbAitt, 'oCojAnACc Loca Lein, ai)\ bA he
ecnAi"6i bA veA]\]\ inA Aimp]\ he. 1|" AnitAit) ]\o bAtJAjt in
c)\iA|\ yogtAinnnsip, ocui' comcjMic, ociif cotiToeAtbA, ociif
coTTiAinni yo]\]\o .1. 'oomnAtt An CAinin. II0 bAX)Ai\ imo]\|\o, c]\i
bliATJnA AC ]:o5Umiii occo. -A cinn rpi btiAioAn A'oubjuv'OAp
y]\\ noix)i: if]'Ait tinn A^t pA-o, "out co]\oici 1e]Ui]^Atem ipn
np lu-OA, 511 ]\o imci'op'O a]\ co]'a cech conAi]\ )\o imig An
rSUMmcit) A cAtArii. xXvubAipc in rAit)!: ni pAuhAitj no 511
f Aj^bAchAi tuAch mo )'aoi]\ [f Aeci]\] ACumj^A. Ax)iib]Mi'OA)t nA
•oaIuaix): til pint ACinnn, a)\ pAt), ni -oo be]\ini]^ 'ouicc acc be
muit) rpi btiA-onA Aite Ag OTfintoi'o •omcc, tiiAt) Ait toAcc.
til hAit, A]i]'e, ACC be-o cobivAi-o 1110 b]\oic yein DArii, no *oen
bA]i ncAfguine. X>o be]Mini, o|\ pAt), -oia ]ioib ACtiinn. Hon
nAijx ]:o]i]\o po foipcetA in Cohttoca-o. llAchAi-o, A]ipe,in conAiji
If Alt tib, ociip bit) mA]\b pb a nAcinpeAcr a]i An cujiiip ocup
ip bpoAuh conciiTj o]unbp, CAn -out a]\ neAtii ia)i nejAib "ouib,
no CO ri]n)Aix) cucumpA a]i vvy x)ia inni]"in 'OAifi ce pAt) mo
fAcgAit ociip CO ]io inmj^i An pAtAim cennpA in Coim-oi.
5eAttnniix)ne "omcrp An ni y^n a hucc An Conn-oi, AjApAt)
|io imi]*^ pn, ocnp )uic]\\X) bcAnnAcrAin too o nA noixji,
ocnp |io ]:A5p\c bcAiinAcxAin A151 -on a. Ilo p]iprc cech
conAi]\ ]io cuAtAT)A]\ in cStAimci -oo niicicr. llAniCA-OA]! -on a,
po-oeoi-o co]Miici le]Mip\teiii, ocnp piA]ui]^A)i h^y AneinpeACC
Ann, ocup ]io hAtmAicoAt) co noi]! [nonoip] moiji ia-o in lejui-
fAtem. UAinic lllicet <\]icAin50At o TDia a^a ccAiin. l-nnb-
34
APP. XL.
Ancient
bhaiU.
530 APPENDIX.
^AX)Ai\i*um : ni jxAgtim no 50 ]'U\TiAi*6im m b]\e4xc1i cuj^'Am y]\\s
A|\ noix)i po -poif celA Cprr. lAichigi-o [Imchigi-o] Ap in CAin-
uioi^ot git, ocuy innpt) 'oo u]ai buA'6nA coteich A151 x>o f acjaI., ocii]-
i£o%^r- A "owt 1^ ly^unn co b)v<xch. lA|\pTi be|iti]A ah bpeAch Alto
b]tAch<\ fAi|i. 1nx)if 'ouinn, a]a pAX), at!) niA cujitAp in if-
|«nn e. -Ajt c]\i fAcbinb, Ap in CAingit .1. a|ia nie-o i::o|t|tce|'
An cAnoin, ocuf a met) -oo nrnAitfi irjMpt) coimjiicenn, ocuf
A|\ cpejAX) An -Atciif A.
ISe imo]\]\om yc<t a|i a|\ rpeigfium An c-Atcuf .1. niAc mAit
CobAei"6ACO [occo] .1. TtlAetpA'oiWkic a Ainm. Hoj^ob 5Atu|i
Aif in niAC. Ho 50b An c-Atcuf fofeACC inA nmcitt A]t
•OAix) con At) bA-d mApb in niAC. ni|i CApbAi*6 t)oibpuTfi pn,
iiAi]\ bA niA]\b in niAC fA cet)oi|i. lt)tibAnic TtlAetf utAin nAch
jebAt) in x\tciif c|\e bicuiii o nAC f acaix) Anoi|i ac IDia Vai|\.
Ociif ni t)eApAnoi|\ cue t)iA t)on Aizvy jAn -ptAinci t)iAt) iuac
f An, Acc f eA]\i\ teij" in ttiac t)o beicb et)i|\ in mumnnp tleinie
nA et)i|\ muinncin cAtmAn. Ho bAei^ HlAetftiCAin ]^acc
mbtiA'onA cen ^icuf t)o jobAit. lAjipn CAnjAtJAp ACpup
x)AtcA'6 t)o AgAtuib ITlAeitftitAin ijiecuAib cpi cotum njeAt,
ocuf fGApi^um ]:Aitci pMii. 1nnip"6 t)Ani ce fAt) mo fAegAit,
ocuf An jTA-ouim |"oc|tiiici. xXcauc, ^]\ pAt)]*om, c]m btiAt)nA
t)0 f Aegut Acut), ocu]^ t)o t)ut A nij^tinn cobjiAch iA]\pn. Ci"6
imA mbeinn Ampjunn, a]\ eipn. x\]\ cpi pAcViAib, Ap pAt)fiim»
ocu]" ^10 innpt)A|i nA c]m ^aca a t)tib]uimAi\ i\omiiinn. llibA
p|\ mo t)titfA An ipunn, Ap-pe, uaija nA cp huitc pn, Ajipe,
ACA1C ocompA Anhi, ni biAt) ocompA Amu, ni biAt) ocumpA
opunn AmAch, ocup c]\ei5]:eAt)pA nA huitc pm^ ocuf togpAiv
IDiA t)Am iAt), AmAit ]\o jOAtt fein An cAn a t^ubAipc: " Im-
piecAp impii in <^UACumc|ue bopA conue^vpuf piept) non no-
cebic ei". 11 1 t)en t)onA, ciAtt uAim pein ipn CAnoin, [acc]
AmAit no geib ip nA teobjiuib t)iAt)uib. J^bAt) t)nA cet>
fteccAin cecb tAi. SeAcc mbtiA-onA acu^a jen Atuup vo
jAbAit, ocuf jebAt) in cx\tcup fo feACc cec noici"6 cen bet)
beo, ocup t)o t)en cpeginup cecA peAccmuine. *OenAit>p
t)no cocc t)ocum neime, a]\ ye, ocuy C151 Atto ineipoeACCA
t)innipn pcet T)Am. UiucpAmuit) a|i pAt), ocup x>o cuAt)A]i a
C)iiu|i pon cuA]\ApcbAit cet)nA, ocup ]\o beAiinAccpAt) t)6, ocup
|\o bcAnnAcpum t)Aibrum. Itto An ei]^eccA cAn5ut)A|i a
cpu]A ron cuA]AupcbAit cet)nA, ocuf ^lo beAnnAcbA cIia [beAii-
nAchAj cAch t)A ceite t)ib, ocuf yo pApfAit) t)ib : in inAnn mo
beAcbA]"A int)iu ac IDia ocuf An tA eite CAngAbuiji t)om AgAt-
tuib. Ill hinAnn umopjio, A|\pAt), uaiji t)o ceAfbenAX) t)uinne
ifcinA"6|"A A]\ Tleitfi, ocuf ^y teo|i tinni-o a poAbup UAnjA-
mAjine Amu AmAit yo geAttAmApne, a]\ vo ceAnn^A, ocuf ZAfi
Linn A]\ Amuf An inAi-d pn, co pobuiyi 1 piAC|iAcu|" *Oe ocu|*
APPENDIX. 531
AT) AencOki*6 no^ U|\inoit)i, ocin' muinnci]\i tleiriie, co bpAU riA app. xl.
mbneAch. IS Atinpn ^\o cinoibt) f acai|\ [fACAi|^c] ocuf ctei- j^^^^^
^ti-b ittt6a CU151, ocuf \\o liOTijoi'o he, ocuf ni |\o fjAjtf At) a X)At- stoirof
CAi-b y\KM[' no ju nx)e6AX)A|A •ooctim Heirfie. Ocuf if^e fcpep- ^(rcter.
cuA [fC|\epc^^A] in p]\ mAirh pn a ca in Innij" ^Aitlenn ipn ***'*''•
eclAif fOf . Pinic.
APPENDIX No. XLI. [Lect. IV., Page 76, Note (•*^]
Contents of the ^^Liber Flamia Fergu807nim\ a vellum MS. in contenta
ttoovarta, or volumes, 4to, of the date 1437, in tlie possession Jlu^utni
of James Marinus Kennedy, Esq. [tlie volumes not consecu- Ihtl^tJ^^'
tively paged, but each consisting of several staves (A, 13, C,
etc.), paged separately at prese7it, but irregularly divided.']
Pars I., A, — ^FoL 1. A religious legend (in which the names of
St. Stephen Martyr, and Judas occur).
Fol. 2. The Triumphs of Charlemagne [a rather short tract].
Fol. 10. Tlie Story of Constantine the Great.
Account of the Names of the Trees of which the Cross
was composed.
Account of a man's head having fallen off at the fair of
Taillten, for swearing falsely upon the hand of St.
Ciaran.
Story of NiaU Frassach, Monarch of Erinn.
Fol. 11. Trijil of Friendship by an Ancient Philosopher.
Stor}' of Madsnthain CCearbhaiU [O'Cavrolf], Secretary
and ^Vdviser to Brian Boivimhe. [See ante. Appen-
dix No. XL.]
Storj' of SaigKtr (Tmrain.
Account of the Wonders of the birth of Christ.
Fol. 13. Short Life of St. Moling.
B, — Fol. 1. Story of Enoch and Elias.
Fol. 2. Death of St. Chiistoferus.
Fol. 6. Keligious Legends (of Erimi).
Fol. 7. Religious Legends and Rules.
Fol. 1. Li»gcnd of St. Moling.
C, — Fol. 1. Story of the Sons of Eochaidh Mvighmlieadlioin.
A Religious I-^gend.
Fol. 2. The Historic Tide of the Tain Bo Flidais (part of the
Tain Bo Chuailgne).
A Religious Legend.
Fol. 3. Account of the "Irruption**, or Origin, of the Boj-ne River.
Story of St. Colum Cille.
Birth of Conn of the Hundred Battles.
Fol. 4. Story of Niall of Nine Hostages, and his Sons.
A Religious Legend.
Fol. 5. Short Account of St. Patrick.
Fol. 6. Account of the Death of St. Andrew.
FoL 7. Account of the Death of St. Philip the Ai>ostle.
34b
532 APPENDIX.
AFF. XI J. Fol. 7. Account of the Death of Farthdan.
Contents ^' — ^^^' ^' ^^^^ of St. John the Evangelist, (imperfect),
of the Ma Fol. 3. Beheading of St. John the Baptist.
F^^iirS. Life of St. Elexinus.
ocsoKUH. Fol. 4. Exposition of the Lord's Prayer.
Fol. 5. Moral and Religions Tracts.
Fol. 6. Story of Dunchadh^ or Donogh, O'Brien [CyBraoinS]
Story of the ^lan who swore by St. CiararCs Hand.
Story of Mac Coise the Poet, and the Fair}' Woman.
Story of Aodh Oirdnidhe and the Enchanted Goblets.
Story of Constantino the Great.
Pars II., A, — Fol. 1, et seq., Religious Pieces (miscellaneous).
Fol. 6. Accoiuit of the Death of St. Salmus.
Fol. 9. Life of St. Julian.
Fol. 10. Of the Passion of our Lord.
B, — Fol. 1. Religious Tract from St. Augustine.
Fol. 2. A curious Address from a Priest to the Heir of the
King of Oriel, on the Sacraments.
Fol. 5. Death (and Life) of St. Ceallach, son of Eogan Bdj King
of Connacht ; (see ante^ Appendix No. XIV.)
Fol. 8. Religious Legend of the Seven Heavens, and of the Crea-
tion of ^lan.
Fol. 10. Threatened Inflictions on the Chuixrh in Ireland if the
purity of the Faith was not preached and forwarded.
Tract on SS. Peter and Paul.
Fol. 12. The Genealogies of the Apostles.
Fol. 13. Religious Tracts (miscellaneous).
C, — Fol. 1. On the Passion, Resurrection, etc.
Fol. 8. Story of St. Baithin,
D,— Fol. 1. Stor}' of Tadhg O'Briain and the Devil.
Tract on the House of Solomon.
The " Epistle of Christ".
Fol. 2. Tract on the Greatness of God, etc. (commonly called
Teanga Bithnua).
Fol. 4. Dialogue of the S<nd and the Body.
Fol. 5. The Vision of St. Paul.
Fol. 6. Tract on the Eucharist.
Fol. 7. On the Situation of the City of Jerusalem.
Fol. 8. On the Coloiu*s of the Vestments used at Mass.
Life of St. Eustalius.
Various Legends (religious, etc.)
Fol. 10. Lile of St. Mary of ^gypt.
E, — Fol. 1. Life of Saint Georgius (much defaced).
Fol. 5. The Testament of the Blessed Virgin.
Fol. 7. Legend of St. Brenann of Birr»
Fol. 8. Legend of Meadhbh and the Cave of Cmachain.
Tract on the Expulsion of the De'ise (Decies or
from Tara.
APPENDIX. 533
Fol. 9. Tract on the Death of Conor ^^ac Nessa on the Day of a pp. xli.
the Crucifixion. . r«,.tent.~
Tract concerning the Devil. of the MS.
Tract on the Conimantbncnts. j^^wi/km-
Fol. 1 2. Story of Saint Brendan. o JioBUM.
[Some parts of these MSS. are as ohl as the middle of the
fifteenth century, and other parts perhaps not ?o old. The date
1437 occurs at the 2Dth leaf of Part I., or Part L C. Fol. 5.]
APPENDIX XLII. [Lcct. VI., Page 84.]
Original of entri/ in the Annals of UUier of the Death of the or the
original compiler, llUc inAgnuiw. (a.d. 1498.) ^^Xr^t
SceL mop int) Cpinn mie in uLu\x)Ainp .i. po pp. of uitter.
in AC ItlAJnupA inhejm'oip "oo eg in btiA-OAinpi .i. CAt<\t
65, inAC Ca^ Alt, mic CauaiI, nnc gillApvV-oiiAij, mic TTIaca,
ecc. Ileoc bui iiia biACAc po]\ ScAnAt), ocup niA caiia-
nAC copAT) \w A\<x> ITIaca, ocup 111 Cppocoi-oecc CtocAip,
ocup inA •oegAnAc pop Loc Cipne, ocup iiia phe]\pitn a n-lnip
Caiii Loca h-Gipne; -oo bui a n-'oe^AnuAcr Loca h-Gipne iiia
pep-inAiT) e^'puic p]vi ciiic bliA'unA'oeg piA iia eirpeclir. Int)
IcAC tojinu]!, imo]\po, ocup in gem glome, ocup in pecUx
poUipcA, ocup cipn CAipce-uA int) ccnvVi, ocup cpAcb cnuApAig
nA CAnoine, ocup ropup ua •oepcpci, ocup nA cennpA ocu]^
nAliAitgine; ocup in cotum a]\ glome cpi-ue, ocup in cu]\-
rui]\ A]\ ent)CA ocup mnecli, x)A]\ bunbigi -OAniA, ocup X)e6-
]\Aif), ocup -oeibtein bochcA 6i]\enn ; ocup m neAC bui Iau
X)o pAC, ocup x)o ecuA in gAc uile eAlAtJAin co liAimpip a
eicpeccA, ocu]' A]u\ile .1. 'olige'o, ocup •oiA'OAcr, pipgecc,
ocu]^ peAttpAime, ocup eAlA'UAm gAei'oiLgi Ai)\cenA. Ocup
nei\c po cumx)Aii5, ocup po fogU\ini, ocup ]\o cmoib An teA-
bApi'A A teAb)\Aib ilniTOA Aite. Ocu]* a 65 •uon J^tup bpeAc,
m T^ecniAt) CAlAinn x)o liii ^Xpjul, -oia hA'me a]\ai Iaici pecc-
mumi. bx^ Anno [AjecAnp pue. Ocup rAb]\A-6 gAC nee
i)iA legpA mx) lebA]\]\\, ocup 'oia poigeuA, a bennAcc pop An
AnmAinpn THhic ITlhAgnupA.
APPENDIX No. XLIII. [Lcct. IV., Page 85.]
Original of tivo memoraiula inserted in a blank space (at the MeTn«»T»nrt»
€71(1 of A.D. 10 7, 3) in the Dublin copy of the Annals o/oft'ister.
Ulster, {classed H. 1. 8. T.C.D,)
5<^cllAon beigpA]' An becpo CAbjuv'o ben-OAcbc Ap Anmum
An pp po gpAib.
IS copA A cAbuipc Ap AnniAin lluAix)pi hi Lumm 'oo I'gpib
An tebup comAic.
534
APPENDIX.
^^iJ^^ APPENDIX No. XLIV. [Lect. IV., Pages 90, 92.]
Of the commencement of the Annals of Ulster in the Vellum
MS. so called (classed H, 1. 8.) in the Library of T,CJ).
I cannot venture to pronounce on my own part a positive opinion
upon the identification of these leaves with the Annals of Tighemach,
but it seems to be more than probable that they did foim a portion
of a copy older than any (and not exactly coinciding with any) other
now known. I can add nothing to the observations of the Rev. Dr.
Todd (in his letter printed anXe Appendix XXXII.), whose conclusion
in the affirmative is, of course, entitled to the greatest weight. The
writing of the three leaves in question appears to belong to the
fifteenth century.
APPENDIX No. XLV. [Lect. V., Page 94.]
MemorandA Original of memorandum inserted in the Annals of lx)C Ce
T^%^ (ff. 1. 19., T.CD.) at A.D. 1061.)
IS iTYi fgite^c X)o b<\pc t)|\iAin tTlic 'OiApmA'OOu Anno Do-
mini, 1580. THip pilip b-A-oUMj".
APPENDIX No. XLVI. [Lect, V., Page 94.]
A™taof Original of a second memorandum in the same^ at 1515.
uifil^^** SjuiiAim -06 fo, 50 -o-cAupAit:) IDlA -ofeAiA in leAfeAipp
ceACc ftAn 6 bViAite Aca Luaih .1. t)]AiAn niAc HuAi-biti THic
'O)A)\Tn0kX)A. Ttlip pi tip T^l^ppc, 1588, Ia |:6it t)]\enuitiTi
•00 fiinni^A-b. Ocuf CtuAin hi D|^A0in mo toj.
Mem. In
Annals of
Loch a, at
1681.
APPENDIX No. XLVn. [Lect. V., Page 94.]
Original of a third memorandum in the same, 1581.
PeAjicAogAX) 6 'OuibgeriAinn .1. mAc ^ejijAit mic pilip
'o'fAgAit bAif A 5-CttiAin 1 t)f\<\oin.
APPENDIX No. XLVIII. [Lect. V., Page 94.]
Mem. In Original of a fourth memorandum in the same, at 1462.
Loch c^at Z]^^ 'otiitteojA ocu]" .11. .xx.^c mem|\uim aca if in teAt>A]tfA,
Per me Dauid JDuiginan,
Entry (at
1681) In Con-
tin nation of
Annals of
Loch C4.
APPENDIX No. XLIX. [Lect. V., Page 95.]
Original of an entry, at ad. 1581, in fragment of the con-
tinuation of the Annals of t/oc C6, in the British Museum;
and of Note appended thereto by Brian Mac Dermot, Chief
of rriAJ tuips [Moy Lorg,]
1581. An CAtbAC ni<\c 'OoninAitt, mic Uai-oj, mic Ca-
diAit 015 111 ConciibAi]\, oi5]\e Slijit) ociif 1ccai]a Conn^dc
APPENDIX. 535
jAn imni]'Ain •oivxjvvit b^if in Aome ^x>e]\ "oa CAifc tia app. xhx.
Tlie foUo^ving is the note :— tVn^t'i'iS^lS"
Ocii]' If t)o f5etAib mojtA tiA hC]\enn An cenniAC pn IDom- ^JSTci.*'
nAitt 1 ConcubAi]\,ociif TTloipe inginel lluAipc ; ociif ni CAinic
\yo fticc b|\iAin Luignig ]AiATfi, ye]\ a AOf a but) mo -00 f cet nA
e, ocvy ni x)oi5 co cicfA; ocuf 'oo cjiai-o in^'jebpn cpoi-oe-dA
ConnACC, ocii]' co tiAipite t)o c]\^^^() ye ei^if ocuf otlumliAin
cin5ix) ConnACC ; ocuf •00 comjAOinnfe mo c|\oii6e fein nA
•OA cuiT). 11 ch, ucli If c|\UA5 mA|A cAim Ant)e6i5 mo 6eibe,
ocuf mo compAnAig, ocuf An ci •00b a coca, ocuf "oobo
CAi)\i)i tern Apbic. Illip t))\iAn HIac 'OiA]\mA'OA x)0 fjf'ib pn,
A)\ Cajh^aij lilic IDiAf mAX)ii ; ocuf if f AmAtcA me Anoif pe
li-Olitt Otom An-oiAit) a ctoinne a]i nA mAf bA*o a bfocAif ^inc
Cnpji mic Cinnn cet)CAchAi5 a cac ITluije Uliicfuime, le
niAc Con mic THAicniAT) mic Lu'i5X)ech ; no )\e IDenTOf e CA)\eif
Ctoinne b-Uipiech 'oo niAfbAT) a bfett a nCAminn ITIaca, le
ConcubAf ITIac V^ccnA, mic llofA juiat), mic 1lu'6]\Aii6e.
Oif ACAim -oubAc vobjionAic *oibi\o5oi-oec -oomenmnA^ a
iToubAige, ocuf Anx)05AibLp ; ocuf ni liei'oi]\ a ]\ 10m nA a
innipn mAu ACAim Ant)iAX) mo compAnAig -oo -out UAim .1.
An CAlbAcli ; ociif aii Ia 'oeigenAC -oo mi ITIajxca vo Iia-o-
Iacat) a Stijech e.
APPENDIX No. L. [Lect. V., Page 96.]
0/if/inal of entry In the Annals of the Four Masters^ of the De^th of
Death of Brian Mac Dermut, o/IIIaj tuifj, a.d. 151)2. KnuJt^Irf
A \ Muy Lurg.
IIIac 'OiA]\mAT)A ITlAige Liti]\cc, Ojiuvn IIIac Huai'6|\i mic
Uah^cc mic TDiA^imADA, T)ecc 1 m'l tloiiembe|i, ociif fo bA
in6iT3e T>At)bA]t eccAoine ecc ah pn fin jAn a C0]"mAibeAf
t)o beic x)o ctoinn IllAotfUAnAit) "oo jebAt) ceAnt)U]* 'oia eip.
APPENDIX No. LI. [Lect. V., Page 101.]
Oriqinal of entru in the Annals o/Loc Ce at a.d. 1087. Entry in An-
CAt ConACLA A cf ic cofiiinn la lluAnop nA f Ag buit)e mAC ^^
Oet)A in 5A bcAjmAij, f of Oet)!! mAC x\if c Hi lluAif c ; ocuf
mAite ConniAicne uite lujubACi func ec occipf.
APPENDIX No. LII. [Loct. V., Page 101.]
Oriijinal of entry in the same at A.D. 1087. Eni
DAK
Hacii)' ofc oc Anno Uoifft)eAlbA6 Ua Con6obAif. C4.
536 APPENDIX.
APP.Liii. APPENDIX No. LIII. [Lect. V., Page lOl.J
Account of Original of account of the Battle of HIaj Stecc, from the
Maih^ecM. Annah ofUt Ce (//. 1. 19., tCD.), at a.d. 1256.
in Annals of • \ /»
Lo<:hC4, j^^ CnOkii\ yo\\ fACA]\n ocuf .xi.^**^ pcliec fui|i]te .xui
Anno cicti fobf re]\ciu]* Annu]" 'oecimuf Anno xiiii. int)ict-
one. 171. cc. 1. fexco.
iMAnn niAc ITtoinn quit) Cj^duc UuAmA -oo ec a nit)|\iof-
COTTIA. -Aiwei'iDUc bliAite -AcA CtiAc "oo ec m btiA^OAin cex)nA.
HuAiiajM Ua 5<^'^P'^^7 1^15 Stelje 1^ii5a vo TtiA]\bA'6 -oa CAijttDef
C|Ai|x ]:cin .1. TDaIjix) rtiAC 11icai|\x) Cuipn a ptt, ocuj' a
Tneoiiit, ociif A CAi^^tcn "oo bjM^^et!) in CAnpn -oo.
Stoijex) A-obut m6]\ t)o '6enATii La llAceji ttiac Ricahito,
mic tlittiAin \)u\\c x)ociim pe-otnn mic CacIiaiI Cpoib-oeijij,
ocuf x)ociini A line .1. Aox> niAC V^^-otimit), ocuy cum mic
UigepnAin 1 lluAipc; ocii]* if imciAn |\6inie pn 6 t\o cinotAt^
A coinlinmA]\ in ci^loig pn a nCinnn, oi]i i^-e-on \ko hAi|i-
me-oh Annpn .1. pche mile a]a Ai]\eni Aoinp^i. Ociii* CAn-
5AX)A]\ nA fluA^A tAnih6]u\ pn 50 tllAJ nCo nA SA]\\nAC,
ocuf Api"6e 50 UAttA, ocii]" AjYiioe A]\ y\ix> Lnigne; ocuf ]\o
Ai]A5fot) Lingne Ap jac teiu inA cimce'Lt; ocu]" CAncoT)A)i
CO liAcliA-o ConAi|\e. Ocu]* 'oo cuif\]'ec ceccAA]'pn uAcliAib
•Dinni'dji-o rinnncep tlAijiLbj, ocii]" -00 A'ob]\A'OA]\ cocc nA
comne 50 c]\oi]^ 'Ooi]\o Caoiii, yo]\ cinn Ai]\cepAc bjuxic-
flebe, A Ui]i UiiAcliAit. Ocnj' CAn5A•OA]^ niuinci]\ HAijitbj
CO CLAcliAn IllucA-oA yo]\ Steib An lAi^in. Ocu]" ]\o iiTipAt)A]i
Tniiinn|\ HAijitUj Ann^m gAn comne t)']pA5Ai'L 6 gAtUvib ;
ocu]* CAncocA]\ Af pn co SoiLcen nA n^AfAn. gnpAb ipn
to ce-onA pn .1. t)iA liAoine vo funnjiAX), ocnf La yete Cjioif
CA]A gAC La, ]\o rinoil ConcobAji niAC UigepnAin 1 Hiiaiiic,
p|\ l3)\ei]:no ocw-p ChoniriAicne, ocuf An ifieit) ]\o yex> mAitle
p\iu, y^ -^0*6 Ha ChoncobAi]i, ocuf niAite ChonnACc, ocuf
cSit intii|\et)Ai5 AjichenA. Ocuf ip^AX) bA ye]\\\ a]i An j'tuAj
pn .1. ConcobA]\ niAC UijennAin 1 ituAipc .1. Ill Ua mbpum
ocn-p ChonmAici ; ocu]* CAuriAt Ha ^ptAicbepcAij ; ociif 1Tlu|\-
chAt) pnn Ua ^TepgAib; ociif tluAi'op in ^The-OA Ha ptoinn;
ocnf iriAnn ITHiaj Oi]\eccAi5 ; ocnf 'Oonn oglUliAj OijiecrAij;
ocuf CU1X) iii6|^ -oo cpb CheAttAij; ocuf cp mic THic *Oiaii-
mAUA; ociif'OiAiimAictlAVbAnnAgAin ; octi]'CAuhAtmAC*OuAn-
cAin 1 C5li]\A ; ocu^" "oa itiac Uite^mAin 1 ChoncobAHi ; ocup 51 1-
bAnAnAerh Ha UAi'og. Ho bimiOA c|^a, DojbAit) ChonnACC
Ann 6 pn AmAch. Ociif if Ann yxic cof ac in cftiiAij pn f 0]t
muinci]\ tlAijittig, Ag Soitren nA ngAf An ; ociif \yo ienf ac
lAt) CO h>4\tc Uije inbegui^vin. ^y Aiinpn )\o impAt>A]A gtAp
(W) Sic in the MS.
APPENDIX. 537
t<MC ifiuinci]Ae llAigilbg y]\\Y in ftii<x5 cecc<x)\'6A pn ; ocuf app. uu.
cucf AC r|\i TTiA'oniAnnA fopiux. If Annpn pucfAt) in T^^^S acco nt of
m6|t 'po]t|u\, \A]\ niApbAt!) co'oa "oia inuince)\, im 'OViiA]\mAic Ua B*ttieof
b^plAnnAjAin, ocii]" im 171hAC ITlAonAig; ocuf im Choicte Ua to^Anw^of
Ciioicte, ocuf im f ocAiiJe Aite. Octn" c^ncA'OA]A uite nAj^tuAig ^-^^ ^^
ceccAjWA pn CO h^Xlr nA liCtci, ocuf 50 'Ooi|^in C|\AnncA, 1*0111
At nA beicije ocuf bel in bhcAtAig; ociif Coitt 6p'A;
ocuf Coitt x\i]n\fej\, ):o]t Steib in lA]\iiinn. Ocu]* if Annpn
|\o impADA]! niiiincni TlAigittij 50 T)U)i, ociif 50 'oic1i]\a,
•OAfAccAC, ■oicetti'6, -oofmAccnAigri, a nAgliAit) mic ^The'd-
timit), ocuf in A mboi "oo CbonnACCuit) rriAitte fpp t)o
•61511 it A ne5c6)\AC, ociif a nAn1i)]:o)\)\Ain yojuiA. Ociif ]io
5)ieif CAC •010 A muincc]i a cenn a ceti .1. cac Ua ml3|Muin,
ocitf ConnAccAig. If Annpn ]\o epgetJAf ConnAdcuig x)on
teic A]iAitt Don CAt; ocu]* ]\o b'lA'Ofin An tDfonj -oAnA, VAg-
CApAi-o, 'oiixif, •6enninec. Ocuf ]\o coifjcoAji, inA tAom
toinT)]\ec, tAi'AiiiAit, tAiiicApAit) lA-o, ociif inA cipci coiiTutuit,
cobfAig, ccngintci, fA noigp niif\]uincA, nApm-tAiDi]! .1. fA
Aox) iTJAc "PcTutimit), mic CAcliAit C]\ob'oei]\5. Atz clienA,
bA fe)\5 b]\urytACA, ocu]' bA cobf Aijecc cuf ad, ocuf bA
tAoc-oAcc teomAin tA mAc An ai]\d]ii5 ipn tA pn. Ociif |\o
fciiAD CAC c]\6t)A, co]xo]\AC, cii)\ACA DO "Oib toicib eCO]\]\A If
in uAif pn. 1\o mA]\bAic, ocuf fo gonAic focliAi-ue Anunn,
ocii)' AiiAtt ceccA]\ DO Dib teicib. X\cc ctionA, ]\o f AgbAD Ann
ConcoVjAji mAC UigcfnAin, fi l3]ioifne, ocuf 111ii]\cad ^Tmn 11 a
pef j;Ait, ocuf AoD 11 A^Tcf JAit, ociif 111 AotjuiAn aidIII ac TDonn-
cIiaid; DAoine iiiida eti do toe a]\ An tACAif pn ; ociif Djiem
Dib DO Diit "ooj DA ngonAib niA cijib, niA 111u]\cad pnn 11a
ITofjAit, ociif |:a ptAnn IHa^ OifeccAij, ]io mA]\bAD a pnc-
^inn in caca pn, ociif focAiDe eti niAitte ffif. Acc chenA,
i]VDh ADCfiD tncc cotnif An rh6]\ caca pn, conAf fCDfAC
tAcjAite nA 5<^ffP''^^5^ P"» ^^^^ m'ltiD in m6]\ niADmA fccliAin
in AJAiD in AfDftACA; iKMf DO bADA]\ DA |\i-coinnit, ]\o m6|u\,
tiiiifctefnA A]\ tApwD, ociif A]\ tuAmAin inA cinn ; ociif bA
lADfiiAc tiv c^\c coriif AD p\if in CAn pn ; uai]\ do bAi uiDe
lOmAJJAttmA )\1Af 11 A ftllAgAlb Ag Dut A gCCnD CA^A 11 A
mbjui'nn. Ocii]* cuj a focAnn AifDfij, ocuf a 5f ec ciif ad oyy
AifD A moDon An liiof caca. Ociif nif An Don feim, ociif
Don juiACAf pn giif moAbAU) do cac 11a mbpinn. Cid c|u\,
ACC fO mAJllKVI*) A]\ An tACAip fin, CACAt 11a llAljlttlj, ]\'l
muinncifo mAotni6]\DA, ocnj^ CvNca >Aoda V^nn, ociif a da
n'lAC niAitto ffif .1. X)omnAtt Kuad, ociif lliAtt, ociif adcji-
bf ACAif .1. CnconnAcc, ociif cf'i mic CliACAit IDiiib Hi Uai-
jittij .1. S^VVr^^S' ^ciif po]\5At, ocuf 'OomiiAtt ; ocuf
^nnAt) niAC 'OoiiinAitt 1 UAigittij, do mA]\bAD tA ConcobAf
538 APPENDIX.
App. Liii. niAC Uigepnokin; ocuj' aii Cao6 Vi^ tlAigitbt .1. tliAtt, ocu]'
UigepnAii IHAg bi\<\T)Ai5, ocuf J^tLAmichvl itiac UAidLij,
iJuiSof* ocuf 'OonncAt) tlo. bibfAig, ocuf tTlAJnuf ttiac gitUxiouit),
i!["AnS*of ocuf citle-O A)\ qti pccib -00 riiAitib a mumncif^e m^poen
Lochc^. Y^^^ Ociif ]\o mA]\t)v\t) ye p]\ -065 'o'lb llAi^itbg Ann beof.
CAt riioige Slecc <\\[ b]\u Aca 'OeijAg, Ag Attc n^ hettn, 6]'
t)heAl<\c riA beitige, Ainm in caca pn.
APPENDIX No. LIV. [Lect. V., Page 102, Note <^']
Of the Idol Orujinal (loith Translation) of passage in the Tripartite Life
'crua.h^^''* of Saint Patrick concerning the Idol called Cenn Cruaich, [or
Crom Cnuich] and the Plain called tllAg Ste6c.
Liiix) lAtium Pac)u\ic 1 UecbAi cuAifcijic .1. co C|\ich Coip-
ppe, bAle [in] ]\o ex)b]\A'o -oof inn 5|\AnA]At) o niACCAib Coippiie ;
ocu|' ]:o)iACAibi'om inx)upn 6^D|"cop JiiAfAcc niAC TTIiLcon, a
com Air Ai, ocii]' nA "oi Cmni, i"et^\ACA in hipn ; ocuf irlie
conAccubfAC ciiif In CtuAin bjionAig; ocu]' if Aip aca
AuroibAT) innA cille pviA lAiti ; ociii* Ai]\chin'OAc1i JpAnAipc
oji-oneiY cenn cAittech -oo 5^^e]' hi CluAin bponAij. In
CAn imo]\]io, ]\o f*en Paujiaic CAitle yo\\y nA ogAib ^lemjiAin
)\o ch6cA]\ A ceiqn co]yA ipn ctoic : iremtijic inn a jroil-
tcccA fcMiipeji. 'Oo coit) Pac)\aic iA]\pn taji in uyc\ vo
IHA15 SteccA, bAit i^ipAbi A)\t) noAt nA h6i]\enn .1. Cenn
C]UKMC, ClimCACCA O 6]\ OCUf O O^l^gAU, OCUf -OA l-OAb t)eACC
Aite ciimcAccA 6 uniA mime. Oc chonnAinc pAqtAic inn
ix)aI, on ufci x)iAnix) Ainm g^^^l^^'o (i- g^btA a gut), ocuf o
]\o com^Mcpg 'oonni'OAl, connA]i5Aib a tAim x>o cnvi]\ t)Ac1itA
Ipni f*M]i, ociif noco jiaUv, acc X)o ]\AH\be]AU pA]\ -oon umiud
[rectc cumuic] yo]\ a tct n-oerf , a]i if in-oep' yo boi a Ajex* ;
ocuf mAjiAiT) flier innA t)AcntA inA teic ctiu beiir, a^iaivc
noco f Of c<M5 An t)ACALt a tAim Pac]\aic ; ocuf f oiiuicc in
CAlAm nA -OA A]\)\Acr T)eAcc Aili conici a cinnn ; ocuf ac^mc
fon in-QUf pn 1 ccomo^wugAt) inx) efCA; ocuf fo mAtlAC t)on
•oemon, ociir |\ o in-OAfb in ifpnn ; ocuf 'oofojAfc innA huile
cum fcje Locgnife irliep'oe fo A-ofAifec innit)At; octif
ArconnAfcrA)\ innA tniiti 6 (.i.-oemon) ociif fo imecLAicfcc a
neipitcin mAnit) cliuijicT) pACfAic he inn ifpiinn.
[translation,]
Patrick went afterwards to North Tethbha [Tt-fria], i.e,, to Coirprt$
land, wliere Grananl was offered to liim by the sons of Cmrpre;
and he left in that place Bishop Guasacht, the son of Milchu^ his
[former] companion, and the two Emirs, that person's sisters; and
it was they that first took up at Cluain Bronaigh; and it is on that ac-
APPENDIX. 539
count that the one church is attached to tlie otlier ; and it is the app. li
Airchinnech [abbot] of Granard that consecrates the sui)eriores8 of
nuns perpetually in Cluain Bronaigh. "When, now, Patrick had ^^^
consecrated the veil upon tlie virgins aforesaid, their four feet sunk Cruach,
into the stone [upon which they were standing] : their marks remain
in it semper. Patrick after that went over the water to Magh Slechi^
where stood the chief Idol of Erinn, i.e., Cerm Crumch, ornamented
with gold and with silver, and twelve other idols ornamented witli
brass around liim. When Patrick saw the idol from the water which is
named Guthard [loud voice] (i.e., he elevated his voice) ; and when he
approached near the idol, he raised his arm to lay the staff of Jesus
on him, and it did not reach him, he bent back from the attempt
upon his right side, for it was to the south liis face was; and the
mark of tlie Staff lives in his left side still, although the Staff did
not leave Patrick's hand ; and the earth swallowed the other twelve
idols to their heads ; and they are in that condition in commemora-
tion of the miracle. And he called upon all the people cum rcge
Laeghuire; they it was that adored the idol. And all the people saw
him (i>., the demon), and they dreaded their djdng if Patrick bad
nut sent him to hell.
APPENDIX No. LV. [Lcct. V., Page 102.]
Original of memorandum at the end of the second volume of the Biemoran
copy of the AnnaU of Connacht, in the Library of T.C.D, JSJ^o
(classed U, 1. 1., //. 1. 2.) ««cht.
lAjAtiA 5]UMpieAT!) A|"teOkt)A]\ AO]n)A meAm]\uim, ocu^", ia^tia
chitiocbntJgAf), An .DccciDc.tA'oon tti'ii 0cc6be]\,A0if An UigeA^tnA
An CAnpn, 1764, |^c tntupi]" 0'5o]ArnAin.
APPENDIX No. LVI. [Lcct. V., Page 109.]
Original of memorandum in the so-called Annals of Boyle, in Mcmom
the British Museum {under the year 1594, at the lower SS'Kd aJ
margin of fol. 14 b.). n«i»of b<
UomAluAC mAC CojAin, mic AcbA, mic 'OiA|\mAt)A, mic
lluAi-oivi CA01C, mo]\cuf e]x, i mi •oeigmAC nA bliAX)nA ]"o
inA C15 fcin A CtuAin ^TpAOic.
APPENDIX No. LVII. [Lcct V., Page 111.]
Original of a second meiyiornndum in the same Book (at the Second 1
lower margin of fol. 30 a. [or^ qu. 33 fc.]). Ann«i"o
IJoyte.
Lev\l)ti]\ CijtifAnn OiloAn nA tlAem
540 APPENDIX.
AP. LVnL
APPENDIX No. LVIII. [Lect. V., Page 111.]
Third Mem. -. . .
*" •o-?^J«<* Original of a third viemorandum in the same Book (at th€
Boyle. lower margin of fol. 13 ft.).
Ceq\A pcic bliAX)v\in 6 h^x Pac)\aic ju h^^y 'OiApmArA
mic ce]\bAit, -00 ]\ei]\ tnA]\c]\Ai"oe Oitein tiA tlAeni.
APPENDIX No. LIX. [Lect. V., Page 112.]
Account of Original of account of S. Cotum Citte at lx)c Ce, from
?.«y'!"* 0' DonnelCs Life of Col urn Cille (in the vol. classed JVo. 2.
oDonneirt 52, R.I. A., p. lo8).
Life. ' ' ' '^
PeAclic "oo ChoLum Citte a]i oiten a)\ Loc Ce i cCon-
noccAib, ocii]^ uAinic pie, ocii]^ 'oinne eAUxgnA -oa lonn-
I'Oije, ocuf t)o In UAnuxtl aj cotfi^uxt) jiij^; ocuj" "oo imchij
iiAt)A iA]V]^Hi. Ociif 'oob longriAX) teif riA niAncliAib riAp
iA]\]\ Colum Citle ni -oa CAUvgAin |'ein a^^ in pie pn, mA|i
iA]\]\A'6 A]\ 5v\c 'oinne eAUvgiiA oite "da ccigeAt) cinge; ociif
)\o pA|\p\i50A-0A]\ -oe cjAct) pA tToeApnA yd pn. ^jieAgpAf
CoLinii CiLLe, ocu-p i]'e*6 At)iibAi^AC, tiAp cneA|^A 'oo yeyw
iieice ]"oLa]^aca t)'iA]\]\Ai-6 a]\ a ii-ouine Ag a pAibe x)oiA]' i
ngAp -oo; ocii]' iiac pwA 50 bpMcpx)!]" Toinne A5 cecc citige
•QA innipn -co gup mA]\bA'6 An pLe pn. IV1 ino gup •oeAtAij
*oei]\0A'6 An c6ni]uvi"6 pn pu, An UAip "00 cuAbA'OAp gtAOJ 1
bpo]\c nA hinnp ; ocup A"oubAi]\c Cobnm Cille gnpAb le
fgeAbmb THAjibcA An pbe cAinic An x)iiine "oo ]\inne An
jtAOJ pn ; ocii]' \\6 po]\A"6 pn mbe, AtfiAib A'oiibAipc CoLum
Cibbe: giijA mojXAt) Ainm 'oe ocup Choluim CilLo "oe pn.
APPENDIX No. LX. [Lect. V., Page 115.]
Extract ftrom Original of entry in the Annals of Connacht^ (classed 11. 1. 1.
c?nni'chl. a7id //.*1. 2., T.C.D.,—a fragment of the ''Annals of Kilro-
nan'\ according to Charles 0' Conor of Belanagare), at a.d.
UG4.
UAf)5 Ha ConcbobAip, bec-pg ChonnAcc mopruop eyz^ ah
pACApn iA]\ ce-o Vbeib inui)\e in l^hoJAmAip, ec pcputcnp i
Hop ComAin co hono]\AC, UAfAb, o c>pt ChACAib Cbpoib-'oeipj,
ocnp o cuACAib c-S'it tllmpe'OAig, rriAp nAcb tJej^At) pi peiriie
•oo c-pt ChACAib Cbpoib-'oeip5 pe ciAn -oAinipip. CAnibA-
x)Ap A mv\pcpbiiA5, ocitp A n-gAlloglACAib inA n-emef) cim-
ciolb ctiipp An Ai]\'o-pi5, niAp x)o 'oecAi'oi]" a n-x)Ait caca;
ocup A n-5lA]'bAici inA copAijrib caca; ociip cLiApA ocnp
Aop eAtA*6nA; ociip mnA c-SiIa 1tliiipe*6Ai5 inA m-bpomnb
APPENDIX. 541
X)ii\ime itiA "oegAig. Ocu]" bA x)ipiTTie aIiti^^a riA h-CjUxip An app. lx.
tA pn, La co|\p An Ai^wnij, -00 buAib, ocuf ecliAib, ocu]' "
Ai]t5ioc. Ocuj" "oo cAi-bopet) •oo^^om eyem oca bpeit 'OOAnn»»«of
biAceeninAf U ITIichel. ^*""^'-
Orifjinal of abstract of same entry^ in the language of Mr,
& Conor of Belanagare, as published by his grandson^ the
Rev, Charles 0' Conor (Stowe Catalogue^ vol. l,p. 76).
-Aoif UijIiejinA tncccctxiti — UAX)h5 Ua Conchob. X)]:hA5li-
Ait btiAi]" ocu^* A AX)1inACAt A 1lo|'coTnAin A b):1iiAX)hnAife
iiAij^le An Clioig. 50 liuite, nA)\ ViAnnAc. Aon -00 Tligb
ConnAclic O CliAch Clii\obx)e)\5 a nuAf ni bo h-onopAijn.
ocu)' r\^]\ bhiAng. pn -oo x)1ienAmh tei]' An High bu -oei-
gliein. x)o bhi a|\ CnonnAchcA A]\iAni1i te peblnif a rli]\eiche.
t1io]\ 50i]\ Aon 1115b A 5-ConnAchcA on Ain pn a leicli,
ocuf Ainini til Conchob. -oyhAgbAit 50 coicchen -OAibh ocu]**
onAcli i\Aib1i pA*o yem geAt -da cheile -co l"5pof iat)
te bAin-olish eA|:]\onn. ocuf mAicbemn. o IDbiA 50 b^rhAg.
in ei^Mc A bjDCAc. Domine ne statuas nobis hoc pcccatum.
Ai" teAbhA]\ Clutte llonAin ^\o chAnnnjitf pn cum appro-
batione quatuor Magistrorum. CAcliAb O'ConcbAbliAi^i, 2 Aug.,
1728. [MS. in Stowe Collect. No. 3, fol. 27, b.]
APPENDIX LXI. [Lcct. V., Page 115.]
Original of correspoiuiing entry in the Aiviah of Loc Ce Entry in
(//. 1. 19., T.CD,; — also erroneously called^ by some^ An- ^hct
nals of Kilronan).
UAt>5 nu\c Uoi]\]n>eAtbAi5 Hik\t6 1 ClionciibAi]\, tet-p Con-
nAcc t) eg .1. -ouine -oo bA cuigp, cujAeije a gConnACCAib lonA
Aimp]\ yein.
APPENDIX No. LXII. [Loct. VL, Page 121.]
Origiual of the Title to the Book of Peditirees of Mac Firbis Title to jtuc
/*rk 1- 1 • 4>i "i* 1v • \ fVrMi' Book
(X)tlUALCAC 111 AC Hl^bl]*15). ofPeUlgreefc
C)\AobA coibneAj^A Ajuf geugA gcncting jaca s^bAlA x)A)\
5Ab e]\e on Ainp\ 50 li-A-OAni (acc Vo"io)\ai5, LoclitAnnAij
AgAf SAXgAibt AniAin lAtfiAm o rAn5AX)<\]\ 'oa]\ zz\\\) : 50 llAoitii-
fencii)- A511)- )\eiin inosiiAige Vo-oLa yoy; aja^^ ^^A-ocoig cIa^a
nA ccinmp5fcAi\ (lAp nu]\"o Aib5iT)|\o) nA Sloince AjAf nA
liAirc oi]it)CAi\CA luAicoA^t ipn teAbA)\f A, 'oo rcAstomAt) tei]"
An DubAlcAc iriAC fipbipK LeACAin. 1650.
542 APPENDIX.
APP. Lxin.
APPENDIX No. LXIII. [Lect. VI., Page 126.]
of rnaugnra- Original of passage from the t/eAbok]^ \/ecAin, descriptive of
oDowd*. ^* Inauguration of the O'Dowda (from a tract printed by
from^Bookof ii^^ Irish ArchcBological Society y in the volume on the Tribes
and Ctistoms of Uy-Fiachrachy — p. 440).
-Ajuf ciif -oigi t)' O'CAoniAin 6 Ua n-'Oubt)A; Aguj" gAn
O'CAoniAin t) A h-ibi no 50 ciigA f6 •oo'n pht h-i, .1 -co TMac
P]\bip5, ^5^r ^r^ ^5^r ^<5^1^P<^"^, ^S^r ^^ch h-l 'Oub'OA cA|i
eif AnmA "oo gAiiAm -oe x)* O'CAeniAin, aju^' Apm Agu-p ca^ajvato
ti-1 CViAoniAin AjltlAC Ppbipg; aju]" ni •oingtiiAtA 0''Ouot)A
•00 5Ai]\ni CO b|\Ar, no 50 n-5omi*6 O'CAomAin Ajuf THac Pp-
bip5 An c-Ainm, Agu]* no 50 CAbpA THac Pj^bipg copp nA
flAici oy cinn h-l Ditb-OA; Ajuf jac cteiitec, Aguf jac
cotTiAf\bA citti, Ajuf 5AC Cfboc, "Ajuf CAOifec ):e|\oinx) -oo
jAA-bA An AniTiA A n-tnAig h-1 ChAomAin Aguf TTleic Pijtbipg;
Agiif ACA ni cenA, -oa cejmAX) a Ui^a AmAtgAix) O'^Oub-OA, t)o
bu "ootc A-oo CO CAjinn -AniAtjAit) "oo SAipm AnmA -oe, Achc 50
m-beic nA uAOipg fApf : Aguj" no "oa cegniAt) a CApnn injine
bjiiAin h-6 nip t)otrA *oo Anonn -oo 5<MpTn An AnmA, ajui* nip
tigci '00 AnAtt 6 CApnn -AmAtgAix), Aip if 6 ^mAtgAix) niAC
pAcpA AtjAix), -00 cocuit An CA)\nn -oo fcin -oo cum Ainm
cigeApnA -00 gAipm ve yew Aguf x)a jac t)uine -oa n-sebA-o
f^Aicef nA '01A15, ^511^ if Ann aca AmAtjAix) pein ai61uici,
Ajuf If UA-OA Ainmni5ce]i An CAjinn ; Agtif jac pij "oo ctAn-
•OAib Pac|\ac nAC goippoAt) Ainm mA]\ pn biAi^o jAip feicle
x)o, Aguf ni bA h-oi)\pT)pic a fit nAf a f eimeAn Aguf ni f Aicye
flAiciuf 'Oe CO bpAic. pmc. -Amen.
APPENDIX No. LXIV. [Lect. VL, Page 127.]
Title, etc, of Original of the Title, and commencement of the Preface to the
seotorum. Chrontcum bcotorum {H, 1. lb.; T.C.D,).
Incipic Cponicom Scouopum .1. cinnfgAncAp cpoinic nA
Scoc An*ofo.
" Utiij A tecch^oip f A At)bAp Aipi-oe, ocuf 50 f oltuf X)0
fecnA eirheAtcAif , gtipAb e-o Af Aitt tinn cpACCA-o ocuf caja
AccumAip "oo "oenAm Ap Ainipn nA Scoc AmAin f An coip-pe,
Ag fAgbAll tlOfCACX)A nA icApAp Aijiifin Amuig, conA"6 Aipe-
pn lAppAmAix) oipbp gAn Ap n-incpoAcliAf) cpix), uAip t)-feA'o-
AmmAp 5tipAb A-obAt An c-eAfTiATfi he".
APPENDIX No. LXV. [Lect. VI., Page 127.]
S?i^Y^*^ On^Hia/ of note atfoL 3. coh 1. of the Chronicum Seotorum^
Chrtmieum in the hand of the compiler^ 'OubAtcAc TMac ppbipg.
Seotorum, . 4 « 4 4 « .
" ^-ocof UAim "tuvb A Legniccn nA6f o Lim f AotAp An cf Lect)A
APPENDIX. 54S
fo "oo 5iuvi).T:net) o]\m, conok'6 Ai]\e fin Ailitn oi]\bp z]\e p]\ app. lxt.
eoigle 5<xn tfiNnstxim qn-o (m^t) cuigtei^ lip q^et) ^o 'oe]\A ^^^^ ^^^
inn ATiitAi-b), 01]^ a]" ■oemin nA6 ia-o cU\nn Pl\t)ip5Ai" cincA6". nrbi${n
Chronieum
Scotorum.
APPENDIX No. LXVI. [Lcct. VI., Page 128.]
Original of memorandum (at a.d. 722) in the Chranicujn Memoran-
Scotorum, explaining a deficiency there. 2SSm iSaltol
"UefDA b]\otU\6 x)^ •ouitteoj "oon c-f en teb<x]tA]"<x ]"5]\ib<Mni ^^
f o, ocuf yAginm Aj.T:iiit nom -oon let CAOib-p nA n-ontcill.
iiiip x)iibAicA6 Pr^^rs •
APPENDIX No. LXVII. [Lcct. VII., Page 146.]
Oriainal of the Dedication of the AnnaU of the Four Masters. i>edicition
*f J s A A °' Annals of
gin-obim *OiA im CAbAH\c jacha n-AoibneA|" 'oo i;^^^^^ i leAf ^ ■J;**"'
•OA chujxp, Agiif t)A AnmAin -o'lTeA^tsAl O'ghA'opA Uicc1ieA]\nA
tnhAige 111 5hA-6pA, Agui" Chuile O fV^nt), Aon ■oon 'oiAf
Ui'oi]\eA'ob pA]\lemence |ao co5A'ob a|" con-OAe Slicci5h co
li-Ac CliAt An bliA^Ain \\ x!^o\\ C]\iapc, 1634.
^\ ni coicceAnt) ]^oillei]\ yon uile "ooriiAn in 5A6 ionAX)b 1
mbi UAifle no onoip in gAcb Aimp]\ -oa ccAimcc ]tiAin -oiAi-b 1
n-oiAi-b nAcli i^ruil ni a]" 5l6]nnAH\e, Aguf a]" AHAmiccnige
ono]\Ai5be (a^ At)bApAib ionT6A)inA po]"]x*An'OAccAnAfeAnii5-
T)A]^, Agii]* eolA]' nA nAi]\eAC, Agii]" ha nuA]"Al ]\o bAt)A|\ Ann
ijnn Ainipjt ]\eAnipo tjo CAbAi|\c "oo cum ^^oIaij* a]\ "OAigh co
mbeic AitcAiicA]", A5111* coIa]' Ag gAch •0}\inn5 1 n-t)eAX)An')
A]\oile cionnAj" do CAicpoc a pnnpjt a ]\e A5iif a n-Aimpjv
A5II]* CIA 1l-A1|\eACC ]A0 bACCA]\ 1 CC1CCCA]\nA|" A n-'OlllCCC, 1
n-'oignic, no i n-onoip tJiAit) i n-'ou\i'o1i, Agu]' c]\et) i An oix)eA'6
yuAi]\porc.
UAnACcrA An b]\ACAi|\ bocc "Oiijat) S. V]\on]'eif TTlicbcl
0'Clc)\iccn (iA}\ nibeic "oeich m-bliAX)nA •OAth acc SccpiobAt)
5Acb feAnt)AchcA tja bpiA]u\]* a|\ llvVoniAib nA h-OpeAnn a
niAille Ic h-uriilACC JacIi PpoinnpAil tja pAibe in Cjnnn a
n-'oiAi'6 A cele "oo beit accatii) "oa bA]\ lACAi]\p a iia|*aiI, a
^pheAitgAil 111 5hA'6]\A. "Oo bpAiccA)' A]\ bA]t n-onoip 5iii\
bA-obAit quiAige, A5iif neriiele, -oogAil]*!, A511]" 'oob]\oin libli
(tjo clium 5loi]te 'Oc Aguf onopA nA h-0j\0Ann) a nie-o do
■beACAccAjA fliocc J^'^oi'oil meic tlnnl j:o CIA15 A511]' t)0]\-
CADAf , gAn pof eccA nA oiDCADA tlAOnii, nA bAnnAoiriie, Ai|\-
Dcp]xoip, 6p]'coip, nA AbbAD, nA UApvl 5}\aid1i eccAilp oile,
tlig, nA Uuipg, UigcApnA nA Uoipcch, coniAimpjx nA coim-
pneADb neicb Dibbpuhepn Apoile. X)o jroillpgOAj^A DAOibp
jiip bo D015 leAm 50 pruigmn cuidiucca-O 1
Ap AjA mo mo meAf "oo chum leAbAijx -AnnAld'di
544 APPENDIX.
AP. Lxvii. ccunApt)e 1 cciiiTfiiie tiA neice jtemixAice, Agtii* -oa l^iccri A|t
Dedication ^^^P'Oe gATI A ScC|\1obAt) 'OO UvtAUX TIAch fpuishci lAT) TOOItlTOip
of Annals of te A ffOpAlCTTieAC, AgUf to A CCUlTTiniUCCA'O 50 Cpich, AgUp gO
MMtei* foipceATin An bcAcliA. X)o cjxuinnicceA'oh leAtn riA teAbAip
-AnnAlA-6 Ap peApp ^gtip Af ViontfiAipe, Af mo 'oo bei-oip tem
•o-pAgAili n-6pinn uite(bio'6 gup •oeACAip 'oaiti a ureACctAm-
A-b 50 h-AOin lonA-o) •oo chum An teAbAipp x)o -pccpiobA-b in
bAp n-Ainmp, ^"S^T i^ bAp n-onoip 6ip Ap pb cucc LiiAch
f AOCAip -oo nA cponiici-bib LAp po pccpiobAX) e, Agtip b]\Aicpe
conuence 'Ouin nA n-jAl't "oo CAicn copuAp bit)h, Agtip ppioc-
Aitme pitj niAp An ccex)nA. 5^ch mAic tja rciocpA tjon teAbAp
pn tJA CAbAi]\c potAi]"p x)o CAC 1 ccoiccchinne Ap p]nbp Ap
beipche a btiix)1ie ; Agup nip coip mAccnA"6, no longnA-o, et) no
lomtnuc "oo beic pA riiAic t)A n-'oingenAiI) pb, 6ip Ap -00 piol
^rinpTneictlliteAt) geinpoc SOUign -oo piogAib CpeAnn, Agup
A h-Aen Ap cpi pcab vo TlAomAib. An UA"6g pn HIac Cein
mic OitettA Oluim 6]\ piotpAC a h-occ "oecc "oo nA nAoniAib
pn Ap oi-oiji t)o bpeic 6 gU'in go gUin gup An UA*6g ce-onA.
Uo gAbUMg1i]'ioc Agup po AiccpeAbpAC ctAnn aii UAi-og pn 1
n-ionAX)Aib exAifitA Ap put) G^ieAnn .1. Sbochc CopbniAic ^ai-
teng itLuignib ConnACC op geineAbliAipp, tlluincip jA-opA,
An "OA Ua G^AgpA hi cConnAccoibh, Agup Oli-CAgpA An RurA,
O'CcApbAitt 1 n-Gito, Agup O'tTloAchAip 1 n-tJib CAijiin, O'Con-
cobvvip 1 cCiAunAcuA glinne-JeiTTiin.
X)o -oeApbAt) Ap bA]i rcechcpA on puil UApAit pin a t)ub]\A-
mAp Acc po bAp n-geineAtAch.
A pheA]\gAil Hi 5^''<^'01^<^
A ineic UAmcc
meic OiteAttA
meic 'OiA]\mACCA, [ec cecepA.]
An -oApA tA pichec •00 mi lAnuApi Anno 'Oomini 1632, t>o
cionnj'gnAT^h An l^eAbAp po 1 cconueinr T)huin nA n-jAtl;
Agup "oo cpiochnAigheA*oh ipn cconueinc cconA An 'oeAch-
mA-oh La XD'Augupc, 1636. An cAonmAt) btiA-oAin "oecc x)o
pighe Ap High CAppotup op SAXAin, VpAinc, AtbAin, Agup op
G-ipinn.
bAp ccA]\A lonniAin
biiArliAiii tmcliet o cteuigli.
APPENDIX No. LXVIII. [Lcct. VII., Page 147.]
Testimo- Oriqinol of the Testimonium to the AnnaU of the Four Masters.
niumof J J J
the*Foii?' AcACC nA h-Aiuhpo t)o tJ]i*o S. ITponpeip chuippcAp a UxmhA
Master*. <\p po AgA piA'ohnUghA'oh gUp Ab C feApghAt 0'5At)h]\A CUCC
Ap An m-t)pAchAip ITIichel O'Ctepicch nA Cpoinicnoe Agup
APPENDIX. 545
An CAOf eAtAt)tinA t)o chituitroiugA'b co h<xoin ionAt)h Uvf |to ap, lxviit.
fccpiobhAToh teAbhAip OijAir A511]* ^nriAtA riA h^wotro (ati ^^i^^^
ITieiCC ]\ob eit)1]\ 'OyAgllAlt te a f CC]\10bAt)h •610b), ArUf 50]^ nlum (if
Ab e All feAixgliAl ccTOiiA cucc loi5hi"6eAcbc tjoib Ap AtireTSur
fCCpiobVlA-oh. Martew.
^CA An teAbhAjt ]uxnt)CA a]\ •66. -Af 6 lonA-oh in ^\o
I'SjAiobhA-oli 6 6 cbui" co 'oei]\eA'oh 1 cConuenc bjtAchAjt
t)lunn nA njAlt, a]i a mbiA-o, Aguf a]\ a bp]\iochAiteAmh.
X)o cionn]xcnA'6 Agti]' t)o f cc]\iobAt)h An ceit) leAbliAjx -be
ipn Conuenc cbeACcnA An bliA-oAin p 1632, An cAn |\o bAi6
5Aipt)iAn An cAcliAn\ bejtnA^win O'Cteipicch.
Ay 1ACU nA Ciwimci-Oe, A511]" An cao]* eA^A'clinA t)o bArcA^t
Acc fccpiobAt)li An teAbAi]\ pn, Agu]' A5A clieAgtAniAt)!! a
teAb]\AiD eccj^AmtA, An t)]\AchAi]\ TtViclietO'Cte|\icch ; tTlin|Aij'
mAC Uo]\nA 111 lllliAOitconAipe, y]\^ ]\e AOin mioi'A; |reA]\j:eA]^A
mAC tochtAnTO Hi lTlhAOilchonAi]\e, iAicrpt)ne inA n-oi]' a
concAe Uop'A CommAin ; Cucoigcinche O'Clepiccli a concAe
'Ohuin nA njAtt; Cucoigcjnclie O^OuibgeAntJAtn a conuAe
LiAc1ix)|\omA ; A5UI" ConAijie O'Ctejuccb a concAe X)1iuin nA
ngAll.
AciAt) nA fein-teAbAip ]\o bhAco]\ aca; tyeAbhA]\ CtuAnA
triic lloif, in jAO beAnnAig tlAoirfi ChiA)\An mAC An rfAOiji;
l/CAbAH Oilein nA tlAenib, yo]\ tocli llibli ; tyeAbhA]\ Slien
Ai-oh lllec tllAghnun^A, ):o|\ Loch 6|\ne; l>cAbA]i CV
Hi TnliAoitconAnie; LeAbAji llluinre|\e 'OuibgeAntJAin Cliit-
te UonAin ; Aguf t/eAbA]\ oi]\i]'CAn teACAin llleic Ppbipcch,
piich cliucA 1AJ1 rcjuobliA-ob u]iitioi]i An lyeAbAip, Aguf Af ]\o
]X]Mobli]\\cc gAcn lioniiiAi]ieAchc "oa bj.niAi]\]"eAcc (a jiAng-
Aco|\ A leAi') nAC ]iAibe if nA ceicc LcAbiiAib bAC0]\ aca,
All ni bAoi 1 tyeAbA]i CtuAnA, inA yoy 1 LeAbliAjt An Oitein
Acric guf An mbtiA'OAin p "o aoi]' a]i cUigcA^inA 1227.
"Oo cionn]xcnAt)1i An "OApA l^eAbhAji •OA]\Ab cof Acb An btiA-
•oAin p 1208, An bliA'OAin p t) AOif Cpo]x, in |\o bA gA^i-oiAn
An rAtAiji Cpo]xon\ UlcAcli, 1()35,^^** ^5"r "^^ fccpobAX)h
An clnn'o 01 te t)e 50 1608 An ceo bliAt)Ain in ]\o bA-oh jau-
x)iAn An cAcAi]\ bo]inA}iX)in 0'Cte)iicc1i -oo^imip. An t)]\Acn-
rAiixlllichetO'Clepgh At)ub}\Amoi\,CucoicccpcheO'Ctep5h
Agu]' ConAipe O'ClejMCch 'oo]X]\iob1i An lyeAbAp t)ei'o1ieAnAch
ocliA 1332 50 1608.
Ay 1AC nA tcAbAip Af ]io fC]\iobp\c An cpiAp pciii]iAice
u]\rfi6]i An LcAbAi]i, An LeAbA]i ccAcnA pn Chtomne Hi
(9n) Tlie translation of the remainder of thl» paratnraiih \n by mistake omitted in thn text
(|). I4«). It itliniilil run thns: "And the fllh*r j^ort of if, to thf year 1608, MM tramaerihed the
first y^ar in which Father Itemardin O'Cleriijh teat Guardian. ArM|nM||Ml0*CVtr^
t^ortMid. t^tfoiijericM tf'Clerigh, and Vonairi O'Clerigh^ tn " ^ ""
from 1332 to 1<M>h'\
546 APPENDIX.
AP. Lxvm. tTlAOitconAnte 50 mite cuicc cet) a CU15, Ajtif Af 1 pn An
Teitimo. bliA'6Ain 'oei'olieAnAch b^oi atto ; VeAbAjt riA inuinn]te TDuib-
jjMjjj' geAiTOAtn CA]\ A rrAnjATTiA]!, ocViA riAoi ccet) 50 mite cuicc cet)
the Four |*eAf CCAUC A C]\1 ; LeAbA]\ SeAnAITft trieC inAgtinUl^A ITIA juxibe
MMten. ^^ mite CUICC cet) quochAC a x>6; btAX) "00 l/eAbAi\ Chon-
coicccjiiche meic X)iA]\mACCA mic UAi-ohs CAimm Hi Cnteyurh
o'n m-btiA-OAin p lllite t)A ch6'o occmognAcc a liAon, co mite
CUICC cet) c|MOchAru a SeAchc; lyeAbA]\ Tlleic t)|UJAit)heA^A
(tnliAOitin oicc) o'n mbtiA'bAin p llVite CU15 cet) ocbcmorhAC
A tiochc, 50 mite S6 6et) a ciu;^**^ l^eAbhAjt t^ujliAcn Hi
Ctep5h 6 tllli'ite cuicc cet) oclicmogliAc a Se, 50 ITIite Se
chet) A t)6.
'Oo c1ionncAmoj\ iia l/eAbAiji pn uite A5 An Ae]* eAtA'dnA
CAjt A ccAnsAmop UoriiAinn Aguf LeAbAiii oiuifeAn 01 te nAch
lAUC ]\o bA-6 eimetc t) AinmnuigA'd. 'Oo t)eA]\DA'6 jac net t)Aji
fC|\iobAt)h Annpn UomAinn, -AcAimne nA peA|i]'AnnA p) pof
A5 co|i A]\ tAm A|i fo hi cConuenc 'Ohuin nA njAtt An
t)eAc1imA'6 tA t)o Augup:, -AOIS, ChUIOSU, tTlite Se chet)
cjiiocliAc A Se.
Fij. Berxardinus Clery.
Guardianus Dun^alensis.
bjlA^AIlt triuipf tJttcAch.
t))\AtAHt niuipf HttcAC.
bjiACAnt t)onAUAncunA C'Oomnitt,
APPENDIX No. LXIX. [Loot. VII., Page 158.]
»£Sof°S?" Qf^^^^ succession of the Chiefs of the O Gara family ^ from a.d.
o'oaraa, 932 to A.D. 1537:/rom the Annals of the Four Masters.
Lords of "^ "^
dUioFinn, [It will be noticed in this list of Cliicfs that the line does not run
(Cooinvin). ^^ unbroken succession of generations, because that sometimes the
kindred family of O'h-Eaghra (now 0*Hara) succeeded in inter-
rupting it in their own favoiu*.]
A.D. 964. Toichleach Ua Gadhra^ Lord of South Luighne (or
Leyney), was killed in battle.
A,D. 1056. Ruaidhri Ua Gadhra, Tanaiste (Tanist) of Luighne^ was
slain.
A.D. 1059. Ruaidhn Ua Gadkra^ heir presumptive (Damhna) to the
Lordship of Luighnd^ died.
A.D. 1067. Donmkibhe Ua Gadhra was killed by Brian Ua
h-Eaghra (O'llara).
A.D. 1128. Ua Gadhra^ Lord of Luighne^ was slain on an expedition
into Leinster.
(9<D The eoneluAlon of this paragraph Is also omitted in the text. It should run : *'77to Book
of Mae Bruaideculha {Maoilin <Hf)/rom thoytar IMS to 1603; the Book of Lvgkaidh O'Ckrifk
from the year 1 M6 to 1602".
APPENDIX. 547
A.D. 1206. Buaidhri Ua GadhrOj Lord of Sliabh Lugha^ died [seexpp. lziz.
O'Donovan's Annals of the Four Masters, note 1., p.
150,VoLI.,PartU.] SSS^^uST
A.D. 1217. DomhnaU Ua Gadhra, died. uSS^
A.D. 1226. Ferghalj the grandson of Tadkg an Teaghlaigh (^'Teige cm o Finn,
of the Household"), Captain of the House of Cathal of <C«>>»^>»>-
the Eed Hand O'Conor (Cathal Crobh-Dearg Ua
Coneliobhadr), and Aedk, the son of Cathal^ were slain
by Dannsleihhd CGadhra.
A.D. 1227. Donnaleibhe OGodiira^ Lord of Luigknd^ was killed by the
Gillaruadh [literally the Eed-haired-fellowJ, the son of
his own brother, after surprising him in a house at
night ; and the OiUaruadk was killed in revenge after
that, through the plans of Aedh O'Conor.
A.D. 1228. Muireheartack, the son of Flaithbkeartach GTlannagainy
was killed by the sons of Tadhg (/Gadhra,
A.D. 1237. A prey was taken by Conckobharj son of Cormac
[&Giidhraf\ fiomRuaidhri Ua Gadhra; and Ruatdhrfa
brother was slain.
A.D. 1241. Tadhg, the son of Buaidhri 0' Gadhra, died.
A.D. 1254. Maghnua Ua Gadhra was accidentally killed by the
people of the son oi FeidliUmidh O'Canchobhair.
A.D. 1256. Buaidhri 0' Gadhra, Lord of Sliabh Lugha, was killed by
David, son of Hickard Cuisiru Aedh, the son of
Feidhliniidh O* Conchobhair, plundered the territory of
the son of Rickard Cuisin, in revenge for O^Gad/ira.
He knocked down his castle, and killed all the people
that were in it, and seized on all the islands of Loch
Techet [now " Loch Gara", in which the Kiver Boyle,
in the county of Roscommon, has its source].
A.D. 1260. Tadhg, the son of Cian CGadhra, was killed (at the
battle of Downpatrick, fought between Brj^an O'Neill,
King of Ulster, and the English of that province).
A.D. 1285. Buaidhri Ua Gadhra, Lord of Sliabh Lugha, was killed by
Mac Ftorais [Birmingham], on Loch 0^ Gadhra,
A.D. 1325. Brian 0'G<idhra died-
A.D. 1328. Donnchadh Buadh CGadhra, and five of his name, were
killed.
A.D. 1328. TadJig, son of Toirrdhealbhach G'Conchobhair ["Turloch
O'Conor''], was killed by Diarmait Ua Gadhra^
A.D. 1329. Tadhg, the son of Toirrdhealbhach^ son of MaihghanUiain
[" Mahon"] G'Conchobhair , was killed by Ua Gadhra
and the people of Airteach,
[Here the O'llaras interpose again for some time.]
A.D. 1435. 0^ Gadhra was killed by his own kinsmen, on hda Bolg,
in Loch Techet.
I43C* An im?ursioii wu.^ made by ibu ^mus of Mac Donftchaidli ^
['^ MacDciiuigh[]^jail^bajD^ tif 'ftmafiaeh Oy i\f*ic
548 APPENDIX.
▲pp.Lxix. DonnchaicUiy into Cud CFinn [" Coolavin"] upon
0*Gadhray and upon Tadhg^ the son of Donnchadh
lion of tSr Ruadh [O'Gadhra]. The sons of Mac Donnchaidh were
?**^i^of routed, and seven of them killed, together with Con-
CAtioFifm, chobhar Camm (the Stooped) 0*Gadhra; and it was he
(CooUvin). ^Y\at had treacherously killed the (fGadhrcL, his own
brother, before that time.
A.D. 1451. A prey was taken by Feidhlimidh G* Conchobhair from Ua
GadJira; and a prey was taken by Ua Gadhra from
the people of Baile Mor Ui Fhloinn.
A.D. 1461. Feiyhal Ua Gadhra, Tanai^te ["Tanist"] of CuH
O'Finn, was killed by Mac Costelloe.
A.D. 1464. Toinaltach Ua Gadhra was killed, in a nocturnal attack
on Sliahh Lugha, by Murcluidh (or Maurice), the son
of Cormac^ son of Mac Diannait Gcdl, and by Edmund
of the Machaire Mac Costelloe.
A.D. 1469. G* Gadhra, that is Eoghan, the son of Tomaltach Og, son
of Tomaltach Mor, Lord of Cuil CFinn, died between
the two festivals of [the Blessed Virgin] Mary, in
autiunn; and his worthy son, Eoghan, died of a
sudden illness soon afterwards; and Diarmait, his
other son, assumed the lordship in liis father's place.
A.D. 1478. The son of Ferghal O* Gadhra, and Maghnus, the son of
David, were killed by the descendants of Jiuaighri
Mac Diarniata.
A.D. 1495. C/rt/i, the son of Brian 0*Gadhra, was killed ; and
0' Gadhra himself, that is Diamiait, the son of
Eoghan, was taken prisoner, in the battle of Bel-an-
Droichit, near Sligo (fought between the O'Conors of
Connacht, and the O'Donnells of Tir Connell).
A.D. 1537. 0' GadJira, Eoghan, the son of Diannait, son of Eoghan,
Lord of Cuil O'Finn, died.
[The O'Garas and O'llaras, from a remote period, had possession
of ancient Luighne, or Leyney, in the county of Mayo, till driven out
by the Costolloes in the fourteenth century, after wliich they made
a settlement in Ciiil O'Fiiin (now the barony of " Coolavin"), in the
county of Sligo, where we fmd the G*Gara settled as lord in 1436;
and where also Ferghal, the worthy representative of this ancient
noble family, resided at the time that he extended his coimtenance
and bounty to the " Four Masters", when they proposed to compile
the National Annals which now go by their name.]
APPENDIX No. LXX. [Loct. VIIL, Page 163.]
Ivl^^HMm Original of the Preface to the tleim lliogiuvi-oe of the O'Clerys
Hioghraidhi. (^froiH a MS. iti the Royal Irish Academy, No. 40. 4, tran-
scribed Jty Richard Tipper, A.D. 1728).
In nomine T)oi. -Amen.
An cjAeAf tA x>o mi ^-epcembAp, Anno xpi. 1644, "oo
APPENDIX. 549
rionnj^nA^ <xn VeAbjxAnfo ■oo f^^MobA-d Acag Ctionuitt niic app.lxx.
Ileilt, mic tloffA, tllheg 60CA5AIT1 ecc. -A lior ITlAigne a
cCinet bp^cAC, Aon le ccAii'giceAp Agtif te ccoitfiet)ceA|t theiw**
|*e<Mi tfionATTieincib a]\ pr\r\ye^]\ ^^uy p]\-t)eA6 ciomi'Aigti ^"*v*«wa4.
Aguf tinoil 5AC neice -oa mbeAn<Min te honoiix ^"^My te f e^ti-
cii]' ctoinne tTlhitio'6 OAi^pAine, Aguf fteACCA Lingit) ifieic
Ite, ix)ip riAom Agiif ctAnn riiAicne 5^6 ciiAite, An m6v 50
m^rei-oiix te tiA "bitciott "outiAAtcAC neriiTfiAineccnAC 6, Aguf
Ai^e ACA I'g^uobcA fAn teAb]VAn]'o: Ueim Hiogjxtii'be Aguj*
nAOiTTi-feAncu]'A tia ti^nxionn noc aca a]\ tia ngtAtiA'o Aguf
Ap TIA teApigAt) t6if riA peAjAi^Anmb fo pof .1. An bpACAip
ITlicet O CteijAis, |reA]\peA]YA O ITlAotconAipe, Cticoi5pi6e
O tDuibgcAnAin, a p]\ioih-teAb]\Aib feAnt)A nA h-6n\ionn,
fAoi^e ipn 5liAOi'6ti5; ajui" a cCominnc At^ LuAin Airiiiit a
"oubjAAt) |\otfiiiin ere. A5UI" An t)UAin cfeAn6tiij' 'oo ]\inne
5iottA CAOiiiAin O Cinpnin 'OA]^ Ab corAC '* 6ipe a]\'o 1ni]* nA
11105', Agm* An t)iiAin "OO |\inne g^ottA tTlo'6u'OA Ua CAif-
pt)e, 'OA]\ Ab co]'Ac " 6i]\e 65 Inif nA llAotfi", A5111" An 'ou-
Ain eite •oo ]\inne -Aonju]' TIIac An gliAbAnn 'OA]\Ab cofA6
"flAoni-feAnciif nAotfi lnn]'e fAit", Agnf Ati 'oiiAin eite "OAp
Ab co-pAC " AtAi|\ CA15 cuimp5 neiifie*^.
Aca Ann iropteAbAit nA cCeA]\rt)o bo^i'oiiigeA'b te t)eneon
tlAotiicA A]\ nA crA]i]iAm5 Af An teAbA]i •oo l^g^nob An ConAtt
]\eiTii]\An'>ce An. 4. tA x) Augiiix. 1G36. a]" LeAbA^i t^eACAin
x)o bi A]\ iA]\\cc on bpjMoniyAit) Pporn^^OAnc Aige, Agti]' "oo
]^|\iobAt) ciAn ]\6irne pn te li-AtiAiii tTloji O Ciii]inin "oo
JmottA 16]'A 171ac Pl^bipj, OttAtfi 6 bpAC]iAc, Anno X)o-
mini, 1418. A511]" miijvcAX) UuvbAc Ua Cointii'g t)0 fginob
cnit) eite '66 1 CC15 lluAi-op 1 'Obub'OA, II15 tlAbpACjiAC ITlu-
Ait)e. Aca Aim yoy An ^ac f a]i cuiiieAt) An bo]iuniA a|i t^Aig-
nib A5111' CIA te^i cunicAt) a}i tAigncACAib 1, Aguf ceACC Chtoin-
ne 'OeAtbv\oic mic CAif 50 teAt Chmnn, 6 llllniniAin. Aca
Ann yoy An yAC r]ie nxjeACAix) l^eniii]' ].\\]i]\f Ait) t)yo5tiiiTii nA
pln'jeAccA 50 Uu]i t1eArii]iuAi'6 ^^eAc cac, A5Uf Ainm nA mbeAjt-
tAX) bA-Dini aca y^xx) Amp]\ pn Af a]i 1"5A5<v"6 An jliAOiveitge
te jAoi'oeAt ITIac Ccoi]\ C]\e a}\ 1iAinmnit)eAt) uait!) fein 1, A5iif
0151X) Chmnn ceAT)-6AtAi5 ; aca Ann yoy, ]'eACC nii]\5A]\tA pg
h-Oiponn, Aguf ]\i5e nA ccoigeAX) a|\ ceA-onA, Agii]" An 'ouAin
•OAji Ab co}'AC *'1loitoA5 tAOC l^eite Cluiinn'\ a]\ nA by*0]ibA'6
^5"r ^P ^^ ccinocnuJAt) Aguf a)i nA ccun Ann]'A teAb}\AnfO,
An oriiAt) tA pcciox) 'OO tSepceTnbe]\ nA btiAgnA ceAX)nA, teif
An mb]iAtAi]\ pot 6 CottA, voyv Sc. p]\oinpAi]% ACC15 An
CtionAitt ]\eini]\Ai"6ce. Senciif UlOgh eiU101111 a}i nA
tenmoin 50 nibtinA'6, Aguf An Aiinp]i ]\o CAit 5A6 ^115 -u'lob
A ccennuf Agiif a ccmhA&CA'6 ^MMBPff in<^ 1*^5®- geneAtAig
550 APPENDIX.
▲PP. Lxz. ^^ iiAoifi n6i]\eAnnAc Affiuit f|tit lAt) a teA^jVAib riA fe^n-
ti5t)A|i, Ap riA ccu]\ pop iriA fteAdcAtitiib AthAvt i|* t)o g^b-
ttle^Sii'* tAi5 p<^'o, A|\ oi\'o Aibgnojie. X)o 6um jtoii^ 'Oe, onoji^ riA
JSIopAmMM. ^^oifl AJUf TIA jXIOJACCA, A5llf 'OO tAb<M|AC Altlie AJtlf eoUwf
coitfieAT) ]"eAnctif dj^ionn jiia ccjtei'oioni Aguj* i<x]t cc|\eit)ioifi.
-Ajt n<x ccjAiocnugAT) i cCoiniiinc Obi"e|itiAnciAe -Aca "Luaiti,
Ati Cfbogoi'oeAcc CtuAnA THic tloif, 1630.
APPENDIX No. LXXI. [Lect. VIII., Page 164.]
Dedication Original of the (/Clenjs Dedication to the Heim 1li05]VAn6e
^^tr^Jm, (/'^^ ^''^ *«^"^ ^^•>
X)o Ulioiiti^-deAtbAC tnliAg Co6tAin.
1a]\ mbeit ceic]M btiA-dnA lomtAriA '6Ani|'A, <Mrj t)|iAtAH\ t)odic
tllicet O'Cleipig (a|\ Aiune m'uAccpAin) Ag ceAgbAiiiAtj,
A5Uf Ag cinot A bfniA]\uf -00 fencuf riAom ^nuonn Ajuf tia
niog cum Ambe]\cA]\ iao; •do pTiuAinio|* AgAtn fein, riAp
aiomcubAi-o ad ceAgUMhAo pn 'Oo cu|\ AcceAngtAi o oibe jati
ug-oAjVAi', •oepbA'o, A511]' ^oA-oApc feATiCA-b eoUvc eite; t)o
cuigeA]" m^\\ ATI cc^A-oriA, nA]\ Of upuf An ni it^rhitAi-bce t)o
CpiOCnUTJA'd gATl C01Xtl]% UA1]\ b'l TOO boduACc An xx^yx} t)A
jVAbAj", t)o CAob A Tn6it)e A5UI" f6|" a teACcpom ipn AiTnp]\p,
5ti]\ cui]\eA]" ]\6mAm pn -6 eAgCAoine |\e 'OAOinib UAifte Ap nAC
jVAibe moix) boccAine; 51-0 mop noAOine ]ve nDOApnAp mo
CAfAOix), Aguf meujAoine, ni b^niApup Aon tep f Ai^A-oh mo
liieAnmA -oo CAOib mo piACCAnAi]" -oo cum nA hoibpep x>o
cpiocnt35A*6, acc Aon neec "oo bi f onnniAp cum cui-oijce bom,
lonnuf 50 pAchAt) a ngl^oip -oo 'OhiA, a nonoip tJonA tlAom-
uib, Agup -oon pio^Acc, Agup A tcAp AnmA t)6 pein ; Asu-p Ape
An cAon-neAc pn .1.
WAC SlieAtnuif, wic ShcAmuif tmc ^opniAg^iiii
wic SlieAmuif, tmc She^muif tnic Aitibeic
tnic Coipn-deAtbAiJ mic V-aJa^xcaiJ, wic tlA^tfiA|\^iii
mic tTei-blimie tii>c pnn
tnic Coipix-deAlbAiJ tnic CodtAin
mic T)onneAi"6 tnic niAOilibifril
mic t^eAptuf A nA n^ApmAnn mic Codl^in (a <jiio niej CodUin)
mic niAOiXeA6U)inn An mliAjA mic CAinT)iJ
mic T)othnAiLt mtc T)onnJof a
mic mAoitcA^LAinn ^^ mic ctotcon
mic AtbtA6ib mic CoiVigAitt ib6ip
mic mAoileA6tAinn mic SAp^in, 6 Cliig S^]\Ain
mic AthlAOib nA bfiACAt mic b]\ACCAin
mic ConctjbAi|\ 615 mic Goth jAilt b|\ic
mic Aoi6a mic bVono
mic toincoipA mic Site, 6 ^it)ce|\ TYIaJ Site, Ajuf
mic mui|\teA|\CAi§ tVi6i|\ inif Site
inic CotUkin nnc AinT)eAlAiJ
APPENDIX. 551
ttiic OeAibAoi* wic Aon^fA ^V^i ap. lzxi.
tnic CAir [t)iA ii50i|\ii] cAi (4 <^tio mic ITIoJa Cliui|\b — '
pill rhV) tnic Copmuic C^if Dedication
imc CoiiAitL eA6-ttiAi6 tnic O1 LioLl^ Ottiiw. [ecc] to the RHm
tnic ttii{*eA6 meAnn RioghraidMi,
-AgAf Afe At! UonAjA-beAtbAfc 1*0 triAg CoctAin a 'Otib|tAmu|t,
t)0 fcuip ATI I'AOtA^t f O Ap ^5^1*6, AgUf 'OO COTIgAlb AH COTTlttlA-
t)Ait 'OO bi A5A ciiiocnu5A'6 AriAice a ceile, mAitte |te 5^6
congtiATTi 'oi]X]\ei'oeAC v^ ccug An Conuinc |ieinn\Ai'6ce •061b
50 UMteAifiAil. -An 4°*- La tjo tfi'i Occobejt -oo aonn^gnA-oh
An teAbAp fo "OO fjitiobA-b, ajuj* An 4. Ia tjo tfii tlouembeji
•OO f OjAbA-o 6, A cConuinc nA mbpAc:A|\ jieinnAAitice ; An cuiscAt)
btiAgAin -oon |\i5, Cing CAitotuf of SAOCfAn, ere. 1630.
APPENDIX No. LXXII. [Lect. VIII., Page 165.]
Original of tJie OCUry's Address to the Reader, prefixed to the p^^JfJJ ^
Ueim UioTrnAi-oe (from Hie MS, classed H. 4. 6., T.CBX theRHm
X)o cum An teAgceontA.
CiA An ctAnn nA'ou]\tA Ia nA bA-b CjtuAg, Aguf tA nA h&i)
liimfniotfiAt A mAtAnt Aguj* a mbuime geineAninA Aguf glAn-
oilce, t) f Aicpn no -oeifoeAcc yd tAjt Aguf yo tAjxctiipie, ipo
•bimiAC, Aguf f o -oimigin gAn coacc a]\ cuaiixc 'oa hionny^ig,
•OO tU\\ ]*0lA1f AgU]' -pubA^AIf U1]\pe, AJUf "OO tAbAljXC CAbAjt-
tA AgUf fll]tCACCA -61 .
1a]\ nA cAbAi]\c "OA nAi]\o "oo ibpuing •OAiixigce 'o'oit'o
nA-ou^itA Sc. P]\oinnpAf 50 moeACAi-oh nAomtAcc, ocuf
ppeAncAcc A TnACAjx-buime, 6ii\e a]\ ccut, cp6 gAn boA-
tAigce, peA]\cA, A5U1' mioi\boile a nAom "oo fiolAi^ ince
[em, no ifoy a piogActmb eite, Ap coniAi]\te 'oo cinneA-d;
eo, bpA^Aip bocc ITI'ioniip 'oa r\6\\x> |:ein 'o'op'o Obf epuAnciA,
ttlicct 6 Cleipg (pc<]\ •6iiuciif, ^gwr "^"^V bpojlinm c]\oinic),
•00 tii]\ iiAtA 50 heijtinn t)ocum Ab'^ngeA'd 'oo teAbpAib inA
mbeit en ni x>o twcy^-d ca]\ nAorhtACC a nAoiii 5onA -peAn-
cuf uib A511]" seinoAtAigib -oo c]\uinniu5A'6 50 liAon-ionA^d.
A|\ ceACC x)An buAtAip ^leinnuNi-bce, "oo p]\ Aguf x>o
ciiA]\cAi5 5AC A\]\x) -oCijunn inA cciiAtAi5 teAbA]\ mAit no
fAit x)o belt, lonnAi' 511)1 caic ceiqn btiAgnA coriitAn te
fjlAiobAt) A511]" le foiAtA]\ 5AC neice 'OAp boAn te nAOifiuib
6i]Aenn ; gi-ocA-u 5e]\ mop a t)UA"6 A5iir a -oocAp, niop pAinig
teip ACC llACA-U -o'lotAJI "OfOJ^^SAlt DIOD, "OO bjUg 50 pU5f At)
CA6quMnn ppiorfiteAbpAib ^pionn a ccpiocAib Ajui^ACCineAl-
mb imcKvnA Ainiut, gonAp f'AjAibpAC ni ip lonAipeAtii "oa
toAbpuib innce.
Agtif CA]ieif 5AC Ap jpeAt) An t)]\ACAip cconA 'o'fosbAit
Agiif t)0 6pinnniu5A'6 50 hAon-lACAip, Ap6 p6 pnuAin Aguf
fo fSpuoAfCAip inA innann .i. cpiup "oonA -oAoinib •oob
552
APPENDIX.
AP. Lxxii. oiiteAifinAige, Aguf x>6h lorriAbAi'de teif 6uni tia hoibjie xyo
AddreBS ^^^^ |\Oirhe -OO CpiOCIlUgA-O (mAltte ]\6 COlt A tlACCA|\An),
prefixed to -00 c]\iiinniu5A'o 50 hen-Aic x)o bpeAcnu5At) gAfc ceAgLuim
i?i^flJcttA "OA nx)e<\pnA, mA]\ aca peA|A]:eA]"A O ITlAoitconApe 6 t)hAite 1
tn AOilconAi]^e A cConcAe IIo^^a ComAin ; Ciicoi5|\ice O Cteipig
6 t)hAite Ui Chlei]M5 a cCoiroAe *Oliuin nA njAtt, Aguf Cu-
coi5]^ice O T)int)5eAiinAin 6 bhAiteChoitte'pogAip, a cCoii-
T)Ae l.iAC'opomA. UAngA'OA]^ HA peAn|"AnnA fA ]ieimpAif>ce
50 hen-ionA-o, Ajitf ia|\ cropAccuinn, •00 6inn]'AC nA cceAC-
|iApi llemcAnnA Tliogpuige nA heiponn 'oo fjiAiobA-o acuo|mc
An leAbAi]^. T)o cionn]^AnfAC pn a]\ "oa A-obAji. ^n cet>
A'6bA|\, tiAi]\ nip peAXJAt) SeAncui* nA tiAom 'oo bpeit ipn -pAon
•oipeAC 50 A TtibunA-duf 5An SeAncup nA H105 'oo beic pompA,
oip 1]' UACA ]\o potf AX), ^n DAjiA hATobAp, lonnuf 50 niAio
moi'oe 'ourpAcc, Agup "oeuocion nA nt)AOine iiAfAt t)A
nAoriiinb, -OA ccotiiApbAib, Aguf -oa cceAttuib, pof a ccAip-
t)if, Agti]" A ccA]\A'opAi5 t)o belt ACA pe A bpAcuponuib
bcAnnAija, Aguf -ouccu]' nAomAib nA fpeiriie X)a mbeit 5A6
cpAob -oiob, Agup yop pop nunfipe nAorii nA qvAOibe cexjnA.
56 ACA Aicme -oo nAomAib ^pionn x)on liieAX) r>o pnceA-d
lAp nupt) A peAnleAbpAib peAncufA 'oiob "oiAig An-oiAig, jau
cpecumii]^ I'lcAccA yoy cpiApoite, ip AtntAi-o p6 gAbtAigpAC
Ajnp 'OO pgAOiteAt) 6 a nibunAiv p]ieumAib.
5e be cu, a IcAgtoip, teigmix) a moAp At) teit pein 50
b'putj CApbA, 6ipeAcc, eotup Agup ACcmmipeACc \pn pAOCAp
po, oip ACA lleitn nA II105 gonAt) ngtuinib jeneAbAig, 50
bunAt)irp Ann •oo]\eip mup vo gAbpAC piogACC ia]\ nupt) ; 50
nAipioni bliAJum, 50 nAoip An x>OTTiAn, a bpopbAt) ptAtA
5AC ]\i5 x)iob, Agup 50 nAoip Ap cUigeApnA lopA, 6 a loncotl-
nugAt), 50 I16U5 niliAOileAclinnn tllnoip, Ajup nAOim t)o
peip uip-o A nAibgiDep, Agiip -oo peip a mbunu-OAip rriAp t)o
pAi-oeAHiAp ]\otinnnn. 5^6ip "OO 'OI11A.
t)1uip ccAip"oe lonn'iuine
bpAcip tTlicet O Cteipig,
l^eA]\peApA O 171 A01 Icon Aipe,
Cucoigcpice O Cleipigb,
Cucoigcpice O 'OinbgeAnnAin.
APPENDIX No. LXXIII. [Lect. VIII, Page 168.]
Original of O'Clerifs Dedication of the l^eAbAp 5^^^^ {from
the MS. classed 11, 1. 12., T.CD).
X)o cuipeApi'A An bpACAip THicet O Cteipig peAtfiAm ah
cpen-cpotnic '0A]VAb Anim LeAbAp 5^^^^ "oo jLAnAt), t)o ceAp-
CUgAt) OCUp t)0 pcpiobAT) (ATTlAllle le coil TTlllACCApAin) t>0
cum 50 ]\AchAt) 1 ngtoip -oo "OhtA, \w onoip -oonA nAomliAtb.
I>edlcation
to thp
Ltnlhar
Gabhdla,
APPENDIX. 553
•oo ^xiogACc dixionn, ocuf a leAf AnniA •6atti |:6in. tliop ap. lxxit.
t)]:eit5i|i tioni ah ciotnoi'CAtxvt fo 'Oo cpiocnughAt) gAii ^^^
conxTnATfi cnoinicit) oite x)o \)e^t <\rAm a nionA-b comnAitte to the
eiccin. 1a}\ ofoiLLpugnAt) ha nincmmp -OAOiDp, a On|\i<Mn (7b6*4/«.
UuAit) tne5iii'6i]\, A tigeApriA Inp Cettionn ; a cef6p]\ va]\
joi^^eAT) An CAintii pn ('oo pot Hit)!}; te mop'OACc tlig Saxati,
^*]\Anc, ^tbATi, ociif djxeAnn, CAIloLtlS, An cAonriiAt) Ia
pcic lAnuA]\ii, An bliA-bAin ]*i, "D'Aoif A]\ cUi5eA]\nA Io^^a C]\i-
o]x, 1G27, ocuf An q\eAf bliA-oAin t)o llige An TI15) x>o glACA-
bAijAp t)o tAini ciii'oiujjAX) bom An ]"aoca|a "oo cui]\eAf ]\6ifiAm
X)o tionni'cnA'b, ocuy "oo cpiotnugViAX), t)obi\i5 511^ bo |io
rpiiAg Lib An ni x)0 i\AcbA"6 1 nonoip, ocuf a nAinm -oa bti]t
pnn]'eA]VAib, t)0 nAomliAib, 'OUAi]'lib, AjAf "oo cpoinici-bib
6i]\eAnn 50 coircionn, x)o teicceAn a mbAcliA'6 gAn cutoiu-
JAt) "OO tADAI^XC X>0 CUm A CU]\ A]\ A AgVlAlX). A]\ bf AgAlt hu]\
ccongAncA •6Ani, CAnAC ren ocuf nA cpoinicoATOA "oo to§Af,
ATTiAitte be tiAoncA nA neAgbtn^'e "oo oeic AgAm x>o turn a
rcogtA, fepyeAfA O ttlAotconAiite, Cu6oi5C]\ice O Cle]ti§
Cucoi5C]\ice O X)uib5eAnnAin, Aguf bti^^ nottAtfi ren te
c]\oinic, 5'ottApArcpAic O Luinin, 50 Comuenc opACAit
LeA]'A go^^'^i^? DApAb 5Ai]\'oiAn fitoinnpAf THac C]\aic, in
e^ApDoc6it)eAcc CtocAi]\, 1 birheA]\oib IllAnAt, coict'ix!)!]* |t1A
SATfiuin, A511]" 'OO bAmA]\ a biTAitpAt) A]H)ite CO tlo-otuic A]\
ccionn ; conAt) 1 bi*oi|\cionn nA i\ee pi CAinic tinn a ni -oo
cuipcAmAp ]\6niuinn -oo c]\iocn 11511 At), AmAitte ]\e bup ccon-
5nATii]'A, A cigeAjuiA T11he5Uix)i]\: ^ "V
b|\idn (Primus Baron delnniskillen). mi c Cestui ai J
mjkc Cor»cobAi]\ tnic VuibAin . '.
mic CoticoliAiix 615 mic lopgOLUiig
tnic Cor»cobAi]\ t^ioip. (mort. 1527). mic eiccnij
mic UomAif 615. (mort. 1480). mic Cophm^ic
mic UomAii' t^iOip. (mort. 1430). mic V<-*ApJuf a
mic pitip. (mort. 1395). mic Ao*a ;*
mic Ao*A tltiAi* mic CopbmAic
mic irUMcbeokpcoiJ. (mort. 1327). mic CAi|\bne X>AtVi AipjiD
mic "Ouitix). (mort. 1302). mic CA^Acn
mic "Uoi^inuitV mic C|MoiVittiir»n
mic 5iolU\ ^ofA mic "P^^'icc
mic T)uiTin iVi6i|\ mic VeA-oliAit) ■oumn
mic n<\gnuil,t mic Uo^a^a
mic tli*!]^ mic CoLLa x>^ ^|mo6
mic SoA|\]\<Mg mic CjkcliAd t)oiiVilen
mic tli*ip mic CAi|\b|\c bifcdAtp
mic ScA|\pAijt mic CopbmAic tltf'AT>A
mic OipgiAbuAig mic Aipc Aoinp]\
mic tliii]\ 6 bpjit Ati floinne mic Cum. cec-cAtAiJ [ecc]
An T)ApA tA pccAC t)0 mi Occobc]i -oo cionnfcnA-u gtAnA-o
A5iif cu|i tc ceite An teAbAi]i gAbAtA yOy Aguf An 'oa}u\ tA 20
•oo *Ooccmbe]i "oo cpocningeAt) a fcpobAf), a cConiienc nA
Oabhdla.
554 APPEKDIX.
AP. Lxxm. Tnb|tAt<x|t jteunnxAiiice, Ati feA6cthA'6 btiAt)Ain -oo llige Cing
Dedication ^P^^^f ^f S<XXA1T1, |r|VAinc, AtbATl, AJllf 6l]teATin ^ntlO *Oo-
tothe tnini 1631. \)\i]\ cc^jtA lonniuin, t>|tAtAiit tTlicet O Cteiiiig.
<'«**«^ APPENDIX No. LXXIV. [Lcct. Vin., Page 169.]
Address Original of O'Clery'a Preface^ or Address to the Reader j pre-
the Leabhar fixed tO the XjQ^^'^ jAb^tA.
X>o con-ocAf 'oo xxNomib Aipiche oite, AjufOAiiii'A, in t)pA-
tAip bo6c cuACA tn'ichel 0'Ctei|ti5 a tV\i^ CoriAitt, -oo b|VMt-
pb riA-oupchA Conuence 'Ohutn ha njAtt tJAitob •ouccoj' 6
tno finrifepoib beic im c|\oitiici'6, gop Voi]\ctof •oo 'ouine
6ian 'o'6]\ionncAib i^eAn cjioinic ot>6]\ac 6]tionn -oa ri5oi|tte|t
l/eAbAjx jAbAtA, -oo gtAnA-b, t)0 co|\ be ceile, ^Z'^V "^^
f5|\iobA'6, A]\ riA liA-oboivMbfe. Ax\ cex) A-obAp, "Oo cui|i]*eAC
TTVUACCApAin 'OO CU|\ATn o|iom beAcViA-oA AgUf feAtlCUj* flAOth
Cpiotin -oo cjiuintiiugA'o a]' jac aic a bfuijinn lAt) a|\ pit)
6]\ionn ; Aguf ia|\ riA -benATTi pn tjatti "oo coghAf conibuAt)op
•oo c]\oinicTO, "OO ceAitcugA-o, "oo gtAnA-o, Aguf "oo fgitiobA*©
HA meme a piA|\Af x>on c-fencAf pn tia Haotti, Aguf Reime
1li05|iAi'6e 6]iionn giif a m-be|AO|t tia tiaoitti, AthAib vf |:ob-
tAf If in tcAbop itiA b^oibic. 1a|\ foin "OO tuicciof tiAp
VlOTntAtl An ]'AOCAl\ pn A "OobAIIAC, gAn An l^eAbop jAfeAtA
tAeATfi]u\ice •00 jbAnAt) Ajuf *oo 'pgiiiobA'd, UAip i-p^ bA cobop
bunAi*6 xyo SheAncii]" nAom A511P pog Ci^ionn, t)A n-UAifUb
A511]" -OA ni]"tib.
^•obAp oile be6]% -oo peA'ooi^ rujt ^lonn^gAmfeAcc "OAoine
fogtomcA A tAicin Agu]^ A mbe]\tA, An c]toinicp nA h-6pionn
•00 oonncu-6 a 5<5^oit)licc, if nA ceAngcAibp a x)iiib|tAmo]t,
Agu-p nAch jAOibe fojtinTn nA eolAf a ng^oi-bilcc 50 gnmn
ACA, Cf ef A ccuippcif cnuAf , buccA Aguf feAncuf in tiuooip
ceonA be ceibe, gAn Ainopo]', gAn lonn^obb, Aguf 50 |VActiAD
An cionncu*6, pn x)o •oeAnoAoif t)'eAfbiii*6 eoliiif g^oiwtcc,
An A^Aif A5Hf An inToeAiAgA-o po|At)ui5e x)'6ipnn uibe, Aguf
50 ViAHM-oe "OA C]\oinicip. Ay a|a nA f Atotb pn -oo cuipeAf
ItoifiAm, AmAitbe |ie coit m'uAcrA|\An, An teADOjt p) -oo gtA-
nA-d, Agnr xyo co]^ be ceite, Agu-p jac f eAnciif ocuf 5Ach ni oibe
KAinij A icAf t)o cionob Af beAb)\oib oite cuicce, An ihet) 5up
f ei-oiji tinn, t)o |iei]\ nA b-uAi]\e bAOi Accoinn aja fgpiobA'd.
If 1AC nA Of oinicige bA-oof AfAon vpnn aj gbAnA^o An teA-
boif : l^eAffeAfA 6 ITlAolconAife, 6 DliAite 1 ttlhAolconAife,
A cConn-OAe Uof a ComAin ; Cucoiccpce 6 Cleipg, 6 bViAite
1 Chleip5, A cConntDAe X)buin nA njAbt; ocuf Cucoiccpce
O X)uib5ionnAn, 6 bbAite Coibbe fogAif, a Conn-OAO t^iACC-
pomA; Aguf 5^obUvpA'OfAicc O Liiinin, 6 xXfo 1 t^uinin, a
cCunn^oAe jrheA]\niAnAcn.
APPBNDU. 555
-Af com "01 u, Afiop, coiiAii ^tcAjtAig CO ]\eib po foooib, ocuf ap. mdov.
^enoipe cuitfineActiA, ciAn-AOfxxx |io coitii^'O -peAiiduf Cipiot^n
A cc]\oini5, ocuf A leAbpoib, 'oiai'6 AtroiAi-b, 6 Aimpp 'Oibrin p^llS to
go hAimp]t riAOTii pAcr|\Aicc, cAinic if An ceA?t]VMTiA'6 bliA-bAin '*"• ^
fUxtA t^o5Ai]\e mic Tleitt llAOi-jiAttAig, Hi ^\ionn, "oo f^otA'd
c^^ei'oifie ocuf citAbui-o innce, co ]\o beAntimg 6i]\inn, po]\A,
iTiACA, mriA, ocuf inteATiA, gUjA 6uTiit)oi5, ocuf jtip, potui'6
ccaI^Ux, ocuf congmALA innce.
tlo tocui]\ nAorii Pa-o^vaicc iaji pn t)iA foigno, nA hiigDoi^t
|iobx)A]\ oi]n\t)eA]\CA in 8i]\inn An lonbui-b pn, yyS 6oitfiex) c]\oi-
nice, ocuf coiiiigne, ocitf f CAncuf a 5AC jAbAtA ]\o jAb 6]\e 50
pn. Af 1AC ]\o tocuipc cuige An cAn pn, llof, 'OubtA6 tuac
Ha LiigAUt, V^^rS^r* ^^^- ^^ liiA'op'oe |iobt)A]\ f Ailge yotAig-
teACA x)o feAncAf e^\ionn, a nAinip]t nAOtfi Pa'0]iaicc.
Ro f0]iAit iA]\oifi, tiAoiii Cotuim Citte, pnnen CtuAnA
hlonAi]\x), ocuf ComgAtt t)eAnn6oi]i, ocuf nAoitfi 6ponn
A]icenA, A]t iJ5t)0]\oib a nAimppe buiien, ScAncuf octif
coiTfignoA'OA Ciponn "oo 6oiTtiex), ocuf t)o cojimAd. iOo |to-
nA-o fO]\pofotTi -pAniluit). Aciac t)o bA-oo^i A nAimpp nA
nAOTTi fAin, ATTiAit if fotlAf A nx)ei|ieA'6 •ouAine CochA-dA tli
flitoinn, ponncAin ttiac bocnA, UuAn niAC CAiptt mic ITlui-
fCA-bAig Tninn'oei]\ce, •00 X)hAit bpiACAch ; X)AttAn V^j^"
jAitt An cu^'ooji octi]' An nAorii oifi^jiuicc.
Ho f5]iiobuic, ocuf fo t)eAfbuic feAncufA ocuf coirii-
gneAVA Gi]uonn a bpAvninp nA nAft) nAOtii fo, AifiAit Af
folUvf if nA ppom-teAb|\oib ^\o hAinmnigeAt) 6 nA nAotfiuib
fen, ocuf 6 nA nAj\t)-ceAtlAib ; UAif ni foibe eACctuif oipp-
fujtc A nCfinn, nAcli Ainmnigce ppom-loAbof fCAncufA
eifce; no on nAOth |\o bcAnntiig innce. "Oo bA foiiAing beof,
Aitne Af nA toAbjioib -oo f5fiobA'OA]i nA nAoirii ocuf Ap nA
CAinncicib molcA -00 cumf ac a n-5A0it)itcc, jop bA Iiiac fen
ociif A cccAttA bA hinneoin fof Aif , ocuf bA coni|VAif coith-
e-OA TOO f5]\eApc]\Aib iigTOop e^nonn a nAtUxnA.
tTloniiA]\, Atii, bA 5A]\ UAif CO nT)eA6Ai'6 fjictim ocuf eAn-
cf A Af ceAlUnb nA nAorfi, Af a mionnuib, ocuf Af a tiuo-
]VAib, oi]i ni bfoil A]\ Ai]\t), "oib AnofA acc ciOfUAifp mbicc,
nAc f ii5AX)1i A ccjnocAib imctAnA, CACcoip cineoit, jAn a feAf
A n-oiAcli 6 pn itle.
ACIAC nA boboif gAbAlA "OO bAtJA^I t)0 tAtuip Ag f5f iobAt>
nA ngAbAlcA fo nA hCpionn, leAbo]\ bliAile 1 tTlriAoitco-
noife "oo fspob tTluifjiof niAC pAivm U'l tTlliAoitconoife Af
liobA]\ nA htlmj^e too ]"5)«obA'o a cCUuvin THic tloif a n-
Aimpf nAOirfi ChiAf Ain ; loAbo]\ bliAite Hi ChtcMjMg "oo f51«^*
bAV A nAnTifi]\ lllliAOilj-eActoinn 1TI1i6i]\ iinc 'Oon'inAitt;
leAbop mluiinncip 'OlunbgionnAin -oa ngonitei^ l/eAbo|i
556 APPENDIX.
AP. LxxiT. ghlinne "Oa Laca, ocuf l^<\bo]i ha hUAcongrfiAtA, AiriAitte
Addrew 1^® le^bpoib jAbAUv ocuf jAeAncufA oite jen mo cait) pn.
prefixed to AciAC ]"uini VIA fieceAt) ACAt) ^^11 leAbojArA pofATiA. 5a-
c/l^te. '^ t)Ait CheAj^vA cet)U]" |ua n'Oibnn innce; 5AOAit pliAptx^tom
3pn; 5At)Ait tleiriieA-o; gA^Ait ^TlieAp mbotg; 5At>Ait
UAice X)e X)Anonn, ocuf jadaiI ITIIiac tTTileAt)h, 50 ITIaoI-
1'eAchttiinn llloii.
t)hA|\ ccAnt-oe lontfiuine,
b]AAcoip rriiaei o cteipg,
VeAjApeAf A O triAotcononte,
Cucoiccpice O Ct^ijAigli,
Cucoicc|Ai6e O 'OuibgiomiAin,
A5UI" 5^ottApAcu|Auicc O Luinin.
X)o teiceiomop copuinn tAboijAC Ap opTOUgA-o An ChpucAij-
te6|AA ce-ouf a]\ nA c]\eAcun\ib : TleAni, Aingit, ^impp, A5tif
An mA]"A A-obAit ecqAUCA Af a|\ ceibiix An ceAtA^A-Touit 6
toil AtiiAin, i-p in oibinugAt) fe tAite, 5tif nA tiuite AnmonnA
AicrpeAbinc a ucaI^tti, a nuifse, A5UI" a nAiejA, 'oo bjAig
SijjAAb -oo '6iA'6oi]\ib ^y oi|\cio|* ni 'oo tAboijAC 0]ApA, Ajuf nA]i
theA]'Anio|A en ni '6100 "oo beic 'oo ^iiACCAnii]^ a|\ A]t noib^Moj-
A-b AtiiAiite jAe coit n'Oe, acc 'OAOine Aguf Aimpji riAniA.
TDa bpig 1^0, •00 gAbATTlAJA te\\ nA1|", Aimpp -oo jtACA-O, Af
oipcioi" Ann -OA]; tmn a pemcuf aja noib]Ai5ce .1. 6 cjAuchu-
5A*6 An cet) Dinne, -d-OAtfi ij* a fliocc l^eAn^Am a]a a]a pnnf eji-
01b 1]" in Une n"oi)\eAch, 5^^^^ ^]^ 5^^" 5^ cpiocnuJAt) in cinn-
f5ecAitp A byoi]AceAnn ^uojacca ITIhAOitfeAcbAinn ITIhoip
ifiic 'OotfinAtt, eip-oe ]\i5 -oeisionAch Gii\ionn innce yex)
5An ji^ieAi'AbiAA, AtriAille hiigT^ApiAAf nA cqAOiniceA'6 CAngA-
"OAjA ]\onniinn, ajuj: l.e iiiAgoit jAirfie nA nAO]" Atfioit |:b]A|Aic iauc
A ccip)eA'6Aib froipbce, ppencA eAcctuip Clunopo, Ap tojACC
iigtjop Aguj" p\\er\ nA ScpepcjAA TlAOinie, yeh AinmneocAm
po^AnA, eAng AineAng X)o piAgtAX) nA nAop |AeiinpAire, a
]AOinn Agiip A niomtAine, 6 A"6Ani 50 gem Chpiopo AnuAf
mAjA An ccoATonA, 50 ]^A|Acoin nA piece pep nuAipbib, t>o
p6ip coIa n'Oe. -dipiorh An 'oa f*eAp Xxx. Ap nA ceic]\e cet)
AopAib x)6n •ooiiiAn AiriAitte pi]" An Ai]\ioni cugpAC 'OAOine
feATAcliA foglAmcTA "OO ten lAt) 1]* An topcc n-oipeAch Ap
nA riAopuib, 6 cpucugA-o in t)oiiiAin 50 gem Clipiopt), Ap nA
poinn A CCU1CC pAnnuib. O -d'OAifi 50 'OiUnn, 2242 ; 6 'Oitint)
50 h-dbpAliAm, 942; 6 -dbpAliAm 50 'OAUi'oh, 940; 6 "OhAi-
ui-oh 50 bpoit), 485 ; 6 bhpoix) 50 gein Chpioi^), 590.
Ay uime "oo 6uipeA'OA]A nA "OAOine ii5'oopt)A '00 teAn An t)A
f eAp txx. An cuicceA-b, Aimpp te nA nAimpepoib, jup AmtAii6
coinitioncAp An Aimpp po, 5199, 6 cpucugAt) A-OAim 50 gem
APPENDIX. 559
l^eAtifcAf iTiA Aimpjx yhit\ ; AgAf ^TlAnn thac CAipbpe tnic ap. uucvi.
Ao'o'AgAin th<M|\eAf yoy, AjAf "oitong oite tiac tiAnxoim. -Ace j^^^^
x>o t)|i'i5 riAc ccA)\lAt)A|\ riA leAbAiit a]\ a tToeAtMi<x'OA|i min- g!jjf ** ^
lujo^t) Aguinn A]\ An ccAobfo "oo'ti f Ai]\5e iriA of'uitmi'o a]i qummut.
"oeoivAi-ueACc, te^t Amuig 'oo beAgAn, r\\o\y Ve^v^\^ tinn a
cccA-oyAtJA tjo teAntiiuin acc a mbeAgAti.
-An t)A]\A ni. t)io"6 a py ajat), gtn^Ab iat) nA teAbAH^ 6|\tiAi'6e
A\y A]i cin]\eA'OAj\ nA feAn-u5t)Ai)\ gtuAi]" riiinijte Aguf Af Ap
gtACATiiAip nA yocAitf eo poy mAitte jAe miniugA-b nA •o^tuinge
|\eArii|\Aice, t)o bi A5 reAjAj'g 50 ToeijionAc: Atfi|uv Cnottum
Clnlle; AjAtlAth An t)A ShuAX); peilijie nA flAoni ; peitipe
U'l 5liopmAin ; LcAbAjt lomAnn ; SAnAf An bheAtA pliAUcpAic ;
EeAn-Sc]\eApr]tA tneAiTi]tuim, AgA-p ]"eAn-teAbAiji pAipei^t inA
f]Vit m6)\An 'oyoctuib cpuAi-be jAn tniniu5A"6; V^pu]* l^ocAib,
AgA]' t)ei]\bpii]\ t>o'n CAgnA An ^5p ; AgA]" ii|\tfi6]i An teAbAip
opn AniAc nA gtuAife "oo gtACAX) on mbAotjAtAc peAiri-
An ci\eAf ni. t)iot> a pof A5 An teigteoiit, nAji tniAn tinn
Ag cpiAtt An beAg-fAOCAipp, a6c CAit cigin -potAif x>o
iAbAipC "Oo'n AOf 65, AgAf -00 n AOf Ainbpf ; AgAf An C-AOf
eAlA"6nAi AgAf eotuij" t)o bpofDA^o, ajaj* 'oo gpof aid tjoctini
A lonnf ATiitA oite "oo "oeAnAm ni if feA}\]\, AgAf nii]' tiontfiAi]Ae-
-Acc if uime nA]i tcAnAniAip 50 fA-OA ai\ riiojiAn t)o nA hit-
^lAttuib cinpit) An cAOf 'OAnA, AgAf cAtA-onA CO nioiriAt) "oa
bfuil t)focUnb Annfo x>o nunnigAt), AgAf "oo teigeAniAp
'binn fOf, bunA-oAf 10m At) t>o nA foctAib DfoillpugAt) 50
foiftcACAn, t)o bpig 5ti]\Ab teif An AOf eAUvoAn 50 fonn-
|ux^a6 Af mo bAineA]', AgAf nAC bfuit f iAcx)AnAf A5 cac 50
coirceAnn leif mA]\ aca aca teif nA feAn-teAb]\uib 'OO
tuigpn, AjAf -oo teAgAt).
^n ceAq\AriiAi3 ni. biot) a fiof Ag An AOf 65, AjAf aj ati
AOf Ainbpf , lef Ab miAn nA f eAn-teAb]\iiib "oo tcAgAt) (ni nAC
bf tilt nA AinceAf a]\ eotcAib Af rcif e) guf Ab AnnAiii biof coi-
me AT) ACA A]i cAot te teAtAn, no tcAtAn f e CAot t)o ^'gfiobA'b ;
AjAf If fif-ceAfc cuifit) UACA Af connfAinib, mAf aca b. 6.
i), f-, AgAf mAf fin ; AgAf fof , Af Ann Am cuifit) fincAt) f At)A
Af foctinb. S5]\iobtAf 50 mime cuit) t)onA connfAinib Af
f on A ceite, mAf aca .c. Af f on 5, ^S^f c, Af f on x>. Agf o
tAniAit nA bfocAt cf CAf a ccuigfitJeAf a nAbf Am Af fon ha
>f ocAit-f o : Ctog, loiiAnn AgAf ctoc ; AgAt), acat) ; bcAg, beAC ;
co'otAv, coctA-u; Aft), Afc, AjAf mAf pn. CuifteAji fof 50
mime AC, A]\ f on ao ; AgAf ai Af f on aoi ; AgAf f 6f 01 Af ]'on
A01. SomptA Ajipn mA]\ ]'5fiobcA]i 50 mime act), Af lonAnn
AJAf AOt>; AgAf CAet, If lOnAnn AgAf CAOt; AJAf bAOl, AgAf
f6f bAi, If lonAnn AgAf boi. SgfiobcAf 50 mime 6 Af fon
560
APPEKDIX.
▲P. LXXVI.
Addreu
prefixed to
O'CIery'i
Gloasarjr.
Will of Cu-
chitigcrUhi
O'Clery.
A, *piA feATi-teAbpAib, inA|\ ACA, Af lotiAnn t)ie, AgAp t)iA;
CIA Af loriAnn aja^ cie; ajat inA|\ pn. S5|\iobcA|t 50 mi-
me .1. Ap fon, mA]\ ACA, [ecc.J. S5]\iobtA]\ 50 coitceAnn, a,
o, tj, Ap fon A ceite a n-'oen\eA'6 pocAit, TnA|\ aca |*omptA,
f ompto, pomptu ; ccAp-ocA, ceAn-odo, coAifocu.
APPENbfx'No. LXXVII. [Lect. VIII., Page 178.]
[This reference is an error. There is no list of contractions at
the end of the Preface to 0*Clery's Glossary, only a few of the more
common contractions are used, such as are to be found described in
Irish Grammars.]
APPENDIX No. LXXVIII. [Lect. VIII., Page 178.]
Original of the last Will of Cuchoigcriche OClery,
[The will of Cuchoigcriche is unfortunately much injured. Many
words are quite obliterated, and some of those that remain very
indistinct. The following is a copy of as much of it as I can make
out with any certainty. The spaces left are to denote passages at
present illegible. The translation which I have added is quite
literal. The lines in the original I have also thought it right to
mark out ; they will be found separated by a mark (||) wherever the
line ends in the original, which is to be foimd at fol. 276 of the
little MS. volume classed 34. 4. in the Library of the Royal Irish
Academy : —
In -Ainm An -AcIiaji Agwf An tlleic A5iif An SpioixA-OA
tiAoimli.
Uiomnuim mAnAtn •00 'Oia uite cuniAchcAC, Aguf Aichnim
mA copp -oo Clip II 1 TnAinifcejA biii]\5ep llmAitt, no gibe
hoite ecctAif cAi^-ecApcA || |:Aici:Aix)e]t T)om
cliAHA'oib m A-onACut; ^AgbAim An niAoin •00b Annj^A tiom Q
•o Ap chiii]teA|" Am f eitb ipn fAOgAt (mAjiAUA mo leAb]\Aib)
A5 mo -oiAf II mliAC, 'OiApniAit) Aguj" ScAAn. bcAnAix) a
ccA|\bA eifcib gAn mitlcA-o Ajuf -oo || |\ei|i a |tiAchcAnAij%
A^uf cAbpAit) A ]\At)A]\c Ajiif A ngnAcugAt) x>o ctoinn II
CnAH\b|\e mA]i iat) yein, Aguj" ceAgA)]'^^) uvt) "oo jteijt . . .
II AijA ctomne ChAi]vb]u -oo riiunAt) Agup t)0
teAjA^xc A cctoinne || Aitnim
tJiob A mbeic 50 5]\a'6ac, muinccAp-OA mo-dATTiAit ....
II yy pe nA ccLoinn fein, mA]^ mAic teo "Oia t)o
fonAbiugA-o [-ooib yem Agu]" "oo cup] || ]\AcbA oppA Ap An
f AOgAt Ablip AgUp A CCUlt) "OO ptAltOAp 'Oe 'OOlb [cAtt] . .
. . . . II -Aiuhmgim mAp An cce-onA cupA .... eim
CAuepinA mop bep inA peilb
Agtjp An cApAtt pein t)o
beipim A peAtb "oi om' bAp pein AmAC
A511P -DO ]\eip mAp Ap peA]\]\ cipigtep
APPENDIX. 557
ChpiofD. -Af t)o riA hii5T)<x]Atiib tcAntif An t)A ye^\\, Xxx, ap. lxxiy.
^y riA ceitjie c6t) AOipt) Otii'ebnif An\tfieAf in<x 6]\oinic 6 ^^^^^
quicugA-b -A'boim 50 50111 CniAiojn), 519^. Opopuf Mf in prefixed to
cceAX) 6Aipcet x)a tet) teAbo|\ A'oei]! 50 bpuit 6 -A'OArti 50 oabMUa.
h4\p]\Ani, 3184; 6 -Ab]\AhAni 50 gein Ch]^ioft), 2015; a fuim
A]\Aon, 5199. 'OliA fD]\ioni-]XApui'6e ecctiii|'e Chjxiopo lAUfom.
-A'oiibAmc beo]" S-Anccu]" lliejxonimu]" inA epifcit •oocum
UicAif , nA]\ coiriiVionAf) fe ihibe bbA-OAn x) aoij" An •oorfiAin 50
pn. -A-oeip r|\A, S. -Auguixin if An •oeAchiiiAt) CAipcet "oon
t)ApA tcAboji -065 de Civitate Dei nAC Aipinionn 6 qMicViugA-b
An -ouine 50 pn f e riiite btiA'OAn. Cuipceji nA beit pn A]\Aon,
CO cccAccoic tei]" An tucc ]ietjnipA a nen nunliip cunn-
UAif, 6 ciiucbuJAt) -A-ooiiii 50 5ein Cb]iioft), 5199. *OeA]\-
bA-o oite A)i An AnieAifi cceA'onA, An TnA|vcA]\otAi5 TloriiAnAcli
<)einini05Af lombAine btiA-bAn nA nAO^ 6 cpucnsAi) An X)oniAin
50 gein Chjno]^), 5199.
[trom a co])y of the tcAbA|\ cAbAtA, written in 1685, for Brian,
the son of Col la Mac Mahou, of Oriell, now in the Royal Irish Aca-
demy, but not classed.]
APPENDIX No. LXXV. [Lcct. VIII., Page 175.]
Original of the Title and Dedication to OClei'ys G lossary Tiue uiA
(/rain a MS. copy, in the handwriting of John Murray^ Sr?raenr°t
1728, in the possession of the Editar). aiouaxj,
PocIai|i no SAnAf An nuA'6 ion a TninigceA]^ CAib 6151 n xy'yo-
cbAib cjuiAi-Oe nA jAOitjit^e, a]\ nA i^pobA-o a|i uji-o Aibjicjie,
be t>|AAtAi]\ bocc CUACA -oojit) Sauic P|\onpAf .1. tlliceut Ua
Ctei]!!^, A ccobAijxe nA niD|iAtA]\ n6i]\ionnAC a l/obAin, aj\
nA cii]\ A ccto TTiAitte ]ie hiigt^AjiAf, 1643. -Amen.
*Oon ci5CA]\nA ]\o on6]\AC, Agu]* X)oni cajiait), bAotgAbAC
TTIac -Ao-OAgAin, 6AfbAC -^ibpnn.
-^Sfo cii5Aib (a tjbigeAiinA) tDiogluim beAj •o'f'OcbAib qiu-
Ait)e Ap ccoAngtA 'outcAip, A|\ nA cqunnniiigAt) a]- m6]\An vo
fcnloAbpAib A]\ n'oijigte, ^511^ aji nA ni'iniii5A'6 vo |\ei)t
cuigp, Agii]" gUiAH^e nA bp)\'ioifi-i'i5'OA]\ -oo bi lonAji n-outAig
YAn Aimpp TueigionAig, tejxbeAn niiniugAt) nA f OAn-gAoi'oitge.
til yACAiTJAiji lonAp ii'outAig ni6]iAn ]\e']\ b'iomciibAii6 An
xjiogbAimp t) pi]\Aib Ap ciii|' nA pbfi ; Agiif ni c]\e AniAin Ap
TiAibit) t)o bolt lonAnn (cuif "oobiit) c6i]\ Ap cop cite x)o
CApj^Aing Ap ccoIa opAibpi, I'eAC cac oibe) t)o gbuAip pn t)o
cum pAqiuinn -oo "oeAnAiii -OAoib t)on beAbApAnp\, acc nA
6eAnn pn, Ajuf 50 fpipAbcA, cpe bup mAit pein, Aguf -ouucAf
liup ccineA-b pif An ccei|VDf6p;^4Kur y6f 50 bpuib f eAp corii-
AnmA, A^tif coiffiamo ^MtflMHHH ^TIac ^otA-
558
APPENDIX.
Title and
Dedication
to O'Clery'i
Qlouaxy,
AddreM
prefixed to
OClery'i
Qlotsarj.
AP. Lxxv. gAin, Ap TiA •OAOimb Af pjAionni'AbAtcA teAnmAOit) a miniugAib
TiA bpocAt Ap A rc]\AccA|\ fAn te<xbA]\f o.
tTlA|Apn, nio]\ gtACA-b miAti tinn acc ArtiAin bcAgAn eoluif
t)o tAbAi]\c "oon AOif Ainpf a j'eAn-ceATigAi'O a niAtAp, Ajuf
An cAOf CAtA'onA "00 b]\ofCA'6 •ooium a lonnf ahi'La eite fo
t)o •66unAni, ni Af veAiA]\ Aguf ni Af UonifiAiiie.
APPENDIX No. LXXVI. (Lect. VIII., Page 176.)
Original of the Preface^ or ^Address to the Reader\ 'prefixed
to celery s Glossary {from ilu same).
'O'on teigteoijt.
bio-b pof ceiciie neiteA'6 A5 An teigteoip te']\Ab tniAn
An bcAj-f AocA|\fo x)o teAgAf). -An ceAt) ni, nAj\ cuipeAniAjt
en focAt Annj^o pof -oo Tfi'iniugA-b, no "oo jtuAif A|t -poctuib
cpuAi-oe A]\ rceAng^A TnAtAiA'6A, acc nA focAit t)o 6uAlniAip
f 6in -OA miniugAt), no ^ruAjAAniAHA A5 ca6 01 te ia|a nA miniugA-O,
6 nA TTiAigifqnb "oobA foipcitte, A5iif tJobA pojLumtA An
eoluf c]\iiAi|" nA jAOi-bilge lonAp tAecb yhm ; Af -OAOib-pn
50 |'onn|\A'6AC bAOcJAtAc tluAt) THac Ao-oAjAin, UojtnA O
THAolconAipe, Aguf UiigAi-o Ua Cteipg, ^S^f TTlAoiteActuinn
Tno'OA]\CA IJa UlAotconAHAe. 5^*6 i'aoi oip'6ei]\c jac -ouine
•oiobpn, A^^CA-o bAOcjAtAC Af mo "00 teAnAmAi^^, •00 bji'ij
gujtAb UA-OA A]' mo "oo ttACAmAiji ]rein aju^" "oo pjA]VAmAi|t aj
CAC Olio, tniniujAT) nA oyocAt a|a a ccpAcrAmAOix), fgpiobcA;
Ajuf yof jui^Ab fAoi oip-oeiixc, •oeA]\]^Ai5CD e ^An ccen^o-p,
mA]\ Af potlAf ^An rei|x C115 An cfAOi pcAniivAice cite .1.
LugAi-o Ua cteipig Aip Ap A eA5, AtiiAit ACA ^An |tAnnfo
pof : —
AuAijine ACAip nA tiAoi
'OAltAn 'po|^5Altt An p]\iom-f aoi,
T)© tneA]" ]^e'm ceite ni ceA]\c,
Tlei-oe |\o-^eAf if pepceA^c.^*'^
SeAncuif x)iATnpA, t)ti5to Ap peAn,
beupUv poipcce nA bpitcAX),
T)© bi An em tfieit) gAp nAirni-d,
Cti An Cipnit) ! An lonAicmit) !
Ay Aicne 'ouinn pAoice mAice \^\'\ ceipx)p, Agup pop \^x\
Aimpp 'oeijionAij, niAp aca SeAAn Ua TTlAotconAipe, ppiom-
oi-oe nA -opumge a t)ilibpAniAip ceAnA, AgAp peAp n-Cipionn, a
(97) Tbis fourth line la miMtranslatcd In the text (sec p. 176), or rather the tranalation there
given is of the version of tlieso lines in the MS. from which the '* Address" U taken (MS. of
A.D. 17V8, in my ])Ossession). The last word of this fourth line there is/rccarH I ha\-e cor-
rected tlie t-cxt of the line from a fragment consisting of fourteen Manzaa of this curious
poem, in the most correct diction, which I copied from a MS. vol. of old HUtorlcal IN>cinfl
In the posMesMion of the O'Conor Dunn, dated l(j3l. The translation of the line as it now
stands, corrected, should be : yHJhi of prc^found knowledge, and Ftreh^art. " Ferchearf' is
put for " Fercheirtni", the celebrated poet (of the time of Conor Mac Ncasa).
APPENDIX. 561
^CA .... Lxxvm.
|rei5Ai'6 ... a mbiA in<x tAirfi Ajuf t)o beii\i[in] f e^lb 161 ^^^
(•o eif m'eccA) A|t cliApAtl || Aguf Ap f eAppA6, Agur t^enA-b f e cwjwr<di<
5^6 rriAit buf emip teii* -oo "benom m\\\\e 5. . . || cu [ipit)] ^'^**^-
A ctJiiAm "66 50 TieArfinAii\. IDa iroeAcnAi^
II iTiTiAOi eite ]ie tinn a
TTOIOlflAOmif no ... ATI beATi I
A|A cult) A x)ei|tbfeACAiA, Ajuf t)A |\Aib At! beAii •010b hey . .
II bjlAltpe A^" OI-bpeA-bA OJtCIA A]AA0t1
pe linn Ant) || 5An mAjicAin. 'Oa
ngUxcAt) An buACAitt beg THac 6ac
. . . II I'UAiTTineAf coTTinAijce cui5e A5Uf ccacc in enAic
. . II Ajuf A SheAAin ACAim
AgA Aitne t)ib An tiile ifiAic buf ion
. . . II x)o '6enATh t)o iteijt mAjt t)o |\inni
meip Ajuf II AcliAijt
AgUf X)A feAnAtAljl, AJUf t)A f eAnifiACAip. Tin A ....
. . . II bo t)o cuipeAf inA feitb iyo t)o t cot)A no t)A
bi^AtAjt II cboTTinAije A^Abpuit x)enAii6
. . . . bu|\ cceAt)]:Ai'6 f^in leif An
. . . II AcconiniAOin Aif^teAnn vo j\At)A te hAnAm SheAAin
tnheg 5 II t)0 cipceA]\ t)Aoib
fein.
Cdcogry {»ic) [Cleirigh].
xX cCmpji nA h 61 tee, An 8 La
Peb., 1664, vo ]\ei]\ nA nuini]\e
Aj'mo
[translation.]
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy
Spirit.
I bequeath my soul to God Almighty, and I charge my body to
be buried in the Monastery of Burgheis UinJiaU [Borrisoole], or in
whatever other consecrated church .... in which it will appear
best to my friends to bury me. I leave the property most dear to me
that I have put into my possession in the world, namely, my books,
to my two sons, Diannaid and Seiian. Let them take their profit
out of them without injuring them, and according to their necessities;
and let them give their sight and their constant access to Cairbre's
children like themselves; and let thoni instruct them according
to benefit of Cairbre's children, to teach and
instruct their own children I am charging
them to be loving, friend I}', respectful, as they
would be to their owu children, if they wish that God should be
propitious to themselves, and give them prosperity in the world
here, and their share in the kingdom of heaven to them in the other
36
562 APPENDIX.
I.XXVI11. world I charge in like manner
' ~ ~ Catlierina or great
curoUtrHcM that shiiU bc in her possession, and the horse
0 <-'i«^>T iu her own hands. I give her its possession from
my own death out and
accordingly as it shall appear best
. . . . There is examine
what shall ho in her hands, and I give her possession (after my
death) of a horsi? and of a foal, and let him do all the good
that lu* can to her [until he has put] her care off him nou-shame-
fully. Should go ... . another woman
in the time of their idleness or ... . the woman . . .
upon the share of her sister, and
if the woman of them who shall be brethren
that shall be lu*ii*s of tliem both in their time there
.... without boing alive. If the little boy, the son of Each . . .
should take quietness of residence to
himself, and come to the one place with
And, tScaan, 1 am charging yt)U to do every good which can be done
accordingly as I have done, and . . .
father and to his grandfather and to
his grandmother a cow wliich I
put into his possession to him of your
bhare or of your brothers residence
in which he is, dispose of it according to your own wishes . . .
as a bcneiit Q)ay] for saying Mass
for the soul of Seaan Meg-G
as shall appear to yourselves. Cltoigri[cue O Cleirigh].
In Curr-na-h'Eifte, the 8th day of
February, 1004, according to
the greater computation.
APPENDIX No. LXXIX. [Lect. VIII., Page 179].
Twoi'ocma Original (with tramlation) of two Poems by^ Cucoigrichi
'ii
iligcriehi OClcinj; from MMS, transcHbed by James mac Guire^ in
ocieiy. 1727^ for Hugh aDonnell {of Larkfield), now in the pos-
session of Professor Curry.
I. I.
Cu6oi5C]M6e O Ct^inig -00 |\inne An Cuchoigcr%ch€ O^Clety that made this
•DArt-f A -Do'ti Clu\lbA6 lluA-b WAc poctii for the Calbhach Ruadh^ the
iriAjnAfA, mic Cuinn 615, niic Cu- son of MaghnuSj son of Conn og,
inn, mic An ChAtbAiccli. son of Conn^ son of Ute Calbhach
{aDonnell),
lont^ium An Vaoi* l6AjtAtx funn, Beloved the lay which is read here,
C15 UA1C, A CliAlbAig dugum, Which comes from thee, O Calbh-
Hi c|\6 |A«n f Attf A |Ao fCAf, ac/i, to me,
Atz x)o iMj|\ Annf a t*6icccAf. Not through a trcacheroiu dedgn
I know, [poet.
But to seek the affection of U^
AFPENOIZ.
563
A -f AT> VeAc d-D -^ixeid n-t)oirm- Jit,
pA-btiA CAitihe If ct6 O cCuinn,
tnA|\ CAOl "OA 6tl|\ 1 CCdlrt "bAlVl,
50 n-t)lri§pnn t)'Aitte iln n-6 Joajx
Pa neArtitAif fuigle ha DfeA|\,
Cuirtine f cAtidAif liA|\ pnri|^A|\.
ITJAI6 All 1A|\]\A1* ctig rtlfA,
t)oL -©'fiof liiit Ar» c-feAtidtif A,
t)o'n 66it)pof bA cogAoif c|\eAtt,
30 fo|Wioif 6151 Of ei|\eAtin.
Seti-jvii^ eApiAi'd AOfOA foin,
" eotur ei|\ioriTJ 1 cC|\tiA6oiTi",
t)A hluL CA|\ 6a6 CtlgAlf COlt,
Hi gAll f^C jMlgAlf l\0j0111,
^C^1T> Y Atl C1|\ t\e TlAtAI^,
ImClintiA^Aiti Chuirm Cli6t>-dA6Ai§,
Hi TnnAotconAi|\e ^ah coi|\,
jTa Aoib ccojAi-be A5 CjllAtOlb.
VuA]\Air f 6f e6ttif 01 te,
Ac ctomn dAOiiiiTnhAoitconoi)\o,
Pa* A|\ ci:o$A|\niA Af l/6i|\ Lib,
C|\6 |v6iTti ih'ogiAtnA 6'Tti oi-oib.
O fbo6c Chuitin, tAo6|\Ai4 5ATI
Vote,
Ac^i Ati c-Aintn C^ije^ Chonnodc,
ftiiti tiA6 f Ann 1 teit tcAbA|\,
C|\6 A m-Ddi Ann aj ^iCjxeAbA'd.
■Oifte te Conn Coije* Slijxeinj,
H6 6n duigeb An ei|\inn,
Hi|\ duib^eAf 'o'a dtoinn 6 foin,
3An ixui-blcAf Clioinn t>o 6Af toin.
A, tlA An cConn cdai^ 6 r1io]\Ait>,
'Sa Cnuinn Cia|\ 6 ccdn5obAi|\,
Hi t>c6]\Ai*eA6c, A -bcAixc JiAn,
UeA6c 50 c6ot-oi|\eA6c ChpuAddn.
tli 'oibei|\c *uic tiA|\ jAd Am,
C|\6 ncA|\c Ainbfine ncAdcixAnn,
A friAb '6tijdrtiAf nA ccop ccAf,
X>o\, 6 '60 tell Af 50 T>{lt6Af.
I understand thy design accordingly, j^. lxxix.
That too fkr from thy noble bright '
&ce are Two Foeina
The witnesses of the munificence ^7 <^
and fame of Conn's race, [ConalL ^fX^^
The secret records of the blood of ^^*
As thou art putting me in mind
That I should, after our authors, —
Ungentle are the words of the
men,— [cestors.
Remember the history of thy an-
Good is the seeking that thou hast
made, [tory, —
To go seek the knowledge of his-
To visit me first would be an idle
journey — [Erinn.
To the home of the learning of
An old saying, wise and ancient thijf,
** The learning of Erinn at Crua-
cAaiw", [given will,
To its learning above all thou hast
It was not without reason thou
hast made tbe choice.
They are in this land a long time,
Around the CruachcUn of Conn of
the hundred battles,
The O'Maolchonairfy without foult
In chosen esteem with chieftains.
Thou hast, too, found other know*
ledge, [mnV^,
With the comely Clann Maolcho-
The cause of our invitation from
thee, [from my tutors.
Through the career of my learning
From the race of Conn, champion
without fault.
Comes the name of Connacht
Fifth [i.e. Province,]— [books, —
A statement not weak as regards
Because of their having been there
inhabiting. [Fifth (i.e. Province),
More favoured with Conn was Srenf/*8
Than any other Fifth in Erinn,
It was not becoming his children
ever since.
Conn's special right not to cherish.
Thou grandson of our northern Conns^
fromTorry,
And of the Conn in the west fh>m
whom thou descendest, [^e,
It is no exile, thou of the bright
To come to the musical assemblies
of Connacht.
It is no banishment to thee in the
west in all time.
Through the force of stranger fo-
reign tribes,—
Thoa of the clustering, crisp, curl-
[other.
Itoan-
564
APPESDIX.
AF. MXIX. tlA cedflholCA CUgf AC 0|tC,
flA >i-6iccp pn ftnTW diomio^u,
Two Poenu ITlAitteAni n*A|\ Ua^ai$ t>o ^dit,
OCltry.
tn'dOf lonihtjine 6Y iat) rin.
If Tli TIA]\ ca4 "d'a iltnTipn.
^ tiiTinp fg^t fgo^f A tn6,
O 'cAit) AgATTi niA^ firing,
ni f objVAim A ccLo *fni te\^
ni ivA* fo^bAinn a tiAibe|\.
t)A pA^ Alt rtf AC ceAdc tofc,
THdi\ ***^r ^ailL 50 cpii Chon-
C|\6 f aIaI* 51IAipVl11\ TIAd glATI,
t)A|\ f AlVlAlt -O^tlAlftlb 'ULA'6.
t)A 115l6|\ All 6]\10i t)0 6A|VA1f ,
t>U1Cp TIAd f Ad f AtcATIAIf,
'Sjop rA|\ oile 6 caoi rpeAbA^t,
Ca|\ rritioije Aoi Ai\ AicpeAbA'6.
tnA6Ai|\e Chonrioic tiA ccAd,
56Y bf AT>A 6 'ha f Af Ach,
3ui|\ 6ui|\if 6 f A foiyigrieAih.
CoiVii\^i6 A e6lAc1i tulo,
T)*Aoif ^icpeAbA Ati tnTiAdtiiite,
t)6ib nA|\ b*Aittie 6 fS^ bAit^
5ot) |\6 dAitrtii Jei A C)iAlbAi$.
'8 5ti|\ duip c6 f^ d|\oin cAtVAig,
lAt oip^eipc ATI pliirm-beATjnAi J
If niAg Aoi 6'n p6im 1 |\Aibi,
5op t6i|\ 5A6 Laoi a tompAiite.
-A xil^t |\ib n^ ^^•6 n^ipcAch,
t)o beii cAiditieAd cotigiLijteAd,
•S50 ccAide, 5A fAoi|\e feAt?
SgAice niAoine 5A11 niAoi^eAth.
^r 5^P P^^* ceAjlAd ic dcAjTi,
TTlApbti |\6iti |\6 A|\ nntifeAp,
*8t)o belt Ann rd A01 D gAn "DiMtJi,
In 5A6 Am '6A0ib go ■oAo^mud.
Ue't) linn im CliptiAdAin nA cccAn,
Til fniit UAf aL n6 ifCAt,
TlAd t6i|\ inA teA6 nitii|\n th6|t ,
IniA feAd cuipw if c6ih6U
The pnim Ihqr hare berta
thee, [Ca
Those karaed men of the
Well pleated I mm that l\
meter is not leaBened, [
And that it has heighten
My bdoved firiends are these,
Thej coQTej to me in their
Thj coomion report, fhxn t
hand, r
And it is no shame that all
To tell their story I shall forb
As now I have them as witi
I dont propose to publish
nor conceal,
No forbidden words do I sp(
Of their contents at first, spes
thee, [nacht
How the foreigners sent t
By a dangerous enmity, not
Thy like of the nobles of U
Fart of their words — ^the c
thou hast loved,
To thee shall not be a cause
And that shortly again, as t
prudent.
Till thou lovest Mat^h Aoi t
Machair€ Connacht of the bati
Though long it had been a c
From it thou didst not ceas
bright of aspect, [c
Till thou didst put it uni
The conversation of all its leai
Of tlie residents of the Mac
That never did they see i
perous,
Until the spending time of
And that thou hast placed
heavy stock
The noble land of the Fim
And toought Magh Aoi ti
former state, [ps
That every day sees its well-
To say of thee is no shameM i
lliat thou art spendive, hilf
And that thou spendest,-
happicr time ? —
Flocks of kiuc without boasf
And that company is frequent
house, [an(
Such as was seen in the days
And that thou art with n
frown,
At all times with crowded p
In thy time around Cruacham
loves, I
There is not a superior nor
In wliose house there is nol
merriment,
APPESDIX.
AAA
'ir.'.Jc..-./
A."-: ■•:r:i*-«>ryii: '•.*/•:# i-ai/.h »i«iy
▼ IT. ''hit
JLJcr. :r. -\\-r} 'jxf W-f: \M X:.*'.f hut
l.\ U.'.KU::* ■ ''.-.tjf: t»:y, \i,%*- Ihi-J-.,
»i.li;.< -.■* •.-.«: *<-«•. of
fl *..-.-Ti —
- ^ « . -.
rViu: Lu; *t.:.: ■..,•-•■ ■'.■•»■ i**/.
::'-: .» .».-• ■.•..ii- "f ■',»»/.
I' V .'.jI ■.' »J».*. v.- y. ■*»■ ':•.#
1: is f^".!'.: '. .".It .■' ■- >; v/i *r- ■;.«<. l.v/«
•.;u^•: •••> '-:
Sili'-'f '■. .1 :.i-j»s. V ••_» I* .■*«'* V ,< .e
li. la.'.. / V"« '.A'..- »
I'."* '..t ■.;i' »--.•■. ■- ■ '.«.■■-■'. ■■ j.**yt
.. ■-.i.ti *• .1 •■-u. u- *. ■/ ; '-'.'»»
M.r. — •■ •' •
i.— J-. • ■-. .-• •■•'»*/'. ••■.■. ■. "•■
.r I.: .. .. ■ ■'-••. ■ . t...i'. •■ . .^..■. .
. I- .-u, /
»/■'■ . ■ -
564
APPENDIX.
AP. I.XXIX. ^^ ceAfthoU:A cti^f ac o|\c,
riA h-6iccp pn fuinn Chonriodc,
Two Poems m<Md1eAni r»'A|\ lAfoAig -oo iAit,
wiffcrieM
O'Clwy.
m'AOf loniViume 6Y lAt) pn,
t)A|\ cceifc -oo p\it o*r» -o^iih ■oil,
If rii nA|\ c^id -d'a dtuinpn.
A ninnp f56t V50|\f a in 6,
O 'cAi-o AgAtn TtiA|\ fir»n6,
til -fobivAim A ccto 'ftii 6et,
n^ ^VA-b foiNbAirtn a tiAibep.
"Oa ^-6 A|\ tr6f AC ceA^c to|\c,
mA|\ 6U1|\ 5Altt 50 C]\l6 CllOTI-
no6c,
r|\6 f AtAI-d 5UA1ftVl1|\ tlA6 gl^ti,
t)A|\ f AtVlAlt t)*tlA1fUli UtA-b.
T)A n5t6|\ AH djAiod -oo 6A|UMf,
•OUICp HAd f^6 f AtCAHAIf,
'S50P rA|\ oile 6 CA01 c|\eAbA|\,
Cap mlnoije -Aoi a|\ AicpeAbA-6.
TnA6Ai]\e Clionr»o6c tiA ccAt,
56Y bf A-OA 6 'tIA f Af Acll,
"Oe r»'A]\ fjtiipif , A §n6 geAb
5«i|\ 6ui|Mf 6 f^ f'oi|\5neAiVi.
CotVi]\A'd A e6lAcli tiile,
T)'Aoif ^ic]\eAbA An mliAiiiipe,
■061b nA|\ b'Aitne 6 f A bAit,
50T) |\6 dAlttVll Jd A CVlAtbAl J,
'8 5U|\ 6tiip c6 f A 6t\oni cAltAig,
1a6 oiTV'6ei|\c An jTliinn-beAnnAig
If TTlAg A01 6'n ]\6ini 1 |\Aibi,
5o|\ t6n\ 5A6 Laoi a l/OnipAi|\e.
A tiA* |Mb n^ i\^i6 nAi|\eAc1i,
"Oo Dei6 CAitiVicAd conJdi|\eA6,
'350 ccAite, 5A fAOipe feAt?
SgAice mAoine jAn niAoi-6eAiVi.
If 5tit\ cn^* ceAjtAd ic teAs^i,
tn ApDU p6il 1 f 6 A^ rinnfCA^,
'St)o belt Ann f^ aoid jAn '0]mu6,
In 5A6 Am '6AOib 50 ■OAOiniud.
1le*t) tinn ini CliptiAfiAin nA cceAn,
n'l fniit \iAf At n6 if cAt,
TiAd t6i|\ in A teA6 mtiif n ih6p,
IniA feAd cuipm if c6rti6U
The praises they have bestowed on
thee, [Connacht,
Those learned men of the land of
Well pleased I am that thy cha-
racter is not lessened, [breath.
And that it has heightened mj
My beloved friends are these,
They convey to me in their letters,
Thy common report, fh>m the dear
band, [hear it.
And it is no shame that all should
To tell their story I shall forbear,
As now I have them as witnesses ;
I don*t propose to publish them,
nor conc^,
No forbidden words do I speak.
Of their contents at first, speaking of
thee, [nacht^s luid,
How the foreigners sent to Con-
By a dangerous enmity, not pm:e,
Thy like of the nobles of Ulster.
Part of their words — ^the country
thou hast loved, [inity.
To thee shall not be a cause of en-
And that shortly again, as thou art
prudent, [in.
Till thou lovest Magh Aoi to dwell
Machair€ Connacht of the battles.
Though long it had been a desert,
From it thou didst not cease, thou
bright of aspect, [closure.
Till thou didst put it under eu-
The conversation of all its learned,
Of the residents of the Machair€\%
That never did they see it pros-
perous, \ach.
Until the spending time of Calbh-
And that thou hast placed under
heavy stock [nnch ;
The noble land of the Finnbhean-
And toought Magh Aoi from its
former state, [pastures.
That every day sees its well-grazed
To say of thee is no shameful saying,
That thou art spendive, hilarious.
And that thou spendest, — what
happier time ? —
Flocks of kine without boasting.
And that company is frequent in thy
house, [ancestors,
Such as was seen in the days of our
And that thou art with never a
frown,
At all times with crowded people.
In thy time around Cruacham of the
loves, [ferior,
There is not a superior nor an in-
In whose house there is not great
merriment,
APPENDIX.
565
lom-dA ACA ei6 feAtigA,
t:ior», fieAi6-6i if -ptclieAtVA,
'Sbuipt) teAtiiA 5^6 Iao^ 'tiA
ccoij,
^Ati fCAfrnA A|\ 6aoi n6 A|\ 6onoip.
lotiAnn lomfipAit) bA|\ tioiTvo,
In 5A6 Aic t'AOf lonthoine,
'S]\oT) |MAptA|\ im Cli|\UA6Ain
Cliuinn,
'Sa CCtJAtAlb lAptAip tltVitiitU
t)A triA-d lA-o t'oltAtViAip f6in,
"Oo duijAfCA-b -DO itu in mii^n,
T)6ib ni fecpAoi, a l5e6 Ap mbAn,
A -oeptAoi 50]\Le6 An tcAnAtVi.
Ay c'eifCAdc f6in pjAi|\ cufA,
An |\6 oipfdoiixc AnmA f a,
O CA An §Ai]\m cAd •ou, ni t)it,
l)A|\ nAinm if bAp ccl6 1 ccoic-
CjMcll.
CiA 'oo*c fpdiiVi fig n6 f uif e,
"Oa l^AghtA A Heim Tliotftii'de,
|:uAif An CAf bA '66 -DO •6leA6r,
tl6 f 6 AnmA jAn oifbeAfc.
■Oa bitin nn a iVieic rViif,
rriAT') AiLbAf nAintn x>o dtuinpn
t3cAn f e biniA'6iif "OO beAf c,
teAn -o'uf f U'6uf if t)'eifeAcc.
11a -oeAd fuib, A fif Vinno,
A nAindfi-oe, a nAinmnne,
-AofA riof-tnui'6 bAf ngfUAii
ngcAL,
Hob cuAf fiotf <iin a pttcA-d.
mo fA-6 fA •6e6i'6 fe't) ■6fei6
n-ouinn,
riA bi cet)luiteAcli comuinn,
5An f At iiA bfif 6'Annf A Af fiof ,
ACc f Annf A fif -DO f oi-6ion.
Ill cU'i f Af te A 6«f 1 cc6in,
-A^btLof inline UAic6if ,
Af bAi-6 if Af bAnf ceinit,
Hi nAf An cAm -o -Aibeitin.
t)io'6 7;o mbeit Af bcAjAn Cfiii'6,
ni ctuinccAf UAito A heAfbui"6,
5a(> Af 6A^t 'OO 611A1-6 6 dAr,
'Sa mAiC jAn UAill 5 An Aluif.
With circling bowls and social ap. lzxtx.
drinking. — -
Many with them are graceful steeds, tvo Poema
Wine, banqueting, and chess-play- ^7 Cu-
And wide-spread boards each day '
Without avoidance of road or high-
way, fden
Alike do they bear thee as their bur-
in all places, — ^thoso who love thee,
And thou art sung out at Conn's
Cruachain^
And in the lands of the west of
Umaill,
Were they thine own Olhmhs,
That had sent thy renown idfar,
They would not be noticed, thou
life of our maidens, [own.
It would bo said the pet was their
It is from thine own good sense thou
hast received
This most illustrious name.
Since it is hailed everywhere, it is
no harm, [iug territories!
Thy name, and thy fame in border-
Who of thy stem, king, or chief—
If thou wilt read the kingly succes-
sion— [rited,
Received the reward which he me-
Or on illustrious name, without il-
lustrious deeds ?
On that account, my active son,
If thou desircst thy name to be
heard,
Adhere to thine original deeds,
Follow nationality and prudence.
Let it not molest thee, thou Man of
the Finny
The evil hearts, the malignity
Of those who envy thy bright brow ;
Their gaze is the omen of secret
peace.
My last words to thy noble mien :
Bo not the first to fly f^m friend-
ship ; [with man ;
Causeless break not thy affection
But share with him thy highest
love.
Ko empty renown to be sent afar.
Is the fame of the daughter of
Walter; [ture.
For friendship and for best of na-
Ko slmme is the time to Aibhei-
iin.
Though she may be of chattels scant,
From her her wants are never
heard, [out regret,
What she has spent is gone with-
And her goodness is without pride,
without ostentation.
5C6
APPENDIX.
A P. hXXTX. 1U* 6ii J 1 cclriiAir A 6^te,
50 inbi gAn 'otiil, t)oitVi6ine,
50 f AoiU:eAd, ^S, t)Ail/ if ■o'lte ?
'850 fjAOitccAd, f^irti, pmpU'be
t)A Ti-AiixiA-dib rtigf AW ai\ croit,
If -OA niAi6, jjAti in6in UAbAip,
If -OA gtiAoi HA iiT;oi^e foin, —
tl^ tnA|\ itiriAoi oite Af ior»rtioiti I
lonrtioiti.
TwoPoemt
by Cu-
o'Clery.
The words of all men in each others
ears : [iU-tanper,
That she*8 erer without ahade of
CheerM— what state so lovel j ? —
And duburtiTe, placid, simple !
To her appearance we haTe given oar
approYal, [of inidei
And to her goodness, witliont ore
And to her mien along with these;
It is not like any other woman die
is beloved I Beloved.
[NoTB. This poem commcncet at page 333 of the rolnme, and the foUowing poem at pagt SS6 ]
II.
Cudoijcfide O Ct6ifiJ x>o |\ititie
ATJ 'oAn fo, -oo Cboinp-ftcAboAd O
"OOtVltlAltt, in AC CAtDAfjX.
mo rtlAttAfiC Of C A f AOJAiV,
niAifg nAd rcuig T)o f 6-bA0tAit,
'850 ccuif e f 6111 A cceil/t •biinn
TlAd 'oiol jfi-bAiJte c^of cum.
^i-d lom'dA f ^ Af A fAib tneAf,
plAlf tIAIC f ige AJtlf ftAlteAf
•8t)A CCtlgAlf WUIfn, f^AfOA, If
fteA*,
1k6A6CAf A ccf 106 f^ "beif CA^.
lom'dA irtAit Af reAf a6 linn
1oini6A Aifonigh t)ob intill^
tlA njein Cnfiofo cAftA Af x>o
tViuin,
'8t)o tf Af5fAif fiof 50 CAtihtJin.
UiogA If monAif c An "ooiViAin,
O CA A ni^it 'nif nuf 6oihAif ,
TtlAf pA-onA fCAif te nA n-of ong
OcAf DAit) 50 fiof A nAbf om.
n^ogA nA nAff Af-ftA if meA-o,
CUgAlf -Odlb fCAl n*Af f o-bcAj
CAtiAcdA If peAf rA n'Af Va^,
l^tlAlf feAC f CaI, CAIC Af jAbf AC ?
AtexAn-oef , TTlonAf c ni6f
C6t) Impef 5f65 nA ns^An-
56 f rtlOf A rtlCAf Y A f o-ncAf c
riif friAn A f 6 OT> rtiAf C01 JeAdc.
lulitif CACfAf 50 n^gb,
C6t) Impeif f 6it nA tloib^n,
Af ngADA'it An t)otbAin tAif ,
A f A05A1I Cf 6At) f A'f tf Af5f Alf ?
II.
Cuchoigcricht CClery thai made tkif
poem for ToirdheaMacA O'Donnell^
the eon of Cathbharr,
Mvcorse npon thee, O world 1
Woe is he who understands not
thj great dangers, [sensiUe
And that thoa thyself makest ns
That thy fortunes are not an object
to be loved.
Tho' many a king who had been
esteemed [reignt j ;
Beoeived from thee reign and sove-
And to whom thou gavest mirth,
feast, and banquet :
Bdiold their fiite at the end!
Biany a sovereign that we know,
Many a high king who was their
equal
Before Christ's birth, mounted th v
back, [ground.
Whom thou didst cast down to the
The kings and the monarchs of the
world,
Whose knowledge we have at hand.
If the histories of the parties be
witnesses,
They prove truly what I ssy.
The kings of the Assyrians and
Medes, [small;
Thou gavest them a space not veiy
The Chaldeans and Persians,— not
weak, — [they gone ?
They had their time, — ^whm hare
Alexander, a great monarch,
First Emperor of the Greeks, of
noble armies,
Tho* great his esteem and great
strength, [thee.
His time was not long for riding
Julius Cassar of renown, [mans,
The first real Emperor of the Bo-
On the world having been con-
quered by him, — [him?
O world ! why didst thou prostrate
APPENDIX.
567
A|\ •0|\tlini t)0 |\OcllA A f AOjAlt,
^ Cuf\ f A01 4kn |\o6 f A '6ub|\6n.
boidC All Cf AOjAli iniAfeA*,
xySoz Af oeite ■ddilS bui'6eA^,
til tAbi\A ni '661b t)ot)* itiAOin,
'Stii beAriA '610b t>o ComAoin.
C6i|\ A btii-fte |\e "OiA wt,
-A|\ Ttibpeit 1 nAitnp|\ c|\ei'Oiih,
IfCpiofo t>*A|\ leigiof 6*p ccoi|%
'SgAtl A*1\A*6 ^Uicp A f AOjOlt.
A fS^At WA^ ACA 1 leAb]\Aib,
riA nionAi|\cp, A clioin|\'6eAtbAi J,
ni bA tneifoi Ag t)iA DA|\ ti^ic,
^Ati -oot "oib HA ccotnpfuiicc.
CjtA* tiom t>o Jdr^bOjA^ t>AO|\,
'S5AH CA'6AtL ^UIC A|\ iVlltAOTtl,
A6c fio|\-ftiA6 niA|\ 'c^i )\e cpeAtb
eA6c|\Anti A|\ UAif Lib ei|\eAnri.
^i^cA^, •o^AtiA •oitnbpi J -de,
t)A niAp|\A pb meAT foinfe,
t)o belt O^VAlb tAtt Y^ ouf ,
5l6i|\ t)0 "OliiA, Acii Ai\ t)o duinuf.
StnuAin 6 tuf 50 ^u^A-d pb
1 TIAtTJ C]XAbAl* If C|\eit)1tVl,
mA|\ HAd pugA* (mo|\ pe a tVieAf ),
Ha TTlonAipc tuAf , •00 AiixiVicAf.
UAbAifx foif ei-oe it) bf oit),
^Ab corV«Ai|\te 6 jAd CApoit),
t)A bfuiLnge niA]\cpA 5A11 601 1\,
t)UAine '6uic beACA futAiti.
U^inic lof A cf 6 tiA|\ ccoip,
t)o niiVi An\iAf 6'n ACoip,
'S-oo '6oi]\c piiL A 6\Ji]\p iiile,
A|\ iL|\ nj^vAid c]\6 t|\6cui|\e.
A|\ •6oi|\c 5AC niAf cip -d'a bfuit
O ti'if 50 -oei^eA-b ■oortiuiti,
t)o bu ni6 fjel b^Aon t)o'n fuit
Do ^oiixclofA cpe A|\ ccioticuib.
pttAi|\ Cpiofo bif C|\oi6e A|\ A^ f on,
'Oo lApp o|\tiinn A|\ cc|\o6 t>'iOTn-
eot\,
*Sa|\ ccoit T)o ttiniA pe a toil,
-Ajuf 6 f^iti-oo leAtiihom,
Kg person has arisen, west or east, ap. lxxix.
On the back of thy wheel, O world I
Whose end is not, after all hap- Two Poema
piness, [sorrow. ]^^ ^
To be buried under the wheel in SxSS
The poor of the earth all around,
To thee they have cause to be
tliankful ; [wealth.
Thou givest them nothing of thy
And thou deprivest them not of
thy gifts.
It is proper to thank the loving God,
That we are bom in tho time of
religion, [our sins,
And that Christ has healed us of
And not worshipping thee, O world.
Their story, as it is found in books,
Of these monarchs, O Toird/ieal-
hhach, [with God,
Thy place will not be the worse
Not to follow them in comparison.
I am grieved at thy being cruelly
fettered, [trust,
And thou hast not merited dis-
But true hatred, as there is for
some time, [of £rinn.
By the foreigners against the nobles
However, make Uttle matter of it,
If thou seekcst perfect esteem
To be upon thee yonder (in heaven)
and here : [power I
Glory bo to God, it is in thy
Reflect, fhrstly, that thou hast been
born
In an age of piety and religion,
As were not born (highly is it to
be prized) [named.
The above monarchs, whom I have
Bear with fortitude thy captivity ;
Accept counsel from every friend ;
If thou shouldst suffer martyrdom
without guilt,
More lasting to thee is eternal life.
Jesus came, tlirough our guilt.
From heaven down, from the Fa-
ther, [body
And He shed the blood of His whole
For our love, through mercy.
What all the martyrs have shed of
their blood, [the world,
From the beginning to the end of
A greater loss one drop of the blood
Which Christ has shed for our
crimes.
Christ received death on the cross for
us;
He asked us to carry His cross,
And to shape our will by Hii
will,
And to follow Himself.
.'inJ*
APFS5DIX.
jlP. LSVTT.
flt 1 nVttjk A^jr •^e TA "^Ar.
T*«»n^ vn AnmA ah :.int3 tt i^JTUkiTi.
CJAn.\'r i.-^rA •orT'ii!,rA.
T lAtn ■:nc»vrt t^a -r*- -nt
IjAi: An './••An — t«i no"' *!jjLorn'^.
t^il •'■\i-nAT" 'ATI An t-*^^'i«
C'A '"•* An r^-rit "iO *n»r?tri "OrrA'^i^.
Tjr, n,c-n •■:'', -»A '■'•iriAUxtJ.
r-iT .•nt^A-^i .:.-,**.AntA *.:^.
tDo •^•^t- '^ti. .:»*Ariri • cceATi-T.
tjA -r,''nt»An An -.ic r^A-n^xTrt.
"Do 51*aV>a'.^. Tio 3V«j.ofcejtLA:^.
r A.b h-o-6 c^--t - ^it^ n^:^^ "'
no A *j^iAr"oc a At A tj'o-nOf .
*Sr>o *.«Ar r.-.-/f!i .-jf fret rine;
t>7eA?- rj.j *,t:,ic jac e^ ci^e.
t>0 iorAri CB •*:'0 A?rl^ii5,
Re 7*^ Ar (iojAr/j eAd-^7\mAiJ.
T1a;\ te-'ST fA^lt "n^ ccoitn Jt>.
51-6 tr6p T»iob t)o bt beo bodr,
^5 coa6c dtJjAib t>*A bftjpcodc.
A ^t>fVi^it Amu 4f 6t>6ig
CmViAiri teAtn 50 |\ioihtAOi pn,
Cp'i tViilo b6 <i|\ t)o thuinticip,
A|;tif iAt> vile A|\ b^p ccup,
V^*-o I0A5A16 If fA't) ge^ppu'd.
Tlu^Aif leAC f 6f, iA|\ gAd fCAl,
Thoal
voioedL
O « -df '
GUtMZ
pKxty : ~dii ID i
He iun ant 'iiLim gd bet
'Cioa hauB rcceiTed i& lifr, faay and
pilRL
T!ie Toiimi body is die dkip •££ die
It is ome Aor it 32 sike a purL
In ±e dme it peace jmi pniiipeEiCT
Thua <iiiis( letssve a a^LiaewurtiLT
lift*, ioml VIEZI1X1,
After dure had beat pitmcetl in dtj
Srran^., tynuuiicsu. tiirwgw tw'Ka.f
la dme 'ji' war sftxr thta^
All sich of di7 people as fijQaved
Thtm xidK ft«e chom from jcsr^
Fpjm a Jeath of oiki ami nithntryia
Who LA the king of die ace isiLmaek,
Aixurriiatc ui die knuwiievige aiT d»
Wlui xave w mixch. re&ef aa diocL
In. dme <jf war, to hia people ?
Thoa baac oaTisaed with chem. one
with anudur. Tot Erinn.
The must pan of die dve proTincea
prstecdng dien &uiil ev^sy purtj
Of die fi}reig!ien ami of die 'GaedliiL
They crxvened do kmi of these. —
Of 0 inn's Hahr. or of Ucgh « Half.—
That there was noC enTv in eTvy
pLice
Of them* ami dtej noc reskfing.
Greater waa the i^ief thej gaT« to
them, [of boooor.
Than what tbej receiTed from tbem
And there adhered to them (onoe
it is a true stcrr)
ApartT of the people of emnj land.
Tboa didst defend them in that waj
Daring the dme of th« battie-aimed
war;
Fourteen inanspidoQa jears.
That thoa didst not neglect to guard
them.
Though man J of them that were but
aliTeaind poor.
At coming to thee for their relief^
And to whom thou didst give more
than proper means, [likelj.
To acknowledge it to-day is on-
I remember when there were coonted
Three thoosand cows to th j people ;
And all these at thy disposal.
Under thy laying down aiod thy dis-
tribution.
Thou didst bring still afUraU 1
APPENDIX.
569
5xi|\ fgAOitfCAC pA|\ Agiif roiji,
Ag pope ei|Mie pV-O tArtioiD.
n6 beAj iribbA-ftAn 56 ac^ pb,
A|\ fi|\ bcAgikti t>ox tVitiinttci|\,
'Sni|\ thiA^ leAC a Tiiomtime.
"bio* tiA'|\ ^ioh^tViaVa VdCf a,
A|\ CCeAdC 50 VlAOlf Apf AdCA,
"beA^A rtlCAfAIX-bA ■deATIAf ,
T)ob feAl\|\ i tlA b]VA1 jDCAHAf .
Cp6i5 'oo -dioniAf , tiA teAti -oe,
mifri'O ^uic in ei|\|\ t'Aoife,
SAo^At riA weAng t)o ttiigpn,
'SriAd c6 AthAin t>o po-ttiippj,
CAit^x^ini 'fpeiyiix f a Jf^in ttoin,
t)o rieoi t>A'|\ Jein a|\ cAtnioin.
'SAf bnAine '66 t^XX ia|\ n-oot,
"buAi^ A|\ ■deAtViAti Y^? •6otVioti.
C|\i tiAiiVi-oe At! AtiniA 5A6 Atn,
X>iAbAt, f aoJaI Y^ 6otAnn,
xy^ mbeife cuf a a inbtiAi* pn,
11a6ai)\ 50 jx^i* -oo'ti til Jtig.
5tJi'6ini "OiA |\ioc, A ]\6n •oil,
tl-i 1615 piii Ch|^10fo 1 nAifp-oli,
CtiitL ne hAitjMte $61 p, §toin,
X)o ■dot ipn pen pitoin.
"O^nA An cin6peA6A'6 '6tif e,
O tuf 50 eip|\ t*Ainippe,
Sgpux) A bfiiAip rd 5A6 cAn,
*Sa n-ocApnAif pif Y*'^" f ao JaI.
1)10* ctiipp If congtiin 6^1-60,
Ope cp6 CuiLteArti oipDipe,
An CI Ap A ccugA* rAn 661 p,
TlA wiice q\66c cp?o frionctiib.
rni T)0 6p^i'6ip ncA6 6 toil,
1 cctu, A niAO^n, nA cp6 pjAnnoit,
"O^AnA AipjAg Ann 50 c6ip,
"Oo p6ip opditpe An donfCf 6ip.
t)tJ* tuAite botnf A nA lib,
(te coil t)6) 'o'fiof An tlijti J,
Wo buitte p^tiip Af6 po,
t)ibfe 1 nt)eipeA'6 mo t^Apmo.
tno lVlAlr\/A6C.
The whole of them to go nnder the ap. lxxix.
law, [eastward,
Until they dispersed westward and Two Poems
At Port-Erne under thy hands. i>y ^^^
A small term of years though thou art, ^^^
With only a very small part of thy ^'
people, [out shame.
Thou hast receiyed a Uving with-
And thou wouldst not prize it in its
entirety. [worthy,
Although that thou wouldst not deem
At coming to the age of seniority,
A living of moderate extent.
It were better than captivity.
Abandon thy pride, follow it not,
It is time for thee at the end of thy
age,
To understand the world of wiles,
And that it is not thee only it has
distressed. [sun,
The best triumph under the bright
For any one bom upon earth,
And the most lasting for him yon-
der where he goes, [world.
Is a victory of the demon and the
The three foes of the soul at aU times.
Demon, world, and body, [tory.
If thou but gain of these the vic-
Thou Shalt go smoothly to Heaven.
I pray God for thee, my dearly be-
loved;
Let not Christ^s blood go for nought.
Merit by a sharp, pure repentance
To go into the peace eternal.
Make thou the necessary criticism,
From beginning to end of thy life,
Scrutinize what thou hast received
in all time, [in the world.
And what thou hast done with it
Let there be distress and contrition
of heart [rebuke
Upon thee, for having deserved the
Of Him, upon whom thou hast un-
justly brought [faults.
Thousands of wounds through thy
If thou hast aggrieved any one, of
thy will, [scandal.
In fame, in wealth, or through
Make thou restitution in it justly,
According to the words of the con-
fessor.
Sooner shall I go than thee,
(With God*s will) to visit Heaven,
My finishing blow it is this,
In tliy behalf in the end of my
term.
My curse.
▲P. LXXX.
570 APPENDIX.
APPENDIX No. LXXX. [Lect. IX., Page 182.]
Memormndft Oriqifial of two memoranda in X/e^h^n riA h-Uiiine (22.7.-4.);
In Leabhar Xj ^K
nahUidhri. JOf" ^0.
OpAic "00 TnoettTiin]Ai THac CeiteAcViAUt ttiac tnic Cuint)
riA mbocu, |A0 fcpib ocuf ]tof c|\uc Ateb|UMD egf AtnLAib in te-
bujAfA. OjtOki-o t)o 'OoinnAtt itiac tTlui|\c1ieApcAi5, mic 'Oom-
TiAilt, mic Uai-oj, niic bpiAin mic Ain'D|MA|', mic t)jiiAin
Luignig, mic Uoi]\|AX)etb<M5 moijt. Iffe in 'Oomn<xtt pn ]io
{*u)\Ait AcViniu-oiusAt) nA peAjAf Ainnipn tep fC|iibA'6 in |"ciAm-
ebAjif A, ^\\ ShigjiAit) Ua Cui^ijAn'oin ; ocuf ca fe|i]i 'ouin'o Ajt
mbcAn-oACC t)o cnu]! Ambet •omne 50 fe]i in LiubAi^ifeA nA a
f AgbAit A151 ; ocuf feccTiiuin onut!) co f A^Apn CAf c, ocuf
feccmuin ont)e co hAine in cefDA, ocuf "oa Aine ojx-bA tii|nii
.1. Aeni nA peli THunii, octif Aine in cefOA, ocuf if ingnA-b
mo]\ pn ic A]\Aite t) eotcAio.
OjiAic An-ofo xy^oi) TIua-o mAC tIeiLt jAijib 1 IDhoThnAitt
t)o cobAig CO fopegnAc An teAbAjifo a|i ChonnAccAib, octif
in LeAbA]\ 5eA]\]\ mAitte n^if , lAiinA mbeic nAp necmuir o Aim-
p]\ CACAit 615 1 ConcAbAiji CO nAimp]i TluAi'op mic D|tiAin ;
ociif •oecVineAbuji cigeimAt) ecojijxo po|\ CAi|ib]Ae.^*^ Ocuf
AnAimpjA ConcobAi]!^^^ mic -Ae-oo hi 'OomnAitb ]iticA'6 pA|\
lA-Q ; ocuf If mAf f eo fucA-b lAt) .1. in "LeAbAf S^^pn a f tiAp
ctoTO 1 tiocApcoig; ocuf t^eAbAp nA h-tJix>pi x>o "oui a piAf-
cto*6 mic OltAmon 1 'OomnAitt pe f eAncup, ApnA JAbAiL t)o
CliACAt Angitt fpif • [octifoeid |\i5] Ap Cenet ConAitt fpif pn o
ConcobAp co li-Aet).
APPENDIX No. LXXXI. [Lect. IX., Page 183.]
Entry in Original of entry in the ^^ Annals of the Four Masters"^ at 1470.
Mag., 1470. CAiflen SI1CC15 •00 5AbAib Uv h-UA n-'OomnAilt fop
'OotfinAtb THac OoJAin Hi ConcobAip, lAp m-beic AtAiX) fot)A
in lompjit^e fAip, A5Uf a bpeAt fein 'OfAjAit vo fcotficoib
x)'11a *OotfinAiLt "oon cup pn Ia cAob umtA, Aguf ciop CAnA
o loccAp ConnAcc. t>A x)on fcup pn vo pA-OAt^ x>6 An LeAbAn
5eApp, Ajuf l/CAbAp nA h-Ui-opi, Agup cAtAoipeACA 'OoiiinAiti
61CC puccA-b pAp pe tinn SheAin THic ConcobAip oicc tli
'OotfinAitt.
(98) The following Extract from a list of the Obits of the ChieCi of Tir-Chot%aill In a Book
transcribed In 1727 by James Maguire for Hugh O'Donnell of Larkfleld, now in the poesesaloa
of the ])ie<tent writer, will explain this. The abovenamed C<mcobhar, son of Acdh O'DonneD,
Ob. 1367; after whom were: Sialic son of ^e<i^ ob. 1876; Ac$igh%u, ob. 1383; FetdhlinUdk,
son of Aedh, ob. 1386; Seaan^ son of Conwbhar, ob. 1390; IWrrdhelbhach of the Wine,
ob. 1414; yiall Garbh, ob. 1456; Ifeachtain, ob. 1473; Rughraidhe^ son ot Neachtatn^ ob.
1486; DomrOuM, son of Niall Garbh, ob. 1488; ToirrUhealbhach CairbrtMh, ob. 1490; A^ih
Xuadh, son of Siall Garbh, ob. 149fi.
APPENDIX. 571
APPENDIX No. LXXXII. [Lect. IX., Page, 184.] lxxxh.
Original of entry in same Annals, at 1106. Entrjin
niAotmiii|Ae tn^c THic Cmnx) ha tnbocc 'oo Tfi<x]\t)A'6 A|t tA|t MS«.,^i«.
•ooitfitiAcc CtuAriA TTlic tloif \A h<xof Ai-bTfiittce.
APPENDIX No. LXXXIII. [Lect IX., Page 184.]
Original of Memorandum in tye<xb<\|A riA h-tli-oixe (at the top o/JJ^jjJ*°"
fol. 45). Leabhar
/ ^ A Mh-C/idhri,
P]AODAUio penriAe TnAiLTnm\i tnic mic Ctmix) ti<\ m Docc.
APPENDIX No. LXXXIV. [Lect. IX., Page 186.]
Original of Memorandum in the Book of Leinster (the MS. J*™?'"- .
classed H, 2. 18., r.C.D), at the end of fol. 202 b). o?ulS.SS?^
l3etA ocuf -ptAince o 1pMnx> Cpj^cop (.i. citti 'oa|V(x) "00 A&6
niAC C|tiTnc<xin, 'oo pjAleijirro Ai^A-o-^ng leichi THogA (.1. Hua-
X)Ac), ocur -00 Com<x|Abu CoUmtti mic C|AimcAiTTo, ocuf •00
ppitn-fencnAi'o lAXijen, aji gAef ocuf eotuf, ocuf c|AebAi]Ae
iebuii, ocuf f eff<x, ocuf fogtommA. Ocuf f ciiibcti<x]i v^m
xye^^ev in f ceoit bicpe co cinnce '6tiic, a ^ei) AmnAi-p, a p|t
copn riAebolt-mAif ; ciAn |ao ]\iceni t)ot) [?] hingnAif, miATi
•OATTi 'DO bic cum t)om5TiAt). UuccAjA 'OAm 'oiiATiAi]Ae THic
lx)nAiii con fAiccmif a ciAtbA nA nt)UAn ptec Ann, ec UAte
in ChjAifco ecc.''
APPENDIX No."LXXXv!~[Lect. IX., Page 187.]
Original of Memorandum in the same book (at the top margin Mamonm-
o/fol. 200 «.)■ t?^^}
" [A intii|Ae] A]" mop in 5nim vo jMngnet) in bCjiint) in'oiu
.1. bi cAbAinn -Augujx. 'OiAjAmAic mAc 'OonncbA'OA THic
mtHAcViA'OA, ]Ai l^i5en Ajuf gAbb, x)o innAjibA x)o yenAib
hCjAent) [cA|A in muiji fAijA.] u6, uc, a comt)iu cit) -oo gen .
APPENDIX No. LXXXVI. [Lect. IX., Page 195, Note ''^]
An abridged List of all the Gaedheltc MSS. in the Libraries ofu3S.in
the Royal Irish Academy and of Trinity College, Dublin. t.c.d.*°*
pt has become impossible for me to prepare the complete List I
had originally intended to form this Appendix ; and anything less
than a complete List would not answer the purpose I had in view.
The mere skeleton List itself of those MSS. would in any case
occupy, indeed, a greater number of pages than could be properly
devoted to it in the present volume. I can only hope to find
another occasion to redeem my promise of publishing it, in some
form sufficient to give students of Irish History an idea of the
immense mass of reading these great MS. Libraries contain for
those who will qualify themselves by some preliminary study of the
language to avail themselves of it.]
Lxxxvn.
572 APPENDIX.
APPENDIX No. LXXXVII. [Lect X., Page 216.]
Tn?,?)^ction Original of the Title and Introduction to the Book of Gene-
to Mac Fir- alogies of 'OubAtcA6 Tn<xc P]^t)ip§.
Genealogies. CjtAotxV COlt)neAf A AgA]" 5^^5^ Senetuig gACA gAbAtA X>Afi
JAb CjAe on ATTll'A 50 ll-A-OATtl (aCC "PoiTlOIAAIJ, LOcVATinAlg
AgAf SAOCJAitt AlllAin, tAlflATH O CAn5At)A^ t)A|t CC1]t) JO
tiAoiTfifencAf, AjAf ]ieim ^AiogjiAi-be IpoiA^ |:ap, -AgAj* ^ta
^eoig ctA]t 'tia ccuinip5ceA]\ (iA]t t\vi]vo Aibgi-o^xe) ha Stoince
AjAf riA hAice oip-oeAjACA tuAice]t ipn teAbA]Af a, x>o ccAgto-
rriA-d teif ati 'OubAtcAc TTIac Pj^bipg tcACAin. 1650.
t)iot timo|A|AO, s^pAb yor\ -pAtfiAit pn Af griAitce CAbAipc
ciot)Ait "oo teAbjtAib \\e tin ati tinep, ni t^ijpeAm topg A]t
SeAfi, ATI SeAngnAf 51^1 ati ac, 5AOi'6eAtA6 'bmn, oip Afe Af
foit^ipe, inA]t]'o.
Loc, Aimpp, poAjAf A, AgAf ctijAit) fgpbne •oon teAbApfA.
lx)c -bo, CoLAifce S. Tliocot 1 ngAitlirfi, Aimp]M6o, Aimpp ati
co^Aii c|teit)Tfii5 et)!]! CliAcoiLcib CpeTin, A5Af CjAcicib cfpenn,
AtbuTi, AgA]' Saxati, 50 liAip-be ipn mbtiA-bAin -00 AOif
Cpfc. 1650; peA]ifA -bo 'OubAlcAC ttiac giottAiof a Tnhoi|t
tnhec plii]ibip5, SeAncAi-b, ecc, a teACAin tllnec 'ftiiit-
bip5 1 cUi]i fhiAqvAC THuAit^e; Agnf cusait) f5]wbne ah
toAbAip ceu-onA, "oo itio|ui5A'6 5toi]ie "Oe, AgAf x>o geunAth
luit X)o CAC 1 ccoiccinne.
UegeuifiAt) r|iA 50 meAprA-o noAC egin longnA-o ipn obAipp
CjAe Ai-obte AgAi^ yonileitne nA SengeneUxcfA pAp Ap nA
ceiit)Aib cineAX) coipgteAp Ann 50 li-A-bAtn lAp ntipt) -a njAoi
pe pAiLe, UAi]\ Atj etui mm yen 'opongAib a "oeitix) nA6 et)ip
geneAtAig 5A0it)eAt "oo bpec 50 bun triAp pom. gibe pAt tha
nAbpAiT) pin t)o beApmAoip bAjiATfiuit "oa niA-b bpig tinn, Aip
ni -oo ACAtnuTO, acc "oo cAippeunA-o nA ppinne lAp penpgpib-
nib pui-bigce Suax), SeAn-nAoni AjAp -piuit-peAncAift ^enn
ot-ceAnA, 6 ceut)cop nA nAimpop gup Amu, ni nA6 cuipte 1
gcuncAbAipc, UAip Ap pAf) coicccAnn coirfnon'opAic x>o JtAin-
teAbpAib gAoi-oelge AopoA ^eAnn nA bpiAcpApo pop A5
poittpugA'o tucc coiifieu-oA An ShcAncAip. -Ajpo mAn AT)ep:
triA het neAc piAppAigeAp cia po ^oirfiet) An SeAn6Apr t3iot
A pop Ag CAC gupob peApAig 50 peeib ]iopox)A, Agup peAnoipe
cuirfineACA ciAnAopoA "oo lieonAig 'Oia "oo 6oiTtieut> Agup t>o
Aipneif SlieAncAip Cpenn iteAbpAib "oiAig int)iAi5 •00 jAch
•ouine o -bitinn 50 liAimpip TlAorh pA-opAig (cAinig ipn ceAi^-
^lATfiA-o bliA-bAin ptACA iJvoguipe mec Tlett), AgAp Chotuim
Chitte, AjAp ChorfigAitt beAnncuip, AgAp "piiinen ChtuAnA
hlopAipt), AjAp Haotti C)\enn a]\ ccaha, po p5piobA'6 pop a n-
gluim Dp-be 1 tiubpA, lonnAp 50 ppuit pe Ap AtcopAib nAoriii^A,
APPENDIX. 573
icngib f5]AeAbc]AA, i tAnitiib SpuiceA^ ^B^f f^^'o? ^5<^r r^<^n- L»xxvn.
CATOeA-O Opn ATHAC 50 h]\^t. Title «id
50 fin ACA An jAAX) ]teAni]\<Mce, AjAf aca niAf f oi]Ateicne introduction
ipn LeAbAjA gAbAtA; teAbA]A fin bA to]\ •00 •oeirfinigeAf) An bi8?^)5rof
necep. UAif if pn, Ag fo f unnfA-b AnniAnn U5t)A)A SeAncuif , ' ''
AgAf eAtA-oAn ete 6f enn AjAinn ]te gAc gAbAit t)A ccAinig
innce, lAjt fen-fg^teAbcjAAib ciAnAO^^A ciiHACAf riof THA^t fo.
Aoe\^ LebA^t gAbAtA,^**^ t)AC0]Ab-tMX'6|AA ceut)nA noi'oe 6]Aenn,
ottATTl phA]AtAtAin.
PjniA, pte AgAf SeAncAi-d 6tAinne nerfieA'd.
JTacac, pte feAjA mbolg, •00 cAnAt) SeAncAf , tAoi-be AjAf
fgeAtumeAcc •001b.
CAi]Abpe, Aoi, AjAf CA-OAn, plcA-bA UliUA?!: "oe 'OhAnAnn ]\e
SeAncAfAib AgAf tAoi-oib, AgAf f5euttiit)io6c beof ; AjAf
fof bA tAn •00 eotuf AgAf t)]AAoi'6eAcc in\TtiO]\ UAfAt UhuAthe
T)e t)AnAnn uite.
gAoi-oit q\A, ni hiAX) A5 nAC |AAibe tucc coirfieu'OA a SeAn-
CAf 'fgAC A1C imbAt)A]\, UAIjA Penillf 'PA]\f Al-b A fGAnAtAlf bA
pfioTfi-ugDAf YnA hit-beuptmb e, ni niAOi-bce Aip eotuf a
SneAncufA fen. IHaii pn beof "oo llet mAC feniufA ipn
Cjipc; CAlCeAf •OpAOl ipn ScICIA, AJAf 'piA gAOtlAltlb,
Ajuf eAcof )\A pn, •ou Af uA^tAngAif G]\e 'ooib, ecc. THiLi'6
CfpAine t)A]t bAinm gotArfi lAf nt)ot "oo a hCAfpAin 50
S51CIA, AjAf Af pn 50 hCgipc, ]\o fogUiimpoT) fon^eAnn
t)A liiuinceAf ppom-'OAnA innce .1. Seu'ogA, Suijije, AgAf
SobAi]\ce p\iA fAOijAp .1. ars .1. eAUx*6A (Amu); IllAncAn, V^t-
niAn, CAiceA]A fpiA •0)AA0i'6eAcc. l^A-OAp btiAt)tAinn, AgAf
bA-OAp pi\bfeACAc cfiAf ete "oa mtjinci]\ .1. goifoen, -Ainii]v
5in, AgAf 'Oonn (fee toAC 91, 92). -Aimifgin glinn-geAt
mAC tllitef), CACAin, AgAf C^]\ inAC Cif Z]W fileA-oA ItlliAC
ITIibt). pteA'OA, b]AeceAiiitiin, f eAncAi-oe, AgAf fgeutui'be'DA,
Aimifjin, AjAf CACAin, AjAf Cif mAC Cif f e pLi'oiocc, AgAf
fe fgeluTbecc ; OnnA fe ceol, AgAf Cjnncifecc t)o tTlliACAio
TTIiii'o, THAfCA ipn LeAbAf jAbAtA: " 'Oa ttiac tniti'o TniAi6
nof-oAn, etc.", t. 99.
CLAnn tijoine nioif , bA tAn -o'eoUif "Of eAtn t)iob, tuAf Af
fottAf Af lloigne llofjA-bAC, mAC tigoine, Af 115'OAf "oo
10m At) feAn-f AX) feneACAif.
OtlArh fo-oUx fi Cfenn "OAf hAinmnijiot) Af Ai-obte a
eotAfA, OtUxTTi, UAif CocAit) A ceu-QAinm ; Afcoo finne fef
UeAtiifAc Af cuf. ino]\'6Ait fCAf n6fenn pn "oo ni-oif
HiogA Cfenn o pn gACA ufCAf btiA-onA "oo coirfietit) fCAccA
AjAf fiAgUv, AjAf "00 gLAnA-b ScAncuif ^fenn, AgAf "oa
fSfiobA-b 1 SAtcAi]\ nA UeAtfu^AC .1. 1 leAbAf Aifofij 6|\enn.
(99) (.e. " The Leabhar Oab/uila says** : etc
574 APPENDIX.
Lxxxvn._ 5^|t ^^^Z V^ V^^ '^^ 6oiTtieut> SeAncuif rtio^AfccA tml
Title and ^^^^» ^^ he^H) go ^AAibe CAob Leif, tiAi|t niji riAipnie^ 50
lutroduitlon CCAITllg AOlllUnC Ifl CpitlTl Ag 11^6 bct AOf fOgl^inCA jlO
biM- BoST'of coittieut) A SeATicufA.
ucneaiogiw. jTeAec Aim pe tin Con6At)AHA bAt)A]A 1200 pte in AOin
buiiiiTi ; uAijt eie mite, UAijt ete reA^c ccet), TnA|\ •oo bi ]te
tin ^0-6^ mic -<\iniTii|ieA6, AjAf Cnotuitn Chitte: AgAf |X)f
An 5AC Aon Aimpjt cacojijio fin bA mo te hCpinn -a pAbfAO
T)o ctiAjiAib no tjo eijpb pe beotuf in nee in a a rueAp>A
UACA, lonnAf cpe nA tionmui]ie, AgAf cpe nA ccpom-bAdc gup
ciMAttA-b A n-oiocAp A hepinn yo tji'i, gtip yopjA'OA]! UtAll^ Ap
fete lAt), mA]i Af tep An -AmpA Cbotuim Chitte, t>o con^Aib
f A -beoig lAT) AgAf -DO cuip pte 5a6a cuAite, AgAf pte ley
An fig x)ib (-OA neuccf omujA-d x>o 6a6) 50 fpiitit) foif ne Af
A tofj f e tmn 5AC tine Ag coiitieut) x)At nA 'ouii^ce gur An
CAnf A. Hi hiAt) fin AiriAif acc fig, AjAf nAoim, AgAf CAjLuif
Cjienn mAf "oo f Ai-beAf ceAnA, coimeu'OAit) An SeAncuf p>f.
feuc^***^ Pfcifufo pte; SeAncA mAC AitettA; lle^e niAC
A'6nA; -A-dnA, mAC tlitif; THofAnn mAC ITlAOin; Aitifne;
CofmAc Ua Cuinn An cAifOfig; CofmAC THac CuitennAin
fig THuriiAn; ptAnn 11lAini]n)f eA6 ; 6ocbAii6 Ua ptoinn;
giottA nA TlAom tiA "Ouinn, AgAf mAf pn. Cfet> -da
mbiu "DA nAifCATTi ni he-oif cineA-d offA gAn tAin-teA%Af
•DO fgfiobAt) "OA nAnmAnnAib, AgAf gAn acc ciooAt nA
ccf Acnc "DO fgfiobfAc x)0 cuf fe a ccoif AiiiAin, mAf t)o
f onf Am coAnA feme f o, acc •00 coiifieDpot) An f eAnduf guf
nA hAimpofuiD t)e5eAncAib cimciott cuig no ]*e deuOAib
btiA-dAin o pn ; f a cuAinim nA liAimpf e pn t)o tof Aigpot)
AnAf mo "00 nA ftoinncio 5^oi'6eAtcA acait) in C]iinn Anof a,
AgAf 'DO gAbf At) no f o bofOAigi'b cineA-bA x>o bet f e SeAn-
cuf AgAf f e lieAtA-onAib ete in ionbtiit)pn, T)f ong -oib fCAt
ferfie, AgAf ]'eAt lAf Am x)feAmA ete, lonnAf 50 fpuitit) 1
cuifib C^^enn Ag ftA^Aib fAfeAC fe a SeAn6uf t)o fgfiobAt),
AgAf ]\e liAififnib, AgAf fe liAnnAtAib, AgAf fe t>eunAni
•ouAn n-oeAj^fgAiteAd Af nA SeAn6ufAib pn oeof , AgAf f e
coimeux) AgAf ceAgA^^g gA6 Aif ceAt)Ait f ofi6of 6a n5AOii6ei5
6eAnA.
Ag fo 'Of ong "oonA SeAn6Ai'6ib pn guf nA hiAtAib AgAf nA
hAifo-6ineAt)Aio "oa tAbfAix) if in Aimpf -begeAnAig. Oi
triAot^onAife Ag Slot TlluifeAt^Aig um ChfUACAin; t>fong
T)iob 1 cUuAgmurfiAin, AgAf Af Aite 1 t/Aignib, AgAf ipn -An-
gAite -oib. CtAnn fifbipg in lo6cAf ChonnAcc AgAf in lb
'PtllAf6AC THuAI'de, AgAf in lb ATflAtgAI'6, AgAf CeAfA, AgAf
ig tJib phiAdf a6 -Ai-One, AgAf CACcgA, AgAf Ag Stiodu ChotlA
(100) tf.«.** Behold".
Lxxxvn.
APPENDIX. 575
llAif .1. CtAnn 11*001111111111. 111uinci|t 'OmbgeATinAin aj
Ctointi Tnli<xoit]itiAnAi'D, AgAf aj ConrtiAicne TH lunge '^^^•jm.^^^
inmncni Clitii]inin aj HuA]\cACAib, aja]" AjiAiLe. hi 'Oub- imroduction
AgAin 1 ITlAineACAib. ITIuincip CliteiMg, AgAf 111uincn\ CIia- WM''lSwk^of
nAiin Ag Cineut gCoriAilt. tlltinicip Vuinm Ag feAjAAib Gencaiogiet.
ITlAriAC. tnuinnii Clitejicen aj CineAt CogAin. liltiinci]t
'Ohuinnin ipn ITliiniAin "oo ii|iiiio]i .1. Ag Siot CogAin TUlioip,
niA]i CA1X) CIaiui C1iai\]\cai5, Siot SuitleAbAin, AjAf ajaaiLc.
HIac An 5^iAbAnn Ag Siot cCitine'oig in t1|\iriiumAin. Illmn-
cii\ lliogbAp-OAin in 6te. CtAnn Chjiuicin ajaj" ITIuincip
bn)uiAiT)eA"6A 1 cUuAgniUTfiAin. CtAnn lllhec 5^0^^ CheAt-
tAi5 in lA]irA|i ClionnACC aj Uib fbtAicbcAjicAig, AgAf A|iAite.
tnA]\pn yA bA-oAji cineA-OA ete in 0]iinn ]\if An cAtA-oAin
CeU-OnA, AgAj" t)'pACAlb A]l gAC nAOn ACA "DO bCAn X)! t)105-
tinm popgtAn t)o xjeAnAtfi iii]\]\e.
ITlAitte ]iiti pn t)o bi-oif bjieiceAiiiAin nAbAnbA Ag cAorfinA
An cceu'onA, UAip ni bjieiceAifi nAC SeAncAit), AgAr ni SeAn-
cAit) nAC bjieceATii i mt)]ieAtAib tlimeAt) .i. tcAOA]! •oejii'b
f*AOCAi]A nA SeAntA-b, aja]" nA mbjieceAiiiAn beof .
t)© bjiij nA mb|iiACA]\ fppe |\in, •oaji n-ooij feA^DA ni
jniigceAji AoinncAC CAgnume AiceuiiiAf nAc ujiufA genetce
jAOi-oeAt •00 bjiec 50 IIaoi aja^ 50 li-A'OAiii, AgAf munA
cqie-oe ]*e pn, nAp qie'oe -pe 5tj]iob niAC -oa acai]i yen eyen,
UAip ni yuit iom]\Att ipn SeAncuj* genetAC acc AiiiAit ^^^y
mA|i "o yAgbAi-b An c-acai]! aj An itiac e "oiAij in-oiAig.
^Da]! nT)oi5 qicoij cac An Sjinobcui]! 'Oia'oa -oo be]i ge-
ncAtAC lonAnn t)o yeA]iuib t)OTtiAin o -A-bAiti AnuAf 50 TIaoi,
AjAy genetAc Ctijnjx, AgA)' nA n-AiqiCA-o nAorh ia]iaiii mAji Af
teji ipn CAgtuif. CjieveAX) ]'e pn (no •ouitcAit) 'Oia), aja^
niAX) cjicocAnh, cjieAX) nAC ccpe-oireA-b SeAncuy ete a]i Ambec
ITiopcoiiiieut) mA]i SlieAncuf Cjienn. pojicoiiiieut) -ono,
At)e|\im, UAi]i ni lieAt) AmAin 50 ]iAbf at) ]\oitionniA|i niAji "oo
^lAi-oyeAin ceAnA, Ag coiifieut) An cceut)nA, acc "oo bi opt)
AjAf •otigcAX) ACA, ACAf ojijiA Af nAji et^iji 'ooib (jAn -oiot
A-ubAt) bpeug nA yAttAf -oo '6enAiii Ann, niAp Af tep (1 toAb-
jAAib fencAcufA nA fo-otA, AgAf If nA 5f A-bAib pteA-b fen) a
Tiofo AgAf A n-otigeA-o, UAip ni ]iAibe tAOCf ai"6, nA ctiA]\
citte nA cuAice in C)\inn (giif ctimtii]^eA"6 An cfioc) Aif nAC
nibAOi 6]w Ai]Mt)e ("oa ngoif ceAf 5f a*6a .1. ceimeAnnA) ; AgAf
t)ti5eA'6 nA ngfA-b pn -opACAib Af gAC "Ofoing "oiob "oo
coiriiout) f A pen f ttjacca AgAf a nonojiA •00 ^AittcAiii (mAf "oo
f5fiobfAm inAf foctoif l-'eneACAif tAbfAf 50 poifteAtAn
Off Apn, AgAf Af "btigcAX) gAOi-biot 1 ccoiccinne).
SoAncAt) Cfenn, umoffo, beAj niA-b gebteAf ipn feAn-
Aimpf t)ipf eAcoffA AgAf fenig, AgAf An x)f onj x)a ngoif-
576 APPENDIX.
Lxxrm. ce<xp AOf 'OAn<\ AniiJ, iiai]a bd liAon-|^oit 50 minic 'oo ejp ■
"~ ~ 0]\enn uite ati ionbui'6pn, AgAf Af ATfittn-b bi-oif ajaj* -peA
Introduction TlgjWk'OA ACA .1. OlUxUl, -AnitA-O, Ctl, CaTIA, 'Oof , TTIaC Puipmi
W,J? BTOk "of AJAf foctog, AtlTTlAnnA HA fOACC tlgjlA-d -pATl, ATTIUlt ACA
Genealogies. |-eACC ngjAAlX) CAgAlfA .1. SaJAjAC, X^eOCAItl, SuibT>eOCA1
AgAf A]tAile. Ha 5HA-6A pteA-b timo|A|AO, t)o biA-b (triAite '
gAc •otigeA'o cte) -a'pACAib o]A|tA beu fAO]t jUxn A]t 501 1) A5 •;
A]\ TTlAJtbAX), A]\ AOl^A'O, AgA]* Ajt A'OtltcpAf , AgAj* Ap JAC Til 1
toe t)A iTTOgtuim, Athuit ACA ipn pAtirifA: —
IcoriA UxiTTie, tit jati guin,
lo-oTiA beoit, 5Arj Aoip nioni'btiib,
lo-onA I'ogtAniA 5An gef,
AjA]" lo-btiA tArjAmmiif .
Jibe f eATjcAi-b cpA, tha'd OttAifi [no] AnpAt), no gibe gpA-b
6 ACA riAc ccoimtcA-b tia hiO"6nA .1. riA gtAine pn, "00 cAitteA^
ye A teceneActAnn, AgAf a onoip "oo pep tjtiji'o, AgAf x>o bee
priACu Ai6bAt Aip beop 'Oa bpij pn beop, ni hinTheApoA 50
pruit "ouirje cetti-oe ipn cpuinne tiAfc ppinne bA fonnTfiAipe
teif -00 tuAt>, muriA bet 'o'pAc Aige acc CAgtA 'Oe, a onopA
AjAf A eneActAinn -oo cAitteA'6. CoriA-o •oe pn nAC copfiuit
ctAon -00 cu]\ A tec nA SeAncA-6 ccogtA. S^x^eA-b, toa
I'jpiob'OAOif x)A0ine eipon-opACA bpeug AgAj^ a cup a tec
l^eAncAt) x>o be'oip a •out a mioctu -oonA |*eAncA'6Aib munA
pAbuit) A1JA A ccoitfieuT), AgA]" A yeucAin An A ppitnteAbpuib
ug-OAp-OA gebiT) An lut AgAp Ap mA)\ pn Ap coip vo CAC uite,
eT)ip CUACA AgAp peAnCAlt) gAC ni Ap A mbl AlfipopAp ACA
•opeucAin, AgAp munA ppAgui-o -oeApbcA lAp ntJegtcAOpAib e,
A ciincAbAipc pen -oo cup pe Acoip (mAp t)o nimp pein pe
tiApoite x)o pteACCAib pApAin ipin teAbAppA) AgAp mAppn
pAopcAp nA peAncA-oA Ap peAcpAn CA15 ete t)a ccumuipje
oppA (nAp tege 'Oia).
t>Aoi "00 -oucpAcc im -oAtAib Cpenn "oo lomcoirfieux) Ag nA
peAncAi-oib nAp cuipce in longnA-o oppA pop "oa -poiptefne
•OA p'uigp-oip Ap UAipteAcc AgAp Ap A)\'onop 6A15, Alp nip top
teo pn gAn pgpiobA-d ApA '6AOipneifii"6ib, Ap teAgAib, AgAp
fAopuib nA poAnAimppe, mAp bup tep popAnA: t)'poittpu-
jA-b -oucpAccA nA peAncA-o, AgAp peAcpAin ua •opoinge AT)ep
nA6 ^lAbpA-o oib]ieA6A ctoc in e^\inn go ceA6c ^Att, no
Loctonn innce. -Ag po mAp A-oep An penptiocc. Cet)
tiAig, cet) pAop, AgAp cet) iA]^Aipe, •00 bi in Cpinn Ap cup
pi Am .1.
CApA lie tegoAr ni tAg,
He peril eAp po oa coiriineApc,
APPENDIX. 577
If l/UAf At) ATI f Aop 5tic gte, LXXlVn.
6AbA .1. bAltlilAlg CAinig ^\[ AOn te CeAfAl]^, ah tlA1§tlonto
UATlAip. SUxngA ITIAC pAjAtAtAITI ATI CjACAf tiAlg, CAITllg Uv iSSkSf*^
pA]AtotAti in CjAinn. feAjisnA ua C]ticinbet ati ceAt]WTfiA'6 g«o«^b''««-
tiAij, CA1T115 ApAon te Tlenii'D in C^unti. teAgA pheAp mbotg
•oin, "Oub-OA 'OubtofAC, AgAf Co-bATi CoimciftieAC, AgAf
Pngin PpocoA, AjAf ITlAine mAC 5)\eff ac, [AgAf] -Aonguf
-AncepnAHiAch. LeAgA UhuAte -oe 'OATiAnn .i. 'OiATiceACc,
AjAf AipmeA-b, AgAf triiAcb, ecc.
Ha fAOip iinio]\po, Ajfo AnniAnriA •opoinge -bib x)a ngAip-
te^]\ fAoip nA b-p)uoiii-ctocb.
-AitiAn, cAirteoip Sotmon. CAbA]\ cAi^teoip tia UeAnipA6.
l3Aipnib CAifieoip Cppico. t)Actif, "oin, pAcbume lleAih-
ptiAi'6 CingDopn CAifteoi)\ Chonpui. Ci]\ cAifteoip HomA.
-Apont) CAifteoip, lApufAtem. Oiten (no Cteocoip) CAifteoip
Con]XAncinopoil.. bole niAc bUxip pAtbui-be ChpuA^An.
5ott CtocAip cAifteoip mic nA-ofpAoic. CAfpubA CAifteoip
-Alb AC. Ilingiu, no Hijpiu, AgAf 5^btAn niAO in 5^ipb, no
5A]\bAn, t)A CAifteoijt -Aitig. UpoigleACAn ]AAtbiii'6e UeAtupAc.
DAince, no bAilcne, niAC "OobptJ, pAtbui-be CAiiinA. bAtiip
TUAC biiAnlAiTiAij pAcbiii-bc Haca bjtep. Cpicit mAC 'Otnb-
cpuice pAcbiiit)e IIaca -Aitinne.
ConAf^ lAt) pn ]\\oi)A nA b-)Dpiom-ctoc, AiiiAit ApDepc An
Iaoi"6.<»«»>
[translation.]
Allien La SotTHAiti ha f ItiAj, [i4i/uz«, with Solomon of the hosts,
t)A cAifteoip congbjkig caoiVi- Was an erccter of beautiful, noble
^UA*6 ; (*awe/« ,•<««>
A5 ncArtipuA* bA tuiAi|\ teAtn, With Ninirod, I am pleased to say,
C^up po d;putAi$ coiifCAlt. Caur it was that formed CaiseU.
bA|\tiAb ■oiA|\ bo miti-b x)o, [^Barnabf when it was his time,
C^iftcoip cf\i^i-d heiMco, Was the Cauel builder of the land
Hug lloitVi Cip, bjk CAorti A peAiig; of Jerico;
A|U3knn, fAop lApufAitem. Borne took C'lr, graceAilhis chisel;
Arann was the builder of Jerusalem.
1 cConfc^ncitipoit b^ ppAb, [In Constantinople actively,
Cteotoip pol)A cpeuti jAlgAt), Cleothoir^ wais a powdrful cham-
Ag ncArtipuA* jAti luoi'6 lui*6e, pion; [tion,
t)4\cuf |\uA-6 b^ liAtbui'6c. With Nimrod, without poetic Ac-
BacuSf the red-haired, was Rath-
builder.
CAiflcoi|\ Chonpui, CingTOopti cAin ; [The OiweZ-builder of Cu-roi [was]
the comely Cbujdorn ;
(101) TIieM wordd arc not translAtcd In thu text (page 223) : "And tbenc were the bulldeni
of the chief stone buildinKsi, af* the p«)«ni nays*'. [This poem (by Domhnall. Mon of t'lannacan,
who flouriabed about ad. 100o> {:• not trunnlutcd in the text. See at page 222. A llteriil
tranthition of It is therefore inserted here. It Is but a repetition in verse of tho names
previously ffiTen in prose.]
(102) A Caiul (pnmoonced " Caahel") was a Raith^ or fortreaa, of stone.
37
578 APPENDIX.
Lxxxvii. A5WAcnAcn^AoicTi5ottcU)6Aii\; With the ton of Natfraechj was
CAfivtibA cAifUjoiiMiA cpec Goll oi Clochar ; fbiiilder,
Title «nd A5 A mbi'6 b|voiif-'bc6it btAiifr- Ca«ru6a was the higfa-pricea Caue^
Tntrodve- Ve<\c. Who emplojed quick azea to
MMHrhitt* Bmoothen rtonea. rarmed.
Hook of '0\\\ dAifbeoif Aiti J AH Aifm, [The two Ca»e/-huiklera of AUeek the
GenMloglM. Hi^jMU AgAf jApb^n mAC tijAipb ; Bigrtu, and Garbhon, sod ^iUgarhk;
C|\oigteAtAti AT>luig ■oe4\lbA, TVo^/e^Aan, who sculptured images,
1lAtbui-6e uuip c|\cn re<vi^|\A. Was the Bath-boiider of the hill of
Te<VBkhair.
t>obc friAc bUM|\ 6 At t>bAi|\ binn, {Bole Mac Bldir^ firom sweet Atk-
llAtbui"6e C]\UA6riA cV»]\o-itit), 6/air, {Cro-fkum,
t)Air>de riA tnb]M§ a t)eA]\bA, Was the Rath-builder of Cruacham
tlAtbui-be pig puAi*6 CAthtiA. Bainch/f the gifted, fVom the
Berhha, [of EmMam.
Was Rath-builder to the noble king
"bAt.up, pobA x)ioti^iiiti 'DC, {Balur — it was worthy of him, —
|\o tnm |\jkit tnbiMogibuip mbpep, That formed the strong Rath of
Cpiceb WAC "Otiib, pAit 54\n pinn, Breas. [without satire,
HobA fAop Alt fof Aillitin. Cricel, the son of Vubh^ a saying
Was the acute builder of AUlinn,
t)o pACAp neAth rtUAfAt rtin, [May high happy heaven be giren
Do DoiViriAlb iTiAc vLAtitiAc^jkn, To Domhnall, son of Flannaean^
X)o turn t^oi'b iia6 lAirtfSAp bnti, Who has formed a lay which to us
O t6, AitiAn 50 bAillinti. is not avrry,
AiliAti. [Extending] from Ailian to Aillum.
Ailian,2
X)o geubniAoif ibomAX) -oo oib]\eAc<Ml!) AopM Cpenn pe a
riAiTimnitigAt) mAitte -piu pn, AjAf tiA fAOi]A 'oo pin iat), ajaj*
riA JM5, A5AI" riA ]\o-yiAice "oa nt)eA|AntJit) Act jomA'd eiiiiitc a
riAii^nei]" yunn ; |:ec An VeAbAjA jAbAUx niAt) Ait a i^fAjAii;
AjA]' ni ]hiil An'n^Af AgAinn 50 ]\Abf At) -oencA, mA|i oibpeACA
1 jiiogAccAib ete im An Am 1 n'oeA]\nA'6 iat) ; AjAf qteux) An
fAt nAC be-oif, uaija ni CAinig gAbAtcAf in Cpinn Act on
•DorfiAn Anoi^s mAjiCA SbAin, AjAf A]AAite, AjAf Af lonjnATO
cjieut) An eA^DAif) incteAccA "oo nA "oiiongAib CAn5At)A|t in
e^inn Aril Alt bAoi -oo riiefnig lonncA 6]\e -oo gAbAit nAC bet
•00 d:uib'oeA]" teo aic]M]" a liAicigce aja]" a hiO|XA'6 -00 cup a
ccofriitJitcAcc |\if An ap op cpiAttfAt) iaji mbunA-Ouf, no lAp
nu'oriiuitte ; UAip ni het)!]; nAC Ap beot "ooib int)eAtt AicpeAO
tiprilOip CoppA AgAf pAT) Ap CCGAdc (f5A6 ftljlf) inAp §Ab-
pAc) A S51CIA, Ahe^ipc, A Speg, A h-AitneAfDA, a feti-poine,
A hCAp]3Ain, AgAp A]\Aite, 50 li6]Mnn.
-AgAp niA "00 jxonpAt) nA ^AbAtA 11*0 Cpenn oibpeAdA innce
in lonnAriiAit obAp nA cuAtniAnn cpe a cuAnjA'OAp, mAp Ar
copfiAit 50 ntjeApnpAT), cpeu'o niA ppmtceAp -ooib. Hi puit
Acc c]\ep nAC ppAicceA]A bAttA-bA AotcA in A peA]'Arii ip nA
liAiob -00 rogbA-o Tllite 50 tec, no "oa iiiite, no cpi rinte, AgAp
ni Ap mo "00 otiA-ontnb opin : ni nAC longnA-b gAn Abet, UAip
Ap 510PPA inA pn An Aimpp Nia ccig CAtAtti cAp oibpeACAib
6*00 bpipoeAp IAT), no o tuicix) UAtA ut)en qie AppAi-beACC.
"Oa '6eApbA'6 pn "oo connApc pen CAob A^xig "oo pe btiA'd-
APPENDIX. 579
nuib T)eu5, CAif ten aja-oa aoIca uite, a]i ha TToeutiAifi •oo cloic Lxxxvir.
AotcA, AgAf Atiiu (Ap tiA ccuinm) ni ^ruil acc mucA CAtihAn j^^^^
•OA CUlOjIUAHAp, AJAf ni tnO]1 50 tlAlcheoriA'b AITICoIa^ 50 Introdnc-
]tAbf At) oibjte Ann i-oiia. JIm fIiwm'
SinceA]A pn AgAj* nA hoibjAe -oo ^AonAt) nA ceu-OA AjAf nA Q^le^
mitce btiA-bAin 6 px\ pe cele, AjAf ni bionsnA'o ("oa nt)eun-
CA]\) mtinA het fCAbAf nA f eAn-obA]A (j^eAc oibjub nA hAim-
ppe p) gAn cu)6 nA A^fo uipe t)o Aicne inA nAicib ; 5it)eA'6
ni hATfltAl'6 ACA (t)0 AjApACCAl-Oe nA nobA]\ nAOpOA) ACAIt)
rtAtu pogi^A |to tiiopAi, AgAf teA]"A 50 tionniA|t a]* pit) e^enn
nA fpiilit) lotA]^ cto6 piAice, fleAtfiAn, AgAf foileu|t, no
ceAgAfT yA CAtrhAin ^ a a mupuib, mA]t aca 1 tlAit tnliAOit-
CACA, ic CAiflen ChoncAbAiji, t)Aite tli 'Ohtib"6A t cUi]t fhi-
a6|w^6 a]a bjAug nA TnuAi-be. -AcAit) nAOi foiteip 6to6 ccoiifi-
f teATTiuin |:a ttiuti nA ^tACA pn ; AjAf x>o bA-bAf iprig mnce
AgAf fAOltim 50 0-pilt, A]\ ]tAC:tllb lOTTlAOpTA Cpenn ; AgAf Af
mAit An Aipt)e bA-ob-bum aca 'nA mujA. fAjDAim pn AgAf
loniAt) A lonnATTiAit ete 'gun ao^^ eAjnuToe ]\e a bjAeAuugA'b,
AjAf ptteAm 50 A]i cceiJt)-Ai5neAi6 uime yo .1. copiAifi p|tinne
An cf eAn6uif a]i a nt)etinAit) AineolAij eti56itt ete Ag pA-b 50
mbe^ACAnn p\\ C]Aenn inLe 50 TTlACAib tTlili'b.
-Ait)t)euniAit) lAt) pen p Attf a Ann pn t)A bpewfcAit) a pniit
t)o eA6cAi]A6ineii'LAib i]* in toAbAp ]'a pen nAC be|AceA]\ 50
ITlACAib THilix), mA|i buf te]\ |\oniuinn 1 ccii|ip An tiubAip
in iot-Aicib ; AgAf f eii6Ait) |"o ]\ia nA cete.
Ap yo i^Aine (.1. nemionAnnAf) At) pA'bAit) ]\o-eotAi5 An
CfCAncii^'A im cAXATiitAcc An t)A [nA c|\i ?] cineAt) neug^^A-
thuit ptet) in ^inn .1. ex)\]\ iA]t]*mA pheAji mlDotg, AgAj-
jTeAp n'OomnAnn, AgAf JliAiliuin, aja^" UhuAtA t)e 'OAnAnn,
AgAf mliAC Tnib'6,
5ac Aon Af gcAt, Af t)onn, Af t)AnA, Af enig, Af t)eut)tA,
Af fonA, Af cio'6nAicteA6 feut) AgAf mAoine, AjAf ofT6tiip,
AjAf nAC eAgAt f j\iA CAC nA cotiitAnn ; ApAt) f An lAppuA
tnliAC tTlitit) in C^iinn.
5ac Aon Af ponn, Af inicb, Af mo]i; gAc AiitgceAC, jac
ceotttiAp; tuct) cct)binniofA emit, AgAf AipptJij, if mApcAd
fop jAC ceApt) t)pA0i'6eACCA, AgAf gAC miAt)ctiince Ap 6eAnA ;
ApAt) fAn lAppnA UhuAt t)e 'OAnAnn in 6pinn.
5ac Aon Af t)ub, Af UxbAp-jtojiAC, beiit)AC, I'geutAc, enge^,
eucAit>e; gAc t)onA t)i]^ip, tJAOfgAip, ut)mAlX, AnbfOf 111*6,
Aint)iuit), Aininic; gAC moj, gAC ino5-tAt)pAin, 5A6 t)AoiceAp-
nAig; gAC Aon nA concuAip y]\^ ceot, nA Ai)\pt)i(y6; tucc
bllA1"6eAptA gACA CAingne, AgAf J^AC AipCACCA, AgAf IC
[A1t)e CA1C, ApAt) lAppHA "PhCAp m Dolg, AgAf gAltiC '**
logmAine, AgAf plieAp ntDoihnAn in Cpinn ; Afcc
87 1
ncyo; tucc
:Arioj||»
580
APPENDIX.
Tttlaand
Introduc-
tion to
Mac FirbiM*
Hook of
G«uealogi«i«.
Lxxxvii^ i<\]ArmA fheA^A mbotg ^y tiA •oib pn Aihuit Afpe]^c An T^Ati-
[tbanu^tion.]
[Be it known to the HistoruuiB of the
men of Fdilj —
Let tliem not be about it in error, —
The difference of the sons of Afiiidk
and their children, [I>anatui,
Of the Fir-Bolgsy and tuath De
[Every white, every bold, every brown
[man], [bat,
Every brave [man], hardy in com-
Every [man] valiant in deed with-
out noise.
Is of the colony of the sons of
Milidh of great renown.
[Every fair great cow-keeper on the
plain, — [nious, —
Every artist, musical, harmo-
The workers of aU secret necro-
mancy,—
They are of the people of the Tuath
De Danann, [tinction clear, —
[Every blusterer, wrong-doer, — dis-
Every thief, liar, contemptible
wretch ;
[Such] are the remnants of the
three peoples hitherto, {nann.
The Gaileoin, Fir-bholg^ Fir-dom-
[I have placed in a synclminic line
The differences of these three par-
ties, [historians not false.
According to the arran^remcnt of
As they relate, be it known to ye.]
Sliocc -peAfiteAbAi^A pn, jtoca-o Aitne p]\e AicmeA-o 4X\\ a
tiAijCAncAib, AgAf cjiocAib, 111 cunMm 50 cinnce ]\6m a]v\i6
51*6 50 niAt) ex)i]\ A bee po\^ if tia ceu"OAiTnpo]\uib (no 5U|t
cumAifgeA'o tiA cineAt)A Ap a cete 50 minic iA]AATfi), uAip At)
dimit) 50 tAece^rl^tJ1t ]\e]\ tinn, A5Af ADctuinmi-o 50 mime
6]i f eAfiAib, f AifituJA-b cpo^A AgAf CAile, A^Af beuf beof •00
bet Ag pne innce yen -00 Cpnn ]\e Aj\oiLe; AgAf ni heAi6
AifiAin 50 mbi pn f Arfittut), acc a •oepceAp 50 mbi copfiAiteAf
A55AC tucc en c]\ice innce yen pe cele, aja^ 50 mbi em beuf
ADAin A]\ A nAicmjceAji iax) aca uile, mAjA Af et)ip a cui^p
Af An tAoi"6 p : —
potiriAit) f« An 6^-6 A ffeAf ffAit,
nA bit) uime in lomAppAin,
SAine mliAC miti'6 Y^ cctAnn,
VheAp mbol/^, If CnuAC -oe OAn-
Ann.
5a6 jeAtjgAd -OAnA, 5A6 T)onn,
3Ad CAlmA, c^tiAi^ 1 ccomLAnn,
3Ae 5A|\cAi$ 1 ngnioth cAn 5I61S
CAf5A]\ inliAG mili-b mbl/A-b-iVidp.
5a6 ponn-45ki|\5teA6 m6]\ Ap muij,
5Ad ceA]\'OA(i ceotriiATX cubtrni,
tti6c fe]\i$ 5Ad cuAidtc tMjt
'0]%on5 pn ChuAte T)e XJAnAnn.
3a6 5to]\Ad, beu-oAi, niiA*6 njqte,
5Ad bfVAf , b]^eu5A<^, eucAi-be,
lAppiiA nA cr]M cuuaC An Ail,
jViAibeon, yhcAfv mboig, V^eA|\
nUoiVinAnn.
Cti5Af piAite coitViJne CAin,
Im f Aine nA ccpi n-oponr f Ain,
lA|\ fTvec fOAndA-bA nA6 tAg,
AtViuit A-o pA-bAi-o ponnATj. "p.
Curti-oAd nA n1U'DAi*eA'6 nAp-o,
AgAf A pruivmA-o potv-$A]\5,
m^AT) nA nAi]\miAnA6 5 An fcAtb,
AgAf fonAi]\ce SAi]\cenn.
AwAinp 1 n^peufjAib 50 n^Ait,
1l<»i-'6itimu|* A5 HoniAnAuib,
[translation.]
[For building, the noble Jews,
And their truly fierce envy ;
Large size [is characteristic] of the
guileless Armenians ;
And strength of the Saracens.
[Cunning [is] in the Greeks, with
valour; [Komans ;
£xces:$ive haughtiness with tlie
(103; Literally : "As the Historian uyn".
APPENDIX. 581
'Otiipc i\A Sax^ti pi^ih^d, Dullness [is the characteristic] of uaaLvn,
A5Af bu|\bA OAfpAtiAd. the creeping Saxons ; -■
And fierceness of the Spaniards. Title and
S^ncAi^e 1 fppAiigcAib iTAeAq\AiJ, [Covetousness [is] in the responslTe introduc-
AgArfeAnjinnp-bVeACtiAib; French, MwFirbta'
^^ fo eottif n<\ cc|VAnn ^o ce^pc, And anger m the Bntons; — j^-^ ^^
Cfx^of ^a\X dg4\f ce^nntii'6e<\du. This is the knowledge of the trees, Genealoglet.
justly;— [merce.
Gluttony of the Danes, and com-
tnoin-i^eAtiWA CptiittieAd m deAt, [The high spirit of the Picts I cannot
Ai tVe AgAf eAcc|VA*6 5Aoi*eAt, conc^; [Gacdhil;
Ax>bep ^ioVLa ha riAOih cpe n^tj The beauty and amorousness of the
A c>i|\ifc pob CAOin Art cuiht>A6. C. So says Gilla na Naomh through
verpe, [pleasant.]
O Christ ! may the composition be
X)a]\ rrooig Af copAi'oe Ati co^'niAitcAf ut) 'o'^AjAit in CjAitin
m<\p CA -00 'oligeA'b i SeATi6Af Til op pn^x-o^^Aig -oa cceA5mAi6
be<\n et)i]\ "bif feAjA in Aimpii coimpeA|icA, lonnAf tiaji ffeAf
T)1 CIA •6lD AtAljA ATI COIjljl^lfOO geb ATI lJA1]tpTl, At)e]1 'otlglO'i
(muTiAb et)iprj teATiAb 'oo 6up Ati A^Aip p]\e a]\ mcb ete)
eyxcAcc tef 50 ceAnn ceopA mbuAA'OArj 50 cci yine-cput,
pne-guc, AgAf |:iTie-beuf A "66 ; AjAf gibe t)on •OApop pe a
ccet) 50 ccugAnn pn cunjnAth inroeATimA "oon ititiaoi Aip,
UAip nieA|^A]\ jupAb te]* in yeAp ten copiuiite An teAnAb e ;
AgAf t)A|t liom A-oo corfitApAigeA-o pn 1 n-obgCA'o S. pAupAic
Af neiilnongnAt) a bet nA Ap'o-coniAp'6A Ap cineA-ooib peAc a
cele. l^iot) nAC e-oip a f'AgAit ppinneAC jac UAip, ni put
ogcneApoocc eotuif Ann ; AgAf fof Af ni e in AgAi-b nA
T)poin5e A-oep nA6 bi cineA-b ipn cpc nAC ccmpt) feAncAt)A
50 ITlACAib Tllilit): AjAf CA]\ A ceAnn pn t)a niA aiiiIato -oo
bee ni]\ longnA-b e, UAip "oa p:eiiCA"6 peA]\ ApinhACAibtTliti'b
fen (guf nA cbAnnuib pAtniApA t)o poli^At) uAtA in Cpinn,
AgAf in -AlbAin, ajaj" a bAjA-o ifiAi]\eA]" "oib Aniii) ni cuip-
feAX) in longnAt!) gAn -oAOine Af iiip]*te inAit) (t)o bio'6 yut^
pe i:At)A) "00 iiiA]\CAin, a|\ Ay gnAt "oonA luxp'o-ytAitib (An iiAi]i
lonroAigit) A cctAAnnA AjAf a ccineiilA) yoijwinge, peouugA'b,
AgA]' p\)n1i5At) A cceteAt) aja^ a tncc teAnAiihnA.
yeuc 6]\e, aja]' An •oorfiAn uite tJiA migi^Ae yen, AgAf ni
foib |:oipccAnn Ap a pruige 'oo epomtAi)\ib Ann "oo pn, Af
nAC longnAX) t)a itiat) 50 ITlACAib lllili-o "oo beupcAOi uipeAt)
genelAc 'pxcA in Gpnn An 111.
t)o b|\i5 511 ]A bo beiif 'oo nA fCAncAit)ib pbonnAv teAbAp
A]i teit, "OO ]\ep A fAine, x>o fAO]\ctAnnuib 5A0ix)eAt (AbAin,
Dob'iot) AnAf inbto a|i a nAipe do lomcoinieux)) TnApcAteAbAp
ConnACCAC, tItcAC, tAigneAC, ItluimneAc; "oo gcnnAm poinn
AjAf •oipnngAt) Ap An bcAbAp f A AgA ]ioinn a teAbjvAib f Aine
yo lion jAbAb CpeAnn pe ngAOToeAtAib, AgAp po Uon tiA
txpi ITIac lllitix) 6]"pAine op gAbAt) ptAiteAj^ nA P
bAp vo nA nAoniAib, AgAf teAbAp -oo phoihop6Aib|
r%
582 APPENDIX.
I,XXXVH. ntllb, •OO 5hAlttllb, AgAf SAXgAtttllb, fCATlA AJUf nUA'6«\
t)A ner.
introdue- .1. Afi cetiT) teAb<xn t)o phA^\tAtAn \iO ceu'o-gAb 8|tinTl lAp
MilSnrWai' TToiUnn, 50 ccofU§<x'6 Ati teADAi]i, -AgAf ceA6c ChcAfpA beof
t)''pheA]\tiib bolg, ATI ceAciAATrKXt) -00 UhuAit "oe 'OAn^xtin, ati
ctuscAt) "OO 5b<\oi'6e<xtAib, AgAf •00 ITIliACAib inibi'6 uibe;
gi-bcAt) Af t)o pot G|\e<Mhoin Uxb^uxf 50 c^tiocnugA'b -doib,
AgAj* Af mo ATI teAbA]A foin itiaix) feAfcc te^bAi^ lAp |"^ati-
•poinn, uAijA AUA ni Af tno in a pn Ann ni Af tionifiAijie inA
mA]\ "OO bi pAni, niA^t buf ie]\ "oon teu^tom pA]\iiin. -An
repot), •00 pot 1]A, AjAfoo 'OliAit fPiACAC ; •Oftiii CpeAih6in
oeof iAt)p'6e UAip a]* eun -outAi-b "ooib in tltcAib ^e liAtAi'b.
An i'eAC'omA'6 teAbAji x>o pot Cbitt, AgA]" t)o ctoinn btiigDec
mic Ice, uAip Af eun 'outAi'6 "boio An tTlhtimA iA]t mbunA-
-buf . An co6cniA'6 teAbA]\ x)o nAotfiAib 6]ieAnn. -An noihA6
AgAf AnteAbA]! ToepneAC, -o'lTomopcuib, x)o tx)ctAnnfcuib, AgAj*
•00 ghAitAib.
Sui-ditigAX) ^]\ icAbAip (a teugcoi]!) TOiinAb tojt teAc C|ie
fui-oiugAt) fOfAip |ie pnpo]\: ni AX)thinni nAC Ain-ihinic aca
inncib, o pheniuf fApfAi-b AnuAf ; fetic clAnn pheniufA
^ein .1. tlei An fOfA]\ 50 bAijitheAc aj yeAncAi-oib o tofA^,
AgAf tlAonbAi An pnpop gAn |io nAipthe, AgAj* WAp pn.
Cpeiiion itiac ITIitit) pi a ccuix) ete x>o ctoinn TniUT6 Af
pnne inA]'; ni yuii cineA-o Ap a print Ann niAp pn guf nA
I'toinncib -oegeAncA acaix) AgAinn Amu.
feuc TnA]\ cuipTO feAndiA-OA tTluniAn ClAnn CtiAjtcAig pe
pot SuittebAin Af pnne inAit), pot tnbpiAin pe cctoinn
TntiAtgATtinA Af pnne inAix), AgAp tHAp pn.
CuipTO tebAip ete 1 Veu Cuinn, AgAp cuipno X)occtJtp
Cecin, TliAtt tlAoigiAttAC connA ptiocc Ap yd p6 nAb]iAitpib
bAt) pne inAp.
ITeuc go nt)eACA'6 'Ouac gAtAC mAC t)piAin, An pofAp piAf
nA cpi iTiACAib pceAt) bAT) pne inAp.
CuipiT) peAncAi-b Sbit ttluipeA-boig pot cConcAbAip pe nA
pnpopuib.
Cuipit) UtcAigtTlAg -AongufA, -oo ptiocc Clionuitt CheAp-
nAig pe ptiocc An pig ConcAbAp, mAp ApAt) ptiocc Cbontiitt
bA pAcniAipe Ann, AgAp mAp pn -oo lomAX) ete bA herhetc pe
A nAipeATTi ; AgAp mA tegceAp teo pAn a 'oeAnAth lAp ccoip^
cpeut) nAC bu-b -oteAcc t)ATfipA teAnifium a tuipg.
UAipip pn, -OA pAoiteA-6 Aom neAC gomA-b AngnAp put), ni
he"6 ceAnA, UAip Ap minic nAC e-oip gAn a 'oeunAiii cpe Aifhpe-
ceAc lomAt) nA nAicmeA-b AgAp nA nit6ineut Ag ceAcc AnuAp
Ap A]iAite, Agup -oocuni A pgAOitce o cete Ap egin An pnpop
APPENDIX. 583
x)o legeAti f eACA f e^lAt), ajaj^ i^piob^-b a]a ^r\ f apA]i, AgAf mxxvii.
<\pif A]1 ATI pnpO]\, A5Af niAp I'ln |:<\]'eA6 A]t IKM^lb. HUeMd
UU15 cuilte le<\c A teujcotp, gu^Aob 'otigeA'b in 6]«nn introdnc-
f Of A]i "00 cu]^ I fyUxtceAf Ap beulAi D pnpji, mAp AX)e]\ An ]li«c fitWm'
]MA5Ail t)li5ix) p Af An SeAncAf tTlop, AgAf Ar An f eneAcuf 1 SS^La'ogici.
ccoiccmne, m^]\ yo : Sinpo]\ 1^ pne, feAbcA la yhyit^ CA^nA
Va lieAgtuif .1. An CI Af pne x)o fine t)0 cu]\ 1 cceAnnAf nA
pne pn fen ; A5Af An a Af mo celeA-OA A^Af cuhiacca niAt>
coTTi-uAf At e ]\e nA pnpo]^, -oo 6up if in fftAiceAf , no if in
cijeA^tnA]^ A5Af An a Af eAjnAi-Oe -oo cvi]\ An UAccAjiAnAdc nA
lieAgtAife.
gi'oeA'o mA f e An pnpo]\ Af mo coccuf , bi cigeAi^nAf Aige,
no munA bpiit f of Af coim-cinet x>o Af mo cotcuf inAf f e t)on
cftiim A-oep t)b5eA'6,bi ngeAfnAf A5 An pnpop ; lonAnn fAn
fA ni f oime.
-AcA fAnn coic6eAnn CAncAf 'oo i6eAfbA'6 gtifob "oteA^c
f Of Aji 'oionjbAtA 'DO cuf 1 f igc An beuUxib lomAt) pnpof nAc
biAi6 1 cuotctif Alb •otigteAC, ut dicitur : —
"Oa mbet nonbAf "oo tine,
et)i|\ TTiAC ifiAit if f ige,
Af e A 'oiofgA'b \4sn ceAfC coif,
A pogA'b pf Ab 1 cceuT)oif .
x^gAf Of coif mAf pn fOfAjA -oo cuf cAf pnpof 1 fije;
c]\ex> nA6 ciiifp'oe (t)A mA Ait te ncAc) i ccuf teAbAif e;
AjAf f Of bA mioTfio'6Ait An nof An yd vo cv]\ Af t)ef CAii buift)
AgAf CAC ote "OA mA lAX) A f)eAfb]\Aic]\e bA fine "oo bet Ann
•DO CUf Af COf AC AJAf JAn lAt) nA I^IOgA.
feuc fof 50 ccui]\ceAf 'OAOf ctAnnA (ni hcA-d AiriAin) Af
beutAib fAOf ctAnn i ccemib AfOA in 0]\inn cf e coice cal-
rhuit)e "OO bee aca; AgAf Af longAncAToe pn nA An nof feAifi-
!\Aice, A^Af Af mo An CAf "oo UAiftib Cf eAnn e, in a gibe Af
)ioc fui-oijjcA-o -oo befmit) Af a fCAncufAib, 'fgAn x)UAif
t)tiinn -OA cionn 6 Aoin neAC aca. -Aife pn iAf|VAm "oo At-
CUinjlX) Of )\A tetf^CAt t)0 JAbAlt, 5A ffOJAnCAIT) 50 f AttAf.
t)ubhAluAch 1T1AC pubhisigh.
PuMgein
Book of
APPENDIX No. LXXXVIII. [Lect. XL, Page 243.]
Oriijinal of passage in the ^^Book of Leinster" (a vellum MS. 0/^^^^
(he ixcetfth century^ classed IL 2. 18., T.C,D)^foh 151. a., i-einntcrM
as to the Historic Tales, Hworic
"Oo nemtigut) fitct) 1 ScetAib ocuf 1 ComgnimAib info rif, ^****'
•DA nAfnif x>o TlijjAib ocuf phtAtib .1. fecc coioa^^Qet .1.
C01C coicAic -oe Pfim-fcetAib ocuf x)a c6i
f cetAib, ocuf ni liAf micef nA fo-fcedit pn .
584
APPENDIX.
pMMgein
Book of
Leliiiter u
to the
llintork
Tiilct.
rxxxvm^ 5]VAt)Aib coincum .1. OllAtn, ocuf -An^tAt, ocuf Cti, ocuf
Catio. Ocuf If pAUfo TiA Ppitn-fceoit .1. UojUv ocuf Uatia,
ocuf UochmAjACA, ocuf CacVia, ocur tl^tA, ocuf lni]VMiiA, ocuf
Otcce (.1. bAif), ociif VqTA, [ocuf J PopbAffA, ocuf eccpAX)A,
ocuf -AitiT), ocuf -Ai]\55ne.
1UU\C fO UpA tlA UogtA.
[translation.]
Of the qualifications of a Poet in Stories and in Deeds, heie
follows, to bo related to kings and chiefs, viz. : Seven times Fifty
Storios, I.e. Five times Fifty Prime Stories, and Twice Fifty Se-
condary Stories; and these Secondary Stories are not permitted
[assipmod] but to four grades only, viz., an OUaink, an Anrtxth^ a
C7/, and a Cano, And these are the Prime Stories : Destructions,
ami Preyinps, and Courtships, and Battles, and Caves, and Naviga-
tions, and Tragedies, and Expeditions, and Elopements, and Con-
llagrati(nis. lien; are the Destructions: —
APPENDIX No. LXXXIX. [Lect. XL, Page 243.]
List of the Historic Tales named in the " Book of Leinster'^
{II. 2. 18, T.C.D.,—fol. 151. a,)— {in continuation of Pas-
satje in last Appendid').
ro^blA.
List of
Hmtoric
Tales in the
Btiok of
LeiDsUr.
STntirgJkt C151 Dumju
•Oeod-^Mp C151 CAtb^t.
Co$Ail, bpui-one Hi "Oeixgo^.
C05A1I/ bpui"otie t)|\oin mic t)]Miiin.
CoJoiiL b]\tii'oiie li-Ui "Ouite.
rogAit bpuiT)rie "Oa CliogA.
Cai« bo ChuAl^ne.
CAiti ceojVA nOpc CcoAd.
DESTRUCTIONS.
I'hc Tliree CircuitB of the House of
The Possession of Burach's Hoa8e.cio»i
The Ears-Battlo of the House of
XH«mAa.(»W) [Hou8e.f»»*>
The Difference of Caihbhadh's
The Destruction of NechtaiiCt
Hou8e.^'<>«> [Z>er^a.i»«'»
The Destruction of the Court of Ca
Tlic Destruction of the Court of
Eton, the son of BriunS^^^^
The Destruction of the Court of Gm,
The Destruction of tlie Court of Da-
COW-SPOILS.
The Cow-spoil of Cuailgn€:^^^^
The plunder of tlie three Cows of
Ac/mu/A.Oii)
G04) Lir appears tohaye been the Neptune of the Tuatha Di Danann; but thia Tale of the
attack on his house is not knoH n to as now.
(l()t>) Nothing known of these tales.
(106) There is an account of sucli a Destruction as this In the TAin Bo Chuailgni, and the
house there mentioned was the old ''fort" or Dun, near the present Netier^iile iionse, above
Droghcda, in the county Meuth.
(1U7) (or Da Derga); near Tallaght, in the countj Dublin, where the Monarch C<mairi Jitir
was killed, a.m. 51(iU. Copies of this tract arc preserved In Leabhar na h-Uidhf% (IM.A.), and
in tlie "Yellow Book of Lecalu" (H. 2. 16. T.C.D.).
(lOK) Nettling known of these tales.
(HM)) This Fort was in West Meath, and the occurrence took place about the time of the Tdim
Bo Chuailf/ni, or about a.o. 20. There is a copy of the tale in the MS. classed H. 8. 18. T.C.O.
(110) An account of this Tale has been given in Lect II. (ante, p. S3).
(111) A raid made on Ctnn-tiri (Cantire). In Scotland, by CucMttiainn and the lltonlans.
All abstract of this Tale is preAerved In the MS., Kgerton, SS, brirish Museum.
IFPEKDIZ.
585
Cditi bo
r^in bo
CAin bo
CAin bo
CAin bo
CAin bo
CAin bo
CAin bo
CAin bo
tliiif.
llegAniAiti.
t^tl-OAIf.
VAitm.
"OApUA-OA.
CpebAin.
The Cow-
The Cow-
The Coir
The Cow-
The Cow-
The Cow-
The Cow-
The Cow-
The Cow-
fipoilof
spoil of
-spoil of
-spoil of
-spoil of
•spoil of
spoil of
■spoil of
•spoil of
LXXXIX.
List of
HUtorte
T«leslntlM
Book of
rofrmA|\c meiobe.
rodtriA]\c r»eiini]\.
Co6inA|\c Aitbe.
CodwApc ecAitie.
CodniA]\c V^efe.
CodwAJxc Veipbe.
rodwApc ptitiitie.
CofrmApc 5|\eitie fititie.
ro6niA|\c 5i\eitie ■otiintie.
Co6tiiA|\c SAiobe ingine Scfcint).
Co^TMApc pchiptie ocuf 'OAipme,
t>A iti5en CUAtAii.
COURTSHIPS, OB WOOINGa
The Courtship of MedhbhS^*^>
The Courtsliip of -fiwer/'**)
The Courtship of AilbU^^^y
llie Courtship of Etain.^^**)
The Courtship of Fae/M**>
The Courtship of /er6.<'»*)
The Courtship of /mniW/"'^
The Courtship of Grian the Flur-
haired.*>"> [haired.<>»')
Tlie Courtship of Grian the Brown«
The Courtship of Sadhbh, the dau^-
ter of SescennM**")
The Courtship of /Vt^irn/and Datrini,
the two Daughters of TuathalS^*^)
(112) NothlnR known of this talc.
(113) Regcman was a chief in Bnrren, In the county of Clare; and his danghtera as wen as
his herds were carried off by the sons of Ailell and Jiedhbh^ King and Qneen of Ckmnacht*
about the time of the Tdin Bo Chuailgni,
(114) Flidais waM thu beautiful wife of AiMl Finn, a chief and warrior of West Connacht ;
she was carried off with all her cattle, and her IiUNband killed, by FenjuM Uae Roigh, tha
exiled prince of Ulster, about the time of the Tain bo Chnailgni. Condensed copies of this
tale are to be found in tho Book of Leinster, and iu the Yellow Book of Letain (II. 3. 18i,
andll.2. 1«),T.CJ>.
(11 A) Fraech was a chief and warrior of West Connacht ; and while he was seekinf; the hand
in marriage of Finnabhair, the beautiful dani^liter of King Ailell and (jueen Medkbh, his
children and all his cAttle were carried off by a party of plunderers from the Alpine Moontahis.
There are copies of this tale in the Book of Leinattr, uud in the Yellow Book of Lecain, in
T.C.1>. ; and another in the Book of Fennoy, now in tlie iiouension of the Rev. I>r. Todd.
(1 1«) Nothing known of this tale. FitMr is a woman's name.
(117) Iherc is nothing known of these talcx
(1 Ih) This spoil was carried off from Dairt, the dsncliter of Eorkaidh, chief of Cltach, In tha
county of Limerick, by the people of AiMl ami Attiihhh, abtmt the time of the Tain B0
L'huailgn^. CopicH uf this tale are preserved in tlie Book of Leinster, and in the Yellow Book
ofZernJH, inTC.D.
(ll'J) There is nothinjr known of this tale.
(I'JO) Tills WM the celebratod (jnceii J/e/MM, or Mearc, of Connacht ; but we hare no detailed
account iireM'rveii to us of h«r cuurtxhips, of which titere were seveniL
(121) Thi« wa.f thu celvbraiiMl court ship, by Cuehulainn, of Ftntr, tlic daughter of Forgmli
Jionach uf LuMm (Lusk, in the connty of iiublin). A fhigment of it is to be fonud in
Ltabhar na h-L'i*lhrt, and I have a full copy in my possession, mude by myvelf from the MS.
liarlekan, b'im, Britl»li Ma«eum.
( iTi) Thi« was the court Nhiji i»f Ailbfi^., daughter of the monsrch Cortnac Mac Airt^ by Finn
Mac L'Hmhnill. An abMract of this tale is preserved in the MS. H. Z. 17, l.C J>.
(Vi^) 'I'he Conrt«>hip of Mtnin, or Fdain, by the monarch KocMaidh Airemh, took place aUmt
A.if rHi70. Copies of the tai^^ are to be found in the Yellow Book of Lecain (ii. 2. ISj, and in
the MS. H. 1. 19 (a pa|«r MS.) in T.C.I).
(I:r4> Nothing known of this lady or her courtship.
(126) Ferb. tiie daughter of Otrg, of Olenngrirg^ in Ulster, who was courted by Maini, one
of tlic sons of King Ail* It and Queen Afedhbh. Ihere is a fragment of tliis most curious tale
prewrred in tiie B(Kik of I^einster (H. 2. IS), T.C Ik
(126) There is nothint: l(nown of this lady or her cfiurtshlp.
(127) There is nothing known of either of the ladies Orian.
(IW) SndhbK,m feiniile pmper name, in modem times altered into "Snbina". Kothing la
known of thin laily or of her crturtMiiip.
(i2*J) These were the daughtfrs of the Monarch Tun^hci TtclUmkar, who wiire coiarted and
betrayed by Knchaidh Ard-rloann. King of Leinster, wfetHMHM'tkS wmMlihMWSd the
intllctton of the Hor<»meaii 'tribute, about a.d. Mk. 0
Hoi^k of I.eiuiitcr, T.C.U, avA iu the iiook ol Uttim, 1
58C
APPKNDIX.
j^xzix. CofrniA]\c tntiA C-puititi.
List of J
Historic'
Tales in the
Book of
Leinster.
Co6mAi\c etcVirie tlA£;Ai^e,
ingine CixiTnchAitit).
CAt TTIui^e Ctii|\eo.
•oitA C|\utnig.
Ca6 COTVAItiT).
CAt CtAii\e.
CaC Coi-oeri.
Ca6 CeTni\A6.
llAt ecAtf A Im^ummAip.
tlA* ticce b^A-OA.
tiAd be^Aig CongtAif .
The Courtship of the Wife ol
The Courtship of Eithn^ the Hateful,
the Daughter of Cnmktkami,^^*^^
BATTLES.
The Battle of Maah TuiredhS^^^
The Battle of 7ai7/cn/»»>
The Battle of Magh Afucruimh^J"*)
The Battle of Druvn Dolach, in which
the Ficts were defeated.^^'^)
The Battle of Magh RathS^^^
The Battle of CorarmM^}
The Baitle of CldirSS^^^i
The Battle of Toiden.^^*^
The Battle of TeamairM*^
CAVES (INCIOKNTB of).
The Cave of ^tn^e(/.(»«)
The Cave [or Cellar] of the Chuidi
of InchummarS^*^)
The Cave of Z^ac BladkaS^**^
The Cave of the Rood of Cu'glaiS^**^
(180) ThU, I believe, is the tale of Crmm, a fiurmer of Ulster, and bis wife Maeha, whose
curse was the cause of the Debility of the Ultonians at the time of the TMm B» dmwilfmt
She is referred to in the Dimuenehut, in the article on Ard Matha^ia the Book of Lmakm
(B I.A.) ; and the whole Ule is preserved in the Ma Harleiao, 6280, British Moseum.
(131) The daughter of Crimthann^ King of Leinster, who was wooed and won bj Aem^u^ son
of Naffraeeh, King of Munster. They were both killed in the battle of CiU-^>m*dk, in the
county Carlow, a.d. 489. No detailed account of this courtship is preserved.
(132) i.e. of Afagh Tuiredh, near Cunga (now Cong, in the county Oalway), fought between
the Firbolgs and the Tuatha Di Danann, in which the former were defeated, a Ji. 3a0S. A
copy of this celebrated talc is preserved in tlie Vellow Book of Lecak^ H. 2. 16^ T.CD.
There b a second tale, perhaps included in that named in the List in the Book of T-*»nffter ;—
the Battle of Magh TuiredJ* na bhFomhorach. This Second Battle took place at the Northen
Magh Tuiredh (in the county Sllgo), between the Tuatha Di Danann and the Fomortana, and
the Utter were defeated. Of this Battle an account is preserved in a separate tale, of which
there is a copy in MS. Uarlelan, ^280, British Museum.
(133) This Battle took place at Tailten, now called Telltown, in Meath, between the MileslaD
Brothers and the JStatha Ul Daiiann, about a.m. 3500, in which the latter were subdued. The
mere fact only of the occurrence of this battle is given in the Book of Invasions ; and there are
some detoils given In the MS. U. 4. 22., T.CD. ; but the full Ule has not come down to ms.
(134) The Battle of Magh Mucruimfii wss fought between Art, the monarch of Erlnn, and
his nephew JMac Con, a Munster prince, in which the former was slain, a.d. 196. Several paper
copies of the tale are preserved among the MSS. in the Koyal Irish Academy, and there la a
good copy in my own possession in the handwriting of Andrew M'Curtln (about 1710).
(13.5) A great battle, in which the Cruithneatu, or Picts, were defeated. No existing aooouat
of the battle is known to me.
(186) This iMtttlo was fought between the Monarch DomhnaU and Congal Claet^ and the latter
was defeated in it, a.d. 634. This tale was published with an English translation by the Irish
Archasological Society in 1842.
(137) This battle was fought in Connacht, about a-K. 4532. The Tale is loet.
(138) A battle in East Munster, about a.il 4169. The Tale is lost.
(139) There Is no account of this battle remaining.
(140) I do not know what Battle of Tara is referred ta
(141) (/atha, plural of (/atft^ a word not easily translated. Uath is evidently formed fh»
Uaimh^ a cave, or cellar ; and signifies some deed connected with, as the attaok or plunder ol^
a cave. It is only in the last name of this list {Uath Uama CrtMchan) that a difflcultv arisea,
where Uath is made to be a deed referring to the Uaimh, or Clave, of Cruachain; and 1 believe
this deed to have been the Plunder of the Cave of Cruachain by the men of Connacht in the
time of AilUl and Medhbh, as told In the old tale of Tdin Bo Aingen.
(142) This, I believe, is the Tale of the Cave of Cruachain, which is preserved onder the «*«»•
of Tain Be Aingen, in the Yellow Book of Lecain (IL 2. 16.), T.C.D.
(14.3) Not known to me.
(144) That is, the Rock, or Flagstone, of Bladh; of which I know nothing. The Tale ia loat
(145) Cu-gloi was the son oi Bonn Beta, King of Leinster, and Master of the Hounds to the
Monarch Conairi M&r. llavlng one day followed a chase from Tara to this road, the ehaae
and hounds suddenly disappeared in a cave, into which he followed, and was nevw seen
after. Hence the cave was called Uaimh Belaigh Conglais, or the Cave of the Road of Ctt-^t
(now Baltlngtass, in the county of Wicklow). It is about this cave, nevertheleaa, that ao many
of our pretended Irish antiquarians have written so much nonsense, in connection with i
APPENDIX. 587
M^t niAige llA^A. The Care of Magh Uatha.<^^)
tlAt iTlAige Iwbotg. The Cave of Magh ImbolgS^*'^
XiAt beititie ecAi|\. The Cave of Benn EdairS^*^^ Ltot of
11 At \A>dA ttJfgATi. The Cave of Locli LurganS^*^^ Htnorle
tlA* X)e|\cce VetxtiA. The Cave of iJearc /enia.(»«) bSSJS ****
n^t Vi^mA CxynAtAV). The Plunder of the Cave of Cruaeh' Leimter
imHAniA. NAVIGATIONS.
1m|WLni mjieUyoiiiii. The Nayigation of JllaelduinP^^^
Imn^ni htiA Conn^. The Navigation of the Sons of Ua
1ni|\Am tuinge mtii|\che|\cAig, The Navigation of the ship o( Muir-
mic epcA. chetirtach Mac ErcaS^^>
tonsef bpeg tei*. The Navigation of Brigh L^ithM^^
toTigcf bf ecAiti. The Navigation of BreranS^^^
tottgef tAbpA-OA. The Navigation of LabhraidhS^^^
totigef VotAiT). Tlie Navigation of FothadhJ^^^
Oicce. TRAGEDIES (oe DEATHS).
^it>eT> Co«|\tii. The Tragical Death of CMroiV***^
^it>eT> Concu tAititi . The Tragical Death of CuchulainnS^^
Ait>et> t^hip-oeAt). The Tragical Death of FerdiadAS^^)
Ait>eo CotiAiU. The Tragical Death of Conall.<^^^>
Imaglnmiy pagsn worship to which they gravely auure the world, on etjrmological authority,
the spot In qaeitton was deToted. Tbe authority for the legend of Cu-giat Is the DHm-
MoncAtit, on the plaee Bealach dmglait (Book of Lecain). The full Tale haa not come down
ftona.
(144>) Nothing Is known about either of these caves or plains.
(147) Bei$tn Edair, now the 11111 of Howth. This was the great cave In which DkumuHd and
OrakuU (the daughter of the Monarch Cormac) took refuge, when pursued by that lady's
affianced husband, /Ynn Mac CumhailL There is a copy of thia short tale in the MS. Harleian,
£280, British Mnseum.
(148) Nothing is known to me about this cave.
(1410 Now the Cave of Dunmore in the county Kilkenny. There Is an allusion to the tram-
pling to death of some sort of monster, in the mouth of this cave, by a Leinsterwoman, In a
poem on the Graves of Herocii who were killed by Leinstermen, preserved in the Book of
Leinster (H. '2. la, fol. 27), T.C.D.
(150) I have in m v own possession a poem In the Osslanic style, which gives an account of a
foot race between CtiiiU, the celebrated companion of /Ynn Jiae Cuinhaill, and an unknown
knight who had challenged him. The race terminated by the stranger running into the C^ve
of Cruachain^ followed by Cailt^ where he found a party of smiths at work ; etc. No copy of
tlie full Talc has come down to us. I think, however, that it is the Tain Be Aingtn, already
referred to.
(ICl) There arc copies of this Talc in Leabhar na h-Uidhri, and in the Yellow Book of Lt-
ea<M(U. 2. Iti.. T.C.I).).
i\M) Thia Tale is preserved In the Book of Fermoy. See account of it in Lecture XIII.
l\M) He was grandnon of that Eoghan from whom Tir JSoghain is named, and from whom
descend the Clann A'eilL See some account of him in the Irish Nennius (publ. by the Ir.
ArchaoL Soc.) ; and of his death, in the Yellow Book of Leeain (H. 2. 16. in T.C.D.). There la
a short sketch of his Navigation in the MS. U. 81 17., T.C.D., p. 798.
( UA) i e. Britjh Leith. Nothing Is known of this Tale.
(166) This Brtcan was the son of Parthalon, who came towards Erinn before hit fiather, but
was drowned with his ship In the well-known eddy called CciH Breaeain, between the north-
east coant of Erinn and (Entire in Scotland. The fact only is recorded in the DimuenehM
name (WW Brfcain) in the Book of LttaXn. The Tale is lost There la a sketch of it pre-
served in Cormac's Glossary, however, where Brtactm ia said to be the son of Makkl, aon of
Mall of the Nine Hostages. See Lect. XU., p 267.
(16«) This was Labhraidh Loinguch^ whose wanderings from Erinn to Ganl have been de-
scribed In I^ccture XII. The Tale (or an abstract of it) Is preserved in the Book of Leinster
(U. 2. IH.), and in the Yellow Book of Ueain (H. 2. 16.), T.C.D.
(167) Tills Tale is not known to me.
(168) This was the great Curoi Mac Dairi, King of West Mnnster, who was killed by the cham-
pion Cuehulainn. (See Lecture XUL) The story is told in Keathig, and a very ancient version
of the Tale is preserved in the MS. Egerton, 8H, British Museum.
(169) The Death of Cuthulainn, by the necromantic arts of the Children of Cailitin, in the
BHt!each Mhor MhaigM hlhuiHhemhni, or Great BatUe of BrUitch in Jiuirth^mne. A paper
copy of this Tale is preserved in the I'.oyal Iriah Academy. No. I. 1.
(160) KUled in fight by Cuchniainn This Tale must be part of the Tdim Bo CkuaOgmd.
(161) That is, the champion Coiuttt Ceamath, who feU at the hands of *'the Three Red-
lleeAs of Mnnster" (See Appendix III). There la a copy In the MS. H. 2. 17. T.CD.
588
APPENDIX.
LXXXIX.
List of
Historic
Tttles in the
Book of
Leinster.
-diT)et) CetccAi]^
AiT>et) toegjkiixe.
-Ai-oet) tre^vgurA.
AlT)eT) CotlCODAIlt.
Al-OeD irlllAtTlAIII.
-Ai-oet) TTlAeifAtApcAij rnic tlotiAiti.
AiT)et) Uai-os mic Ceiri.
Al-OOD ItllC SATtlAin.
ip&iX ^5^ PixbtAi.
tTeif cige t)i<iAi|\.
Ipeyx cige Cpidini.
ipe^y cige li.
Ifeif cige tme.
t:oif nge 5U1U.
t:eif nge ^tiAAi]^.
tTeif cige CTV1 mic X)emoti6AdA.
I^eif cije Aufcte.
^ei|* CpuAiATk.
jTeif Cir»iiA.
ITeif Atent>.
Veif Cem|VA.
i:eif t)uin "bott;.
Vcif t)uin budeu.
VORbOSSA.
VopbAif ecAi|v.
The Tragical Death of CeltchairS^^^
The Tragical Death of Bla Briu-
The Tragical Death of LaeghaireS^^^
The Tragical Death of FerahusS^^^
The Tragical Death of Conchobkar} »«>
The Tragical Death of FiamamJ^**^
The Tragical Death of MaeifatAar-
taighy son of JRonanS^^^*
The 'mgical Death of Tadhg, the son
of CianS^^' [aw.<»«')
The Tragical Death of Mac SamA*
FEASTS.
The Feast of the Home QiFerblmJ^^>
The Feast of the House of Bkh€tr<^^>
The Feast of the House of Tul-
The Feast of the House of Tri-
The Feast of the House of Zt.^»">
The Feast of the House of ZtW.(i«)
The Feast of the House of Gof.ciw)
The Feast of the House of GHorrS^^^i
The Feast of the House of the Three
Sons of DemonchathaS^^^y
The Feast of the House of AwcUM^^
llie Feast of the House of MtUdo-
The Feast of Cruachain/^^^
The Feast of EmhainS^^*i
The Feast of A iletm.^^^y
The Feast of 7>i/iair.»«»)
The Feast of Dunboig.'^^O)
The Feast of Dun BucheU^^*^
SIEGES.
The Siege of the Men of FalgaJ^'^^
The Siege of AWr.<i")
(162) Theite Talcs nre lost; but Keating has made nse of them in his History.
(1G8) i.e, of Conchobhar (or (V>nor) Mac A^essa. This Tale is preserved in Keating, and in
IL n. 17., p. 79+ (see Lecture XIII.).
(164) (Son of Forrai). Nothing known of this Tale.
(165) King of Lclnster, who died a d. 610. This yonng prince was slain at the tnstJgmtfcni
of his father. There is a copy of tlie Tale in the Book of Leinster (U. 2. 18), T.CD. (See back
Lecture XIII.).
(166) i.e. Tadhg, the son of Cian, son of Oilell Ohtim, King of Munster, a-I>. 266, Tills prince
was killed by a deer on the brink of the Boyne : but we have no details, the Tale being loal
(167) No account of this personage is known to me.
(168) Nothing known of these Tales .
(16») Cruachain, Emhain, and Temair were the chief royal residences in Erinn; th<«e of
the Kines of Connaoht, of i-ladh, and of Erinn. Cruaehttin was in Roscommon ; Smhmin
near Armagh ; and Temair (now called Tara), in Meath, about sixteen miles west of Dublin.
Ailenn was near Kildare.
(170) Ihtnbolg, i.e. (literally) the Fort of the Sacks. Tliis Tale, I believe, is part of the tract
on the Origin and Hirttory of the Boromean Tribute. The Feast took place a.d. 594, when
Aedh, the son of Ainmiri, monarch of Krinn, was killed at Duntolg, In or near Bailtingla*^
by Bran Duhh^ the celebrated King of Leinster [See Annals of the Four Masters, at this yemr].
(171) Dun Bucket, i.e. Buchet's Fort. Buichet was a celebrated Farmer of Leinster, who
kept an "open house" of ft-eo entertainment for all men [See Annals of the Four Masters at
A.D. 593, for some account of the Feast]. The full Tale is lost.
(172) Ft^ga was, 1 believe, an old name for the Tale of Man; and the "siege" against It was
by the men of Ulster, with Cuehulainn at their heed. There Is a trifling, obscure sketch of It
in the MS. Harleian, 52H0, British iluscum ; bnt no full copy of this Tale has come down to nn.
(173) Of Etair, or £d*iir, now the UiU of Howth. See Story of Aitkimi, Lecture XI L
APPENDIX.
589
^oi\bAi|* Aicte.
^ofbAif "OtiiTi "binni.
ITopbAif pp pT)5A.
i:o|\bAi|* Life.
^o|\bAif X)poniA X)Ani5Ai]ve,
edcpA cotiptii.
edcpA CoriculAitin,
©dc^ CotiAitU
edc^wi ConcViobAi|\.
e6c|VA C|MmcHditit> niAtidip.
e£c|\d rriAtA mgine A&OA Illicit).
eic|\A TIeicAiti Ttiic -Alfjioinn.
edrpd Aildint) mic ^111^15^10.
edc^VA pnt) A ti'Oei|\creA]^iiA-
edc|V4\ -A<yoAin mic SAOpAin.
C£rf4k mAeLuniA true bAicAiti.
C£c|V4\ fnotigAin mic p^clinA.
Aicet) ITlugAine |\e pAmAin.
^icet> X)eip'0|\iti'oe j\e ITIdCAib Hif-
TI15.
Tulet in the
Book of
The Siege of AcaillS"*^ lxxj
The Siege of Dun BarcS^^^^
The Siege of Dun BinneS"^^ Uit of
The Siege of the Men of FidhghaJ^^^^ 5*f**>?«
The Siege of the Liffey,^"^^ ^"'^ *"
The Siege of LadhrannS^^^^
The Siege of Drom DamhghaireS"*>
ADVENTURES.
The Adventures of AVa/**®)
The Adventures of /wMain.<***)
The Adventures of CiiroiV*")
The Adventures of CuchulainnS^^^
The Adventures of ConaiiS^^*^
Tlie Adventures of ConchobharJ^^^
The Adventures of CnmkUiann Nia
The Adventures of Macha^ daughter
of Aedh JiuadhJ^^^) \_A (fronn: '")
The Adventures of Xechtain^ son of
The Adventures of Ailchiun, son of
AmhahjaidL' '"> [/ear«<//»»«>
The Adventures of Finn in Dtrc-
The Adventures of Aedhany son of
Gahhran.' "O) [BaethanS^^^^
The Adventures of Matluma^ son of
The Adventures of Alont/an, son of
Fiachna.^^^)
ELOPEMENTS.
The Elopement of Mugain with Fia^
The Elopement of Deirdr€ with the
[Sonsof 6wMcc^.<«">
(174) (qu., of AcaiU, near Tara?) I believe there is nothing known about this liege.
(176) Thdt ia, tho Fort of the Ship*. Nothing is now known about thia place or aiege.
(17«) Not known.
(177) Th!a was probably the Battle of Anilemnaehta (or **New.ml]k Hill"), in the count j
Wexford, fought In the reUn of Kremoii, by Crimhthann Sciath-bhel, a Firbolg chief, agalnut
a tribe of liritons who inftfutcd the forcata of tliat country. See Dinnitnchui (on tlie name
Ard-lemhnachta), Book of Ltcain, fol. 234. The full Talc ia lost.
(178) Neither of these lit known to me.
(17!)> Uterally, the Hill of the Ux-lkllowlng ; now called Knock-long, In the county of Lime-
rick. This siege was laid by the ilonarch Cormae SfaeAirt against the Men of Munater. A
copy of the Tale in prf.<«eryed in the Hook of IJsmore, It.I.A. (see Li-cture IX.).
(IHO) This Tale is not known to me, unless it bu the Tain Bi Aingen already spoken oL
(IHI) Thbi Tale Is not known to me.
(iK-i) i.e. Curai JUac iJniri. The Talc Is not known to me.
(183) Tills probably was the champion's Jouniuy into Scotland to finish bis military educa-
tion under the lady Scatkach. If so, it is Included in the "(^ourtahip of £m«r". already
described.
(1h4) i.e. Conall Ceamach. This Tale Is not known to me. but it is spoken of la the account
of the Battle of Jiou na High, In the Book of U'ln«ter (II. 2. 18), T.C.D.
(18/i) Not known to me.
(IHA) i.e. thoHC of the monarch Ci itnhthann- Nia-Xair in Britain. See Annals of the Four
If alters, at a.u. ». No ropy of the Talc is now known.
(187) Proltahly this was her Journey into Cunnacht Sec Appendix, on the Founding of
Emnnin. The Tale is lost.
(188) Neither is known to rac.
(18») That is, of tHnn Mac Cumhaill hs tbo Care of Dnnraore, anciently called DereFeam*.
This Tale Is now lout.
(I!H)) Kins of Scotland, al yt a.ti. 67*. TiieTuJr x* not ^.ncjw si Uj me*
(I'JI) Not known to me.
<\9^) Kins of riHtcr, kllU 1 a.i> ti2K TllATil
(IW) Not known to me. ..^t-P— ^-^^^^^^^^^^^
(194) PubUshed by the G»clJcS«^el7 WlM ^^^^^^^^BiXlAvna r^f
July, 1860.
590
APPENDIX.
T)eA'0.
Li»t of Ai*eo TiAife ingen Vei\5U|'A t\e
t1eA|\cdch tn^kC Hi Leit.
HUtorie
TUesintbe
Book of
^i£et) wtiA ^AiAi|\ mic X)eii\5
Ai^et) bUxttiAice itigeti p^itt
mic px)Ai5 i\e Concul^inn.
^i^et) 5|\Airiiie |\e 'OiA|\niAit).
Aitex) mui|irie \^e T)tib|\tiif.
A\te^ nuitcc^|\iiA |\e Cuatia
niAc CAitciti.
^i^eo ei|\ce injitie toAipti |\e
'muifiT)Acli tuac eo^Ain.
Ai^ex> "Oige \\e lAi'octieii.
4Xitet> mriA -AiUIIa iwc eogAtn
A|\^Ain m 11150 CegAtd mic Ipeb^i.
A|\5Ain AtJk Vil.
Af^Ain X)utie X)T3b5'LAife.
Apg^m t)inri TliJ.
Ap54\in t)tino XJelgA.
ApjAin CtJip CoriAint).
Ap543kiti -Aiiig foix Tleic mjkC 1tit)A1.
A|V5din beUjon b|\eipii.
AixgAiii Cjkipp|\i Cinii-CAic fO|\
The Elopement of Aifi!:, the dauf^ter
of Eoghan, with AfesdeadM^)
The Elopement of A^au^, the daugh-
ter of Fergus, with NerKich^ too
of L^tf ZciM.t"*>
The Elopement of the THfe of (iroMr,
the 8OD of />era,with Glas, the ton
of Ci//i6a€<A.'»»^)
The Elopement of Blaihnait, the
daughter of Pall, son of FMack,
¥rith CuchulahmJ^^*>
The Elopement of Cratmi/with Z)wr-
The Elopement of Muim with i>ff6A-
The Elopement of Ruiikckeam with
Cuana, the son of Cat/ctn.^***)
The Elopement of Ere, danghter of
Loam, with Muir€<xdhach, the Boa
of EoghanS^^^ [cmnS»^)
The Elopement of Dighi with />im/-
The Elopement of the wife of AUtJl
the son of Eoghan^ with Fothudk
CanannS^^i
SLAUGHTERS.
The Slaughter of Magh C^ala, oS
(by) the son of FebaS^oi)
The Slaughter of Ath-hl rAthy].«w>
The Slaughterof DunDubkgUau^J^^^
The Slaughter oi lAnn BighS*^)
The Slaughter of Ath CliatJiS^^^y
The Slaughter of Dun DelgaS^^)
The Slaughter of Conaing\s TourtrJ*^'^
The Slaughter of AUech upon AVrf,
the son of IndaiS*^) [iie.^««)
The Slaughter of Belchu of £^r^i/-
The Slaughter by Cairpr/ '*Cat-head''
of the Nobles of Erinn.C»»<»)
(105) These three Tales are unknown to rae.
(IM) I preiame the same story as that classed as the ** Tragical Death of Curat Mae tMrf.
(197) A cnrrent version of this Tale has been lately pnblbhed, by the **Os«Uuilc Society",
edited by Mr. Stendish U. OGrady.
(198) Not known to inc.
(199) RuUhektam was the danghter of Aedh Bennan^ King of West Mnnster, abont ▲.!>. 60O.
{Cuana was King of Fermoy In the connty of 0>rk). There is a short copy of this Tale pre-
■enred in the Book of Leinster (H. 2. 18), T.C.D.
(200) Loam was King of Scotland. The Eftghan mentioned here was the ancestor of the
Ciml Eoghain. There is a short sketch of this Tale in the MS. H. 3. 17. (p. 798), T.CD. 5e«
the edition of Nennius, pablislied by the Irish Archseologlcal Society.
(301) This Tale is not known to me.
(202) There is an abstract of this Tale preserved in H. 8. 17., T.C.D.
(203) Ttiese three Talcs are unknown to me.
(204) See the Exile oi Labhraidh Loingtt^h (See Lecture XII.).
(205) i^. of the Ford of the Hurdles, i.e. Dublin. The Tale is not known to me.
(206*) i.e. Dnndalk. The Tale is not knoi^m to me.
(207) (>n Torry Island, off DouegaL It was a victory of the Nemedians over the Fomorians,
and is told in the Book of Invasions.
(20H) A chief of the Tuatha Di Danann^ who was surprised and slain hy the Fomorfana. The
Tale is lost.
(209) Belchu and his sons were surprised and slain by Conall Ceamaeh. The Tale Is pre-
served In MS. H.2. 17., T.C.D.
(210) This was the celebrated Revolution of the il^AeocA Tuatha, or " Attacota*\ There Is a
eopj of the Tale in the M.S. U. 3. 17., T.C.D. (See also Lecture XIL).
APPENDIX.
591
A|\^Aiti CAitVe Con^itU
.A|\^Ain mic X}Ato.
.A|\^4kin mic m^L^Aft.
Aji^Ain 81*06 tlencA.
A|\^Ain Sp^^A Cl/UAt>^
.A|\^<3iiii sieibe Soitgei.
Ajx^^^m fiAtA Hi^Udij^t).
A|xgAiii lidtA tluifgtiitU
Af^Aiti Xl&tA CtiAige.
^|\j;Ain KAtA UtiAifLe.
^|\gdiii XlAtA. Cob^^c^
^|\^Ain flA^A CitnfritU
^{v^Ain XiAtA Cuince.
^|\^4iiii KAtA Cuitteno.
AJ\5Aiii C|U>£An.
An^Ain CA(|Vdi6 t)oi|\6e.
^^^Ain XlAtA X}\^^.
A|\g43Jii 1id6d 5aiIa.
AfgAin IIaCa Hittne.
A|\gAin XlAtA tlAif.
AfgAiti XlAtA betitie Ce.
Ap^diti XlAtA 5ui|M5.
bi^sftAtig Scoinc.
^ipt>e£c ^^ui|\«
(^mdit f)fvini-fcetA t)iiA. Aiptni-
clie|\ riA fceUi fo pf .1. ConiA^mA,
octif pf, ocur Se|vcA, ocuf SttiA-
5it>, ocuf CocnoniUx'OA .1.
CoTfiAi-Din toiA e*A6.
TklesinU
Book of
Lelmter
The Slaxighter by Eehadk of Mb
8on8.c*»») [iw«.(*»*)
The Slaughter of the Wood of Co- LMof
The Slaughter of [St.] Iknman of 2^f^
-£'^.(«">
The Slaughter of l/oc Daiho.^^*)
The Slaughter of the Soni of Ma-
The Slaughter of Sidh iVe«<o,c")
The Slaughter of Srath Cluadafl^^)
The Slaughter of 5A'a&A SoiigtchS*^^^
The Slaughter of RtSdth RighhardS^^^^
The Slaughter of Rdith RosgmlW^^
The Slaughter of Rdith Tuaiah€S^^^
The SUughter of i^a»^A Tuaukm^y
The Slaughter of /?rf#V/i TohachtaSxiX)
The Slaughter of /^aiM TimchiUS^iy
The Slaughter of /2a»VA Cuinu€.^»i^
The Slaughter of i^wiM CMt/A?iin.<Mi)
TheSUiughterof/2«M CrocAaui/m)
The Slaughter of C'aMairi3oircA^.(«")
The Slaughter of Rdith /?/«*.(«">
The Slaughter of Rdith Gaila,<«»^
The Slaughter of i^di^ UUIn^S^^
The Slaughter of the Rdith of
The Slaughter of the Rdith of Binn
The Slaughter of /^rfrfA Gramird.^^^y
The Slaughter of /fa'i/A BuirighS^y
The Treachery of ^ijcowc/W)
The Visitation of [King] Arthur/"')
(It is as Prime Stories these below
are estimated; namely, IrruptionB,
and Visions, and Loves, and Expe-
ditions, and Marches, namely :
Tlie Irruption (rf Loch Echach,^*'^)
(211) i.e. EochAidh Feidhhch. ThU waa the Battle of Ath Cumair. A copy ia presenred in
tbeMS. Na 1. 1. ; (II. andS.) K.LA.
(212) Not known to roe.
(2l:i) Eg waa an inUnd in the Ilebridea, In which St Donnan waa mutyred (aee F4Hri
Aenguia, at April 17). The Tale is lost
(214) See note on Dubhthach't land {ante^ App. III.).
(21.'i) Theite were Connachtmen of the time of AiUll and Siedhhh. The Tkle la loat.
(216) Thlk waa a fairy mansion in (}onnacht. of which SignuiH waa the lord. Thla man waa
charged with the murder of the Monarch Eochaidh Airtann, a.m. COM; and I beliOTe the
almnvhter of hia people by the men of Erlnn waa the conae^ocnoe (aee the Cathreim of King
DatM).
(217) Now Strath Clyde in Scotland. Nothing Is known to me of thla partlcoUr Tale.
(218) i.«. Sally-Hill; a place not known to me. The Tale is lost.
(21ft) This was one of the earliest Ulleslan Courta; but I know nothing of Ita "Slanghter".
The Tale is lost.
(220) Tlierc is no record of this " Slaughter^ that I know oL
(221) These aeven Tales arc all of them unknown to me.
(222) In Uie county I>own. Tills Tale must be a i^rt of (he "Trlnmpha of Congal Clairin-
gntcK" (this hero was monarch of Erinn. A.M. 6017). Of the laat mentioned piece there la a
copy in tlie M.S. claANcd II. and S. No. 20a, in K.LA.
(22;)) These four Talcs are now unknown.
(224) U. the Peak of V4. The Tale la now unknown.
(22.'>) Not knt lu n.
(220) liurach was an ancient chieftancy In Ulster. Thla Tale howerer is not 1
(227) 'I his, I think, was a IMctiah Tale, but it is not known to me.
(228) Not known.
(229) i,e. Loch Ncagh. See the JHnnunthut on the word Loch n^Eehath 4
foL ii'J).
592
APPEKDIX.
Lxxxix. ConiAit)ni U)6a ei|\tie.
List of Pt wtiA neiinit>,
Historic Cir Concliob^in [.i. CofiwAnc V^n-
T«le»intha "^ \,e?] » •• '
LSnstor. Pr Cuitit) .1. bAile in ScaiU
Pr v«rr<^
Sefc CAttije t)cf|\e -oo Ipo^At)
CVlAnAtlT).
Sep c X)ubitAfiA -00 monrATi.
Se|\c Sopml-Aite -oo tliALU
SttiAgiT) AugAine moi|\ co liecAit.
sLtid^-o "OacVii CO StiAb netpA.
StuAgit) rieitb mic e6A6 co mtii|\
16c.
StUAJlT) pAdriA TtllC b^iCAin CO X)II11
Ti^uAipe 1 SAXAfiAib, octif pixini-
fttijigit) Tiejxenn otdetiA.
cochonibAX)A.
CofiomtAt) pA|\cVioVoin "oo cum
nepenn.
CodonitAt) nertiiT) co lie|Miin.
CodonitAt) trlieix nibolg.
CodomlAt) CuAte X)e X)AiiAn'0.
CofiortitAt) tnite itiic "bite co liCf-
pAin.
CodomlAt) mViAC mitit) A liefpAin 1
tieiMnn.
Codowl^'o C|\uitne6 a Ci\acia co
Tiepmn, ocuf a codoritAt) o he-
|\inn CO li4XiDAin,
The Irraption of Loch Eim^S^^^
The Virion of the Wife of NeimklhS**^^
The Vision of Conchobhar<sijy [qa:
[5c€iW«*)
the Tochmarc Feirb^f]
The Vision of Conn, i.e^
The Virion of FursaS*^>
Baii^ an
The Lore of CaUIcch Berr^ for Fo-
ifiadh ChotytntiS*^> [ffan,'''^)
The LoYe of Duhhlacha for Mon-
The Love of Gonulaith for Xialh^^
EXPEDITIONS.
The Expedition of Uaain^ 3fur to
Italy/««> [pine Mountains^'*')
The Expedition of Dathi to the AI-
The Expedition of Ntali, son ofFoch-
aidh, to the Ictian Sea.t*«<»
The Expedition of Fiachna, the son
of Batdan, to Dun Gutiire in Bri-
tain, and the prime Expeditions of
Erinn be8ide{i.(s«i>
PBOGRESSES.
The Progress of ParAolan to
Erinn.'«»«
The l^rogressof *V(Ci;«i<tt to Erinn'***'
The Progress of tlie FirbohsS***^
The Progress of tlie Tuatha Dc Da-
nam ^"4> [of Biftf, to Spain/«h:^
The Progress of Mi/^, [Mileaius.] son
The Progress of the Sons of Mi%' [or
MilesiusJ from Spain to EriiinJ-*"'
The Progress of the CntitAneans
[Picts] from Thrace to Erinn; and
their progress from Erinn to Al-
bain/*«>
(230) In the JHnntenchtu, (Book of Ballymot€, foL 209).
(281) Not known to me.
(282) i.e. Conehobhar, or Conor, MacNeua, King of Ulster; (qu. In the Courtship of Fft\
daughter of Gerg, in the Book of LcinBter, fol. 189?).
(283) The Vision of Conn of the lluudred Buttles. See Lecture XVIII.
(284) Tills Tale is not known tome.
(235) A Tale of the third century; not now known. See back In this List of Tales:—
the last of the Aithf.da, or Elopements, ante^ p. 590.
(286) Mongan was King of Ulster, and slain a.d. 622. There is a copy of this Tale in the
Book of Fermoy, in Dr. Todd's possession.
(2.-l7> Tills is the Tale of Queen Qormlaith referred to in Lecture VL
(238) About A.M. 4590.
(239) A.D. 428. There is a copy of this Tale in my possession.
(240) A.D. 405. Some account of this Expedition is preserved tn the Book of Ballymote.
(241) About A D. 580, Baedan was King of Ulster. Of this Expedition there is some account
in the Book of Lecain.
(242; This is given in the Leabhar Gabhala.
(243) Given in the Leabhar Gabhala.
(244) The coming of the Firbolgs into Erinn; given in Leabhar Oabhala^ and aU« in the
Tract on the Battle of Uagh Tuiredh.
(245) i.e. into Erinn ; also given in the Leabhar Gabhala.
(244!) Given in the Uabhar Gabhala. Mile, or iiUeadh, Latinised **MUesins".
(247) Given in the Leabhar Gabhala.
(248) Given also in the Leabhar Gabhala. And as to the Plots, see the Irish rersion of Kcn-
nlns, published by the Irish Archaeological Society, 1848.
APPENDIX. 593
Codomtdt) U)ii5p pqxguf A a liUU The Progress of the Exile of Fergus lxxxix.
CAib. out of Ul8ter/««>
Co6onitA'0 mtifC|\Aire x>e ITlAit The Progress of the 3f ujcn^'aiw into Ll»t of
"bpecoiti. Maffh BreagainS^^ [aiV.(»i) ?j[f^l5 ^^
Co6omLAT) HA ti"Oep o cliein|\Ai5. The rrogress of the Deisi from Tern- Book of
CocomtAt) Ctoiririo ecliAd TTIuiJ- The Progress of the Sons of Eochaidh Lelniter.
wc^oin A TTIiT)e. MuigluHhedhoui out of Meath.C***^
CoeomlAt) CAit)5 tnic Cein o Cai- The Progress of Tadhg, son of Cian
nuU [son of OUUl Ohniii\, from Cashel
[into Mcath.T**^>
CoiomtAT) X)Ait TliACAi 1 HAtbAin. The Progress of the Dail Rlada into
Ocuf in m |\o hope ocuf |\o bi6 Scotland.^*"^ And all that were kil-
ocuf AcbAt. til fill TiA'oiomjne led, and wounded, and died. He is
cotTiAtA^nAt) fceuA uite. no poet who does not synchronize
and harmonize all the stories.
APPENDIX No. XC. [Lect. XIII., Page 276.]
Of the place of the Death-wound of ConcobAjA ITIac lleffA. Death of
The clearest authority, as to the place where Conchcbhar^ or Mae Neua,
Conor Mac Ncssa, received the blow which was the eventual cause
of his death, is that of Father Michael O'Clery, the chief of the
" Four Masters". The follo%ving marginal note, in his handwriting,
occurs in the Index to the Martyrology of Donegall, the MS. of
which is among those preserved in the Burgundian Library at
Brussels : —
b^ile Ac in iliACAi]! i cCinel piAcliAi-b, aca UempAlt
•Oai-oi .1. bAil Ap buAileAt) inncmn ITlen^e'bpA Ap ChoncobAp
TI15 ntllAX).
[translation.]
" The Town of the Ford of the Cast, in Cinel Fiachaidhj where is
Temple Bdidhi, i.e. where the brain of MesgedJira was struck upon
Conchobhar [or Conor Mac Nessa], the King of Ulster".
[For an account of the occurrence referred to, see post^ Appendix
No. CLVI. The spot referred to is now Ardnurcher, barony of
Moycashel, county of Westmeath, sheet 31, Ordnance Map.]
APPENDIX No. XCI. [Lect XIII, Page 293.]
Original of stanza in a Poem of S. THocotmos about the 11 a sum* m
Co]\|VA {from the Book of Fertnoy^foL 105). corrl
Ua COp|AA -00 CllOntlACCAlb
gAn cime ppiA conn-poprAib,
Of 5piAn niA|\A TTiongAip-cpein
>Ap pop ATlAOip longAncAig.
(249) That is, of Ferghu* Mac Roigh, out of Ulster Into Connacht This Tale is lost.
(•i:>0) In Tipicrary.
(2.'>l) There is an account of this In Leabharna h-Uidhri; and another in the Book of
Leinst«r, fol. 208. b.
(2'>2) Related in a poem by Flann of Monasterboico. Copy in my poaaetsion.
(2.')3) Related in the BatUe of Crinna, in the Book of Uimore, R.I.A.
(9M) Not known to me.
38
594
APPENDIX.
FenUn
Poems.
App.»<^"- APPENDIX No. XCII. [Lect. XIV., Pages 302, 303.]
/SSIT'iiSc Originals of the first lines of six Poems attributed to Ipinn ITIac
CumhaOL CutflAltt.
" tige gtiiU 1 triAit tUittie".— [B. of Leinster; (H. 2. 18,
r.ai>.);/oM59.i.a.]
" In liA no cheiljin 'oo Sl^er". — [Ib.,foL 153. 6. aj
"InmAin cAini5 6 chijicenn . — [Ib.^foL 153. 6. 6.J
" Rof m-biAoc m-oitj if con<M|A cuAn". — [lb,,foL 21 1. a. 6.]
"tTI6|\ in jnim t)o i^gneAi!) funt)". — ^[ii&.,/o/. 211. b. 6.]
" Ponnocc "oo -dinn a 'OhtAuim 'Oe^n . — [B. of Lecain, fol.
231. 6. a.]
APPENDIX No. XCm. [Lect. XIV., Pages 306, 307].
Original of first line of a Poem attributed to PejAjuf f^^^^^o^^i
Uie son of pnn ITIac CutfiAilt (from IDinnf eAncur, fa the
^^Book of Bally mote'\ fol. 202 a. a) ; and of first tine of a
Poem attributed to CAitce IUac HonAin {from the "Oinn-
feAncuf , in the ^^Book of Ballymote'\ foL 200. 6. a. ; and
the ''Book of Lecaiii\ fol. 236. a. 6.).
" Uip^AA SeAnjAiMTinA f o a f nA]"". —
" Cti'6n<\ cein-opnt), buAn in b6x)''. —
APPENDIX No. XCIV. [Lect. XIV., Page 308-11.]
rae/ va Original of passage from the -AgAlUxTTi nA SeAnojtAC concerning
MdJheUd^ Cdeb tlA rieAmnAinn a7wZ <A^ faciy CiAe-bi (/row ^ jBooJfe o/
credhi. Lismore,fol 206. 6. a.).
UtiiAtif ACAtn •oiA hAine
5e*6ec If Atn p\\ Ai'oe
Co cech Cjie-oi ni -pnim fUAil,
tie liucc m cfteibe Anoip-cuAix).
AcA A cinne'6 "bAtn "but Ann
gu Cfe-oi A CichAib -AnAnn,
Co |\AbA|\ Ann fo -oeAci^Aib
Cec|iA tA octjf teic f* eAchcmuin.
-Aibinn in cech in aca
^x>^\i pjiA If niACA If mnA,
l-oif "bpuix) ociJf Aef ceoit,
l-oif •OAitium If -doiff eoif
lx)if gitt/A f ctji|A nAc fceinn,
Octjf ^\onnAif e f e jAoinn ;
-Aca a comAf pn tube,
xXg Cf^-bi fint), fobc-biii'6i.
APPBHDIX. 595
hwd Aibtnn •6Atfif a riA -oun, ap. xcit.
l-Oljl totcAlg OqUf dtt^TTl, cuel Urn
mAt)Ait t)o C|tei6i 1^0 cU)f , i^SIudi
bu-b Aibinn t)ATfi mu ctiti|tof. ^S^du.
SictiAt A1C1 A pt fug rub,
-Af -oo gn^cd AbUvi [bj^Ai ?] ^ub,
X)Ab6A gUxine, gAiji -deAfCA,
CupAin Aice If CACiTTi-eAfq^A.
-A X)Ai ATTlAp '6At An Aeit,
Coitcig ecti|t]AA ocuf Aein,
Si-OA ecintjux If bpAc 50|Ani,
'Oe|\5 6]A ecupiux tf jUxn cojAn.
A 5|AiATiAn, A ctoc CUljAe,
X)'a|\cac ocuf "o'cit oun6e,
Uuigi '6]ttiiTnne6 5<\n •oo6niA,
X)'eiab -donnA if 'dejAj co]\c|aa.
X)hA tn^fAin tiAini'6i ax)ci,
-A cottitA, ni •oo6)VAtt) hi,
-Ai|icec eclirtA ciAti |ao cU)f ,
In cjiAnt) bui nA foii'oo|AOf .
Cac1iai]i ChjieiToi "ooc tAirfi cti,
b^ fUAjtCA fA fl1A)\CA hi,
CAf Ai|\ tingle T)'6]t CAtpA,
IpA COfinb A CAeiTTI teptA.
tcAbAi-o tiJCAUt 'nA Vine
fuit Of cinn nA cacai|m,
X)o f onAt) AC Unite tAi^i,
X)'6\\ biJiibe If •00 tic lojniAHi.
VeAbAit) eite x>ox> tAini -deif ,
T) o|i If t) A]\CAC gAn eifteif ,
Co pubuitt CO [peltAio] mbu^A
Co CAcni-ftACAib cpe-ouriiA.
An ceglAch aca nA C15,
Af 'ooib Af Aibne f o chin
In-OAC gtAf A, ftimA A mbjiuic,
Ac cAf A pnnA a f0|\-fintc.
X)o coi-oetcAif p\\ gonuA,
Con A CACf CAlb Ct\01TI-f0lxA,
He h6nuiD fi-di ac f lAnAn
Of b6iAt)tiib A gtAn gh^MAnAn.
ItlAtj Am buiwt:r<^ tJon iiniAi.
•Do
nii
596 AppBimix.
AP. xcrr. XD^-d Ait te hin^in ChAi|tb|te,
^^^^^^ ni-OAm cuijAfe A|i coip CAipx)e,
Cu TiAbrvA vein mm Aour,
cr4dhL If TTio moijAan •OOt) tU|\Uf .
Cex) ciAAigit) 1 C15 Chpei-bt '
O'n ctjiii|\ gu |K)ic A 6eite,
If pcic civAigit) comuif
-A teicec a •oeg-'bopuif .
xX hu-onAcc If A CU151
ID'eicib 6n njojim if mbtin6i
-A htjffCAf chAip AC cobAf ,
X>o 5tAin If "oo cAffTTi ocaL
Cechf A huAicne um 5A6 teAbAi'6,
'0*6f tf T) A]ACAc c6|\-necAif,
gem jtAine ei-oif 5A6 uAicne,
n'l'OAc cenn AtifUAifce.
X)AbAc Ann "oo cf vjAn fUvcA,
-A pteAnn yw^ f uajac bfActiA,
xXbull Of cinn nA •OAibce
Co niniAc A tjAomchAif ce.
In tiAi]i VincAf cofn Cbiteii!)!,
X)o TTiig nA -OAbcA -o^ne,
Utucit) ipn cofn co cefc
Ha cec|\A hubtA a nAeinfeA6c.
An ceAcpAf ut) x)0 tiAiftneA'o
Giiigic A|A in fficlroAileArfi,
UAbf AC T)on ceAtjiAf Anunn
X)eoc 5A6 p\\ ocijf ubAtb.
In ci jA CA1C pn uili,
1*01f C|1A15 OCUf tiJltl,
tluc C]\ei'6i A cutchAib cpi mbeAnn,
Gf) upcAif x>o TTinAib GijAeAnn.
X^y6 funn cuice, ni cf 05 CAf
Hi 5|ief btjigci CO buAcbjiAf ,
• Co Cjiei-bi cf iitAij AbiJf ,
bti-o ttichAi|t t6 mo tuf iJf .
Uii|\iif.
OciJf If Af fo •00 cuAmAif ne 'oo ctif CacIia Pinn-citAghA,
octjf AcconncAiTiAf octAC x)o Tnuinncip pnn T)Af ninnf A15116
.1. CAet cjio-bA, cet)-5uinech Ua lleAmnAinn. CAn Af a caha-
ctjif A ChAeit, Af prin. >Af m bfug bf AenAC acuait), Af CAet.
C|i6c "00 lAfAif Ann, Af pnn. 'O'ACAttAini THuifin'oe, in-
line X)eif5, mo Tfiuime f6in. Cix) a AX)bAf pn, Af finn
Af bitin ieAnnAin cpx)e, ocuf Af •o-nuACAif , ocuf cofAt> Aif-
APPENDIX. 597
tinge .1. C|Ae^e, ingen CliAHAb|ii ChneAfbAin, ingen |ti§ Ci^p- ap. xctt.
EAige LuAcpA. In bfeA'Dj^Aif a Ch^eil, A|t pnn, conit) hipn (»««/ ra
Ain-tfieAllcont b<\n Cijienn, o|i if cejtc fee niAich a n6|tinn ^^^JhTuSy
nA|\ bpec cum a 'ounAi'o octif a •oeg-Ajtuif . Octif in pv^\i Cr^dM,
cu 5<\ coniA lAfUf A]A CAC, <\]A C^el. X)© fe-OAf , a]\ jTinn .1.
Jibe A5 ATTibeit -00 -dAn, no 'o'filitiecc "OUAn x)o ■oenATii -61,
ocuf cuAfUfcbAib A ctjAC, octjf A co|in, octif A CUpAt), OCUf
A hi An, OCUf A hAi|ix)-teAfDA|A, OCUf A ]\i5-tech \<o in6|t. -Aca
uptum AcuTTif A, A|i nA cAbAijic 'OATTi o 1Tlhui|unn ingen t}ei|t5,
om buime fein, [a]i CAet].
[UTERAL TRANSLATION.]
And it was from this we went to fight the battle of Finntrdigh; and
we saw a warrior (one) of Finn's people coming towards us, namely,
Caei, the valiant Cf Neamhnainn, ** Where hast thou come from,
Caelf** said Finn, " From the teeming JBinigh, from the North",
said CaeL "\Miat didst thou seek there?" said Finn. "To con-
verse with Muirinn^ the daughter of Derg^ my own nurse", said
CaeL " What was the cause of that ?" said Finn, " On account of
an enchanting favourite, noble wife, and the fruits of a vision, namely,
Credhi^ the daughter of Cairbre, the White-skinned, the daughter
of the kings of Ciarraighe Lvachra'\ " Dost thou, O CoeZ", said
Finn^ " know that she is the chief deluding woman among the women
of Erinn ? for scarce a valuable jewel in Erinn that she has not
inveigled to her court {Dun) and beautiful residence". " And dost
thou know what conditions she puts to each person?" said Cad,
" I do", said Finn ; " namely, whoever should have the gift, or
poetic genius to compose a poem for her, and describe her bowls and
her (drinking) horns, and her cups, and her pans, and her (other)
noble vessels, and her very great kingly house". '' I have it ready,
having brought it with me from Muirinn^ the daughter of Derg^ my
own nurse", [said CaelJ]
APPENDIX No. XCV. [Lcct. XIV., Page 315.]
Of the ancient monuments called C|A0Tntec. ot Cromlechs.
The subject of the remarkable monuments popularly but im-
properly called " CroTfdechs** (including those to which modem story-
tellers have fancifully aj)plied the name of Leabacha Dhiarmada agua
Ghrain7ie\ or Beds of Diantiaid and Grainne), is too extensive and
too important to admit of a conii)lete and satisfactory notice in a
short note. It will, besides, come to be discussed in full in its proper
place in the Course of Lectures I am now engaged in, — On the Life,
Customs, Manners, etc., of the ancient Gaedlul.
content myself here with the mere statement of my (
ing all these monuments, — that they never were int
were used as Altars, or places of Sacrifice, of any ]
1 in, — On the Life,
598 APPSHDIX.
App. 3[CY. were not in any sense of tlie word "Druidical'' ; and that they were,
muda ^ ®v^^ instance, simple Sepulchres or Tombs, each marking the
* grave of one or of several personages.
APPENDIX No. XCVI. [Lect. XV., Page 325.]
Authority Original of passage in the " Tripartite Life"" of St. Patrick
l[>omhnath (fill/ copij^ f. 102 ', Egertou MS., 93, British Museum, p. 26),
^^'^^'^ describing the presentation by him to S. TTIac CA|\tAinn of
Hie relic called the X)omn<\c -Antgix).
Til cA|\Aill p^rpAic in HIacIiai X)in chtn^pn, a6c tfco t)o
choit) 111 q\ich tlA CpemcAitTo. popocAigefCAji cettA, ocuf
congbAtA Ant). V^cc Ann occ cui'oecc "oo Pac^vmc tjo
Chlocu|A AnciKMC, -OA fUA|^CA1b A c^Aen-fep T)Ap •oo^VAit) Ant)
.1. e^:)fcop tTlAC CAi]\c1iint). Iffet) At)]AiibA]ic lAp cupcbAib
pAqvAic: Uc, uch. Itlu IDebiAotj ot Pacivaic, ni bu gnAch
in yocutfin t)o |v\t) t)uicpti. Am i^eno^A, ocuf Am tobujt,
ol epfcop ITIac CAi]\chint). ^AjuxcbAipu mu comAtcu hi
cettAib, ocuf \x\e\y\ y\\o\' yoi^ conAip. poctiigebfA, t)AnA,
ob Paujaaic, hi citt nApA \\o ocuf , a]i nApA t)imicniti, mpA
]\o ciAn t)AnA, copoA|"CA]\ imniAchigit) eq\ont). Ocuf |:x)|t-
ACAib pAupAic lApum, C^D]xop ITIac CAijAchint) hi Ctocnti]^
ocu]' in 'OomnAcn aijajic teif, t)o ]iAbAt) t)o pAC|\Aic t)o
Tlim, t)iA mboi ^o\\ mtiij\ oc rumedjc t)o cum n6]\enn.
APPENDIX No. XCVII. [Lect. XV., Pages 329, 330.]
Prayer of Original of first stanza of the Prayer of Saint Cobum Cibbe
Sw""^ (teAbA|i buit!>e tecAin, MS H. 2. 16. TCB., col 320).
lTl'oenu|\An t)Am if in j'biAb,
A ]M5 5]iiAn ]\op f ojiAt) i^et),
llocA n-eAgbAisi t)Am ni,
11a t)A m-beint) c|ii pcic c6t).
»s°to tho'^ ^^^^'*^^ "'^^^ 7Vaw5/a^i(?n o/ passage concerning the Ca^ac, in
Caiha€h. U'DonnelVs Life of S. Cobtim Cibbe (MS. classed 52.2.,
R J. A., page IDG).
An Cacac imopjio, Ainm An beAbAijA r^ief a crtijA^ An cAch^
ocuf Afe A|^ A|it)-inionn aj Cobum Cibbe, i cUip ChonAibb;
ocuf ACA ye a|i nA cnmt)Ac t)'AHA5iot>, ocuf ni t)beA5A|t a
fofgbAf), A5Af t)A ccugcAp c^ii hiJAipe t>eipob 1 ccimciobb
fbnAi5 Chineb ChonAibb Ag t)ub t)o cum CAtA t)oib, Af
t)UAb 50 cciucfAit>i|^ |:a buAii!); ocuf An ucc ConiApbA, no
cbeijiis 5An peACAt) niAjibcA ai]i (mAp Af feA^ip Af feit)n\
beif), Af c6i|i An Cacac vo he\t A5 cimciobbAt) An cfbuAij
pn.
APPENDIX. 599
[translation.] AP.3LCT
The Cathctchj indeed, is the name of the book on account of which ^^uj^rtti
the battle was fought; and it is it that is Colum CilWa high relic m to Om
in Tir ConaUl; and it is ornamented (or covered) with silver, and ^'"^****'
it is not lawful to open it ; and if it is carried three times to the
right around the army of the Cen€l ConaiU when going to battle, it
is certain that they would come out of it with victory ; and it is
upon the breast of a Comharba^ or a Priest without mortal sin upon
him (as well as he can), it is proper for the Cathach to be at going
round that army.
APPENDIX No. XCVIII. [Lect. XV., Page 331.]
Original of Inscription on the Shrine of the CAtA6. sbrine oi
0R01U "00 C-Achb^p^A Ua IDomnAill U\f i n'oepnA'O in
cumcAch [fA] octif X)o Sicc|muc voac ITleic -Ae-OA "oo i^igne,
ocuf 'oo 'Oom[nAtt] TTIac RobAjACAig, "oo coTnA]\b<\ CenAnn|'A
Uxf 1 TToeiAnAt).
APPENDIX No. XCIX. [Lect. XV., Page 334.]
Original of entry in tlie Annals of UigenriAC, concerning tlieThe CuUi
CuitebAX) (at A.D. 1090). (MS. H, 1. 18., T.C.D) {fJl,„
ITlionno CottiiTn Citte .i. Ctog tia Rig, ocur An Chuitte-
bAig, ocuf in •OA f oiYceto x>o r^bAipc, a 'C\\\ Cnonoitt, ocuf
f ecu p etc tjinje 'd'ahijid'o; ocuf Aonguf Ua 'OottinAiitAn
Iffe "OOf pUC ACUAlt).
APPENDIX No. C. [Lect. XV., Page 335.]
Original (with Translation) of reference to a Cuite]:A'6 of Saint J^cu«*
Ctfiin (in a vellum iWS. of the year 1463, in the Library ofst£^it
the Royal Irish Academy, classed 43. G.^fol. 17).
trio Cacca|\ cAit) bit) CAitme
P|M cAin If ppi com<M|\5e,
De|\A|\ tinn, |:o "oco gjie-oAn,
ITlo cUv|A }y tno CuitebAt).
[translation.]
My pure quatuor (Gospels) is strong,
For law and for sanctuary ;
We bestow, they are good for your valour,
My clar (calendar ?) and my CuilefadJi,
APPENDIX No. CI. [Lect. XV., Page 336.]
Original (with Translation) of passage from the LeAbAp buiibe Ofttie
tecAin (H. 2. 16., r.C.Z>., col 312), concerning the tTlifAe. ^^"^
[According to this authority, Muircheartach Mac Erca, monarch
of Erinn, who died a.d. 526, having been captivated by Sihy a Benr
Sidhe [Benshee], drove his own wife Duaihhsech and her children
600
APPEHDIX.
Of the
JiUach,
()f the
BachaU Im.
and friends of the Cenel ConaiU and Eoghain out of the palace of
CUUech on the Bojne. The Queen went to St. Caimech of TuHen,
who took them all under his protection, and : —
Ro ejXAin C<M|tnech c|va in t)un Annpn ocuf -po benriActi
toco Ann, octif CAinic Aff iA|\pn robiAon, octJf f Acoipp. Ro
|UMX)fec ummoiApo, Ct^nnA lleiti fl^if : bennAtg pnne, ot-
pAC AnofA, A cle]Ai5, con'oigpum v^\^ ayt fepn, UAi|t nt
cincAc pnne |\iiic.
Ro bennAij CAi|Ane6 iac octif |to f AgAib f AgbAtA T>6ib .1.
t)o ctAnt)Aib ConAilL octif CogAin : In uai|\ nAc biAt) Ai]ie-
6Ar C]\enn, no a pge acu, a ]td|vaicc fO|\ ca6 cuice-b tia cim-
teiXj ocijf comA]\bA]^ Oitij, ocuf UempA6, ocup tltAt> acu;
ocuf can cuA|\AfCAl •oo 5AbAit o ncAch, Ap ife a lAUi-obef
pepn ^151 nCpenn ; octif cen gtAf fon 51 Alt, ocuf mcAt fop
nA giALtti •01A nebAt) ; ocuf buAit) CAcriA acu acc go uuca'o |:a
AX)bA]A 001]!, octif CO ]AAbAc cp Hiejiri ACU .1. in Ch ACAch ; octif
in Ctoj pA-of A15 .1. [cbog] in U-OAcncA; octif in tTlifAch CAiyt-
nig; ocuf no biAX) a fAc pn uite Att oen mint) t)ib |\e hti6c
CAtA, ATTIAll |10 f AgAlb CAn\neA6 •0010.
[translation.]
Saint Caimech then cursed the palace, and blessed a certain
place there, after which he departed from it in grief and sadness.
The Clanna Neill said to him then : Bless tis, said they, O Cleric, that
we may depart to our own country, for we are not guilty towards thee.
Caimech blessed them, and he left them gifts, i.e. to the clanns
of Coiiall and Eoghun, that when they would not have the sove-
reignty of Erinn or its monarchy, that their power should extend
over every province around them ; and that they should have the
successorship of Oilech, and Temhair, and Ulmdh; and that they
should not receive wages from any person, because the sovereignty
of Erinn was tlieir own absolute right ; and that no hostage of theirs
should require to be locked ; and that such hostages should decay if
they eloped ; and that victory of battle should be theirs, provided
they gave it in a just cause ; and that they had these three standards,
namely, tlie Cathach; and the Cloc Phatraic; and the Misach Chatr-
nigh; and that the virtue of all these should be upon any one relic
of them against battle ; such as St. Caimech left them.
APPENDIX No. CII. [Lcct. XV., Page 338.]
Of the bACAtb Ifu, or Staff of Jesus, (Tripartite Life of
St, Patinck; my copy^ p, 17; Egerton Mo. 93, JBritish
Museum, p. 5).
The following is the ancient tradition respecting the BachaU Isu, —
how this great relic was originally obtained by St. Patrick, — from
the Tripartite Life :
CebebjtAf pAUf Aic x>o gefiriAn lAjipn, ocuf x)obepc beno-
APPENDIX. 601
A6u^n t)6, ocuf t)o •oechAi'o fenoi|i CAijiife teif o 5^^ai^ afp. en.
f|iiAitn6oitnec, ocuf fjMAcefCAf , Sejeauf a Ainm, ocuf q, tj,e
fACAjAC O 511<V6, OCUf he no bit f|M V\V0M neACAiLp f|M UmTTI BwshaUIm,
ge^MiiAiTi. lytiit) Pac|aaic lAjAutn |ro]\ muni, nonbAjA itin. Ij*
Annfein |\otAA inninp cotiaici a cec nue ocuf in tAnAmuin
inoiat) Ann, ocuf connAccAi fencAni cpin in-ooiiAi* in agi
ron A tAiTiAib. Cix) •OAAf in CAitte6, ot Pac]iaic, if moji a
iobjAA? Pt^irpost^AC int)ocLAch ocuf ifre-b |\o itA-oi: 6a
•OAmj'A pn, ot int)octAc; mAt)A mAtAiji, oife, a ctepj, inA-
injmife Ac^etep u, if tobfu p-oi -ooiimip. Cia c|\tit a^aa Lat)
pn, ot Pau|\aic? Til AnnfA a in-oip, ot in-ooctAc. -AcAAm
jninn o Amfe]\ Cpifc. IDo A|\Aitt Af ■oocbiim -oiAmbAi icnt
•ooinib bi fof , cont)e|inf Am fteit) -oo. t)ennA6Aif a^a cej-
•oAif ocuf fonben-OAc fA-oeifpn, ocuf ni cA|AAitt in ben-
•OAccti pn A]i ctAnnA; ocuf beimini cen AOf cen e]ic]AA pinn
CO b]\At, ocuf if f OCA o ]io cAni[n]5ef ex) •oun, ot inx)octAC, 'oo
ctii'oeccfti ; ocuf f Af ACAib 'Oia tinn cont)i5efCA "oo pjiAicepc
■DO jAe-oetAib ; ocuf fOfACCAib comA]itA tinni .1. bA^oitt, "OO
CAbAiiic •ouicpu. til gebfti, ot pACfAic, CO cAp-OA fein a
bAchoitt t)Am. -AnAif Pac]iaic cpi tA ocuf c^n Ait)cbi occo,
ocuf tint) lAjifein hi StiAb hepmoin hi fAit nA inp; co ]io
AfX)pAi5 -oo in Coim-oiu hi fuit)iii, ociif conejibAifc piif cecc
X)o pjioceupc t)o 5oex)itAib, ociif co uAf ac bAchoitt nlpj
x)o ; ociif AcpubAif c ]iopAt) f opcAccAi5cit) t)o hi cec 5iiAf acc,
ocuf hi cec ecomnA]\c imbiAt).
[translation.]
Patrick took leave of German (bis tutor) then, and he gave him
his blessing ; and there went with him a trusty senior from German,
to taKe care of him, and to testify to him ; Segetius was liis name,
and a priest in orders, and it was he that performed the offices of the
(/hurch under Gennan. Patrick went then upon the sea, nine in
his number. It was then the tide cast him on an island, where he
saw a new house and a young couple in it ; and he saw a withered
old woman at the door of the house by their side. " What has hap-
pened the hag?" said Patrick; "great is her debility". The young man
answered ; this is what he said : " She is a grand-daughter of mine",
said the young man ; " even the mother", said he, " O Cleric, of that
daughter, whom you see, she is more debilitated again". "In what way
did that happen ?" said Patrick. " It is not difficult to tell it", said the
young man. " We are here since the time of Christ. He happened
to visit us when He was among men here; and we made a feast for
Him. He blessed our house, and He blessed ourselves, and the
blessing did not reach our children ; and we shall he without age,
without decay here to the Judgment (day) ; and it is a long time
since thy coming was foretold us", said the young man ; " and Grod
left (us information) that thou wouldst go to preach to the Gaedhil;
602 APPENDIX.
APF. cn. and He left a token with us, namely, a bent staff, to be giren to
thee. " I shall not receive it", said Patrick, " until He Himself gives
BaduM iM. me His staff". Patrick staid three days and three nights with them ;
and he went then to Mount Hermon in the neighbourhood of the
island; and the Lord appeared to liim there, and said to him to
come to preach to the Gaedhil, and that He would give him the
Staff of Jesus ; and He said that it would be a deliverer to him in
every danger, and in every unequal contest in which he should be.
So much for the first and earliest authority concerning the relic
Most of the historical vestiges concerning the BachaU Isu^ or
" Staff of Jesus", are collected in the Introduction, by the Rev. Dr.
Todd, S.F.T.C.D., to the edition of The Book of Obits and Mar-
tyrology^ of Christ Church, Dublin, published by the Irish Archae-
ological Society in 1844.
'' The Bacllus Juesu", he says, p. viii., after speaking of some
other celebrated Irish relics, " ' quern angelus beato Patricio con-
ferebat*, stands next on the list, and is of still greater celebrity.
St. Bernard mentions it in his life of St. Malachy, as one of those
insignia of the see of Armagh which were popularly believed to
conl'er upon the possessor a title to be regarded and obeyed as the
successor of St. Patrick ; so that some who had no other claim to
the Pnmacy than the power or fraud which gave them possession of
these relics, were received by the more ignorant of the people as the
true bishops. Speaking of Nigollus, the intruding prelate, who
was finally driven out by St. Malachy about the year 1134, St.
Bernard says :
** * Forro Nigellus videns sibi imminere fogam, tulit secum insignia quaedam
sedis ilUus, tcxtum scilicet Evangellonim, qui fuit beat! Fatricii, baculumque
auro tectum^ et ffcmmis pretiosissimis adornatum^ quern nominant Baculum Jtsu^
60 quod ipse Dominus (ut fert opinio) eum suis manibus tenucrit, atque for-
maverit. £t base 8umm» dignitatis ct venerationis in gente ilia. Nempe no-
tissima sunt cdebemmaque in populis, atque in ea reverentia apud onmes, ut
qui ilia habere visus fucrit, ipsum habeat cpiscopum populus stultus et ina-
piens'. — [De Vita S. Malachiai, c. xii. 0pp. Ed. Bcncd. vol. i. c. G76]'*.
" Thus it appears", continues Dr. Todd, " that the Baculus, in St.
Bernard's time, was adorned with gold and precious stones. It was,
therefore, most probably a crozier (still always called hachall in
Irish),^***^ and having been held in such veneration in the twelfth
century, there is no reason to doubt its great antiquity. It is men-
tioned also by Giraldus Cambrensis, who tells us, that in his time
it was removed by the English, perhaps for greater security, from
Armagh to Dublin -S^^
" * Inter universos Hibemiae baculos*, he says, ' ligneaeque naturse Sanc-
torum rcliquias, tirtuosus iUe et famosus {quern Baculum Jesu vocant) noQ
immerito primus et praecipuus esse videtur. Per quera, vulgari opinione,
Sanctus Patricius venenosos ab insula vermes ejecit. Cujus siquidem tarn in-
certus est ortus, quam ccrtissima virtus. Nostris autem tcmporibus et nos>
(256) Baeulus PastoralU wax the uraal name glTen to a crozier all over Europe In the middlt
ages; see Du Cange In voce. [Dr. Todd's note.]
(256) Armagh was burned in 1178, with its churches and sanctuaries. (Colgan, ftrom the Four
Masters, Trias Thanmat, p. 810 ; and Anoal. Ulton, in 1179.) [Dr. Todd*s note.]
APPENDIX. 603
tronim opera, nobilis thesaurus ab Armachia Dubliniam est translatus.* — afp.cu,
[Topogr. Hib., part iii. c. xxxiv.]"
Dr. Todd then mentions the existence of another account of the boOuM im$,
translation of the Baculus Jesu to Dublin, as having been accom-
plished by Strongbowe himself, who is stated (in the " White Book
of Christ Church", and in Archbishop Alan, or Allen's Register) to
liave brought it not from Armagh, but from Balliboghall, — a church,
in ruins, near Swords, in the County of Dublin, which is supposed
to have derived its name from the possession of some crozier or
baculus of St. Patrick ;^**'^ — but this account assigns the proper date
(1180) to the translation, and thus proves its own inconsistency,
since Strongbowe died in 1 176. The statement of Giraldus is borne
out by three authorities quoted by Dr. Todd (pp. 9, 10); the first,
an " entry, in a hand of the early part of the sixteenth century, in
the ' Black Book' of Christ Church, fol. 214. a"; the second, another
passage of Giraldus, where, speaking of William Fitz-Adelm or
AldeLm, he says : " Nihil egregiimi in Hibemia gessit, prater hoc
solum quod baculiun virtuosissimum, quem Baculum Jesu vocant,
ab Armachia. Dubliniam transferri procuravit" (Hib. Expugn. lib.
ii. c. xviii.) ; and the third, the MS. Annals of Innisfallen (H. 1, 7;
T.C.D.), under the year 1180, as follows:
bAd^lt pA-orvAig T)o bpeit o Ap-o " The Staff of Patrick was brought
TTlAeA 50 h-AtcliAt le h-UiU from Armagh to Dublin by Wil-
tiAtn mokC Ax)elTn. liam Fitz Adelm'*.
Dr. Todd then gives the story of the Baculus, from the Tripartite
Life, in Colgan's Latin ; and proceeds (p. 13) :
"Frequent notices of the Baculus Jesu are to be found in Irish •
history. In the ancient Irish poem by St. Fiech J[_Fiacc of Si€bhtf\j
which Colgan has published as the first life of St. Patrick, mention
is made of St. Tassach, from whom the saint received the holy via-
ticum on his death-bed. Tassadi was of Rathcolptha^ now Haholp,
near Down, and is said by some of the lives to have been a bishop
when he administered the commimion to the dying Patrick. He was
skilled in the art of a goldsmith ; and in the ancient notes to St.
Fiech's [Fiacc^s] lI}Tnn it is particularly stated, that the Baculus
Jesu was by him first adorned with a precious covering : * Thassa-
chus fuit faber »rarius S. Patricii. Fuit primus qui baculum Jesu
prctioso tegumento obcelavit. Ecclesia ipsius est Rath-Colptha
juxta Dunum ad Orientem' ".
Several instances are then given by Dr. Todd (pp. xiv. xv. xvi.)
of records of occurrences respecting this Baculus, which prove the
singular veneration of which it was so long the object ; he quotes
from the Annals of Tighemach two passages (under the years 1027
and 1030), — from the Annals of the Four Masters (under 1080 and
1143), — and from English authorities, an instance in Campion's
"Historie of Ireland", at ad. 131G, one from Archbishop Alan's
(257) St Palrlck appears to hare left more than one staff. In the list of relics preaerred In
the monastery of St. Alban's are mentioned, relics *'De Sancto ratiido, ettacuMf^oadcm
saneU'*. Dnf^dale's Monasticon (by Carey, Ellis, aatl Bandinel), toL li., page V». [Dr.
Todd's note.]
604
APPENDIX.
APP. cn. Register, citing a grant from John Earl of Moreton to John ComjBy
^ ^^^ Archbishop of Dublin, confirmed on this relic, and a curious paper
imekau Int. (No. 53, in tlic bag marked " Ireland**) in the Chapter-house of
Westminster Abbey, " containing ^ an examination of Sir Grerald
Machshajne, knight', sworn i9th March, 1529, ^upon the Holie
Masebooke, and the great relicke of Erlonde^ called Baculum Chrisity
in the presence of the Kynges Deputie, Chancellour, Tresoror, and
Justice' [State Papers, vol. ii. p. 146]".
Lastly, Dr. Todd quotes the records of the wilful destruction of
this " great relicke" by fire, at the himds of the fanatics of the " Re-
formation", in the reign of the English King Henry the Eighth, a.d.
1538. The first of these is from Sir James Ware's Annals (p. 99),
The second is the following Irish account, from a MS. in T.C.D.,
there *' lettered Tighernaci CoiUinuatio^\ says Dr. Todd in a note,
and long ^' supposed to have been the same as the Annals of Kil-
ronan, quoted by the Four Masters". (These are the Annals now
for the first time proved to be the Annals of Loch CL See
aw/e. Lecture V., p. 93). This account is as follows (at A. A.
1538) :—
"Oe^xib mui|\e f o tniopbuitij -00
bi A tn - bdile AtA Upuim, -oaix
cncix)ex)43i|\ CtpenninJ uile te CMn
T) jkitnpp |NoiTiie pr>, -oo f lAtiAiJeA-d
■OOltl,, A5tl]\ bcdAllX, AJUf bOkCAlJ,
Agiif 5A6 Aindef A]\6cr>«\, ■oo tof-
5^-6 te SA.XATiduib. Ajtif An "bjk-
tiW, lOfA 'OO bi A mbAite -At A
•CiiAcli, A5 ■octiAtVi fepc Ajuf niio|\-
buite lorn-dA 1 ti-Ci|Mr>ti o Aitnp^x
pliAX)pAi5 ^uf All |\epn, Aguf -oo bi
A LaitVi Cnio]x fein, -oo tofCA-b te
SAJCAnduio mA]\ aii ceAX)nA. Aguf
ni VieAX) AtViAin, acc m |\Aibe cpod
riAoi^, tiA x)eAlb muipe, tja lomAig
oi^Ap-oi^xc 1 n-ei|Mnn a|\ a n -oca-
cVlAIXi A 5-CllirJACCA JAn iofgAT).
Aguj* ni tn6 x)o bi A 5-cutnA<icA A]\
op-o "OO r»A fete ti - o|\x)uib rj^|\
fJIMOT-A-OAp. AgUf 1t1 pApA, Agtlf
m e^tAif coin Aguf Abuf -oo belt
A coinnelbAcnA-6 nA Sax An cpi-D
pn, Ajuf gAn fuitn nA co^xA-d -oo
oeit ACA-fAn Ai|\ pn ecc. -Aguf
ni -oepb tioni nA6 Ap An m-btiA-bAin
Atn -oiAi-b tuAf Ac^i LofjA-b nA mionn
pn.
The most miracnlous image of
Mary, which "ttVAvXEaUi Atha Trmm
[Trim], and which the Irifih people
all honoured for a long time before
that, which used to heal the blind,
the deaf, the lame, and every disease
in like manner, was burned by the
Saxons. And the StafiTof Jesus, which
was in Dublin, and which wrought
many wonders and miracles in Erinn
since the time of Patrick down to that
time, and which was in the hand of
Christ Himself, wiis burned by the
Saxons in like manner. And not
only that, but there was not a Holy
Cross, nor an image of Mary, nor
other celebrated image in Erinn, over
which their power reached, that they
did not burn. Nor was there one it
the Seven Orders which came under
their power that they did not ruin.
And the Pope, and the Church in the
East, and at home, was excommu-
nicating the Saxons on that account,
and they not paying any attention op
heed unto that, etc. And I am not
certain whether it was not in the
year preceding the above [a.d. 1637]
that these relics were burned.
I may add here, perhaps, the account in the Four Masters, though
founded only on the foregoing authorities, as characteristic of the
period in which their great Book of Annals was written. It is
quoted by Dr. Todd (p. xvii.) "as a curious specimen of the light in
which the Reformation was regarded by a native Irish writer of the
APPENDIX.
605
reign of Charles the First" ; and it will probably be recognized as app. cii.
containing an expression equally correct of the opinions and of the q^ ^^^
feelings of the " native Irish" even down to the present day. BachaUlm,
-A.C. 1537. eitiMcicceAic, Ajtif
I'etlXAtl tlUA hi SAXAlb C|MA "biti-
tntif, Aguf lotinoccbAit, c]ma acco-
b4\n, Aguf Aticoit, Aguf cpe iottiacc
eALA-dAti tieccfAtViAiL, co troeA-
^ACCA^X p|\ SAXAtl in AC^AI-d ATI
pVlApA, A^Uf tlA UotVlA. A^C AU^
r»i 6eiiA, ]\o A-bixACCAjX "00 bA|\Arti-
tAib exAiVilAib, Aguf oo feupcAdc
mAOp Ap Altplf All cini* 1U"OA1§e,
Aguf fo jAi]\poc ^^iix-o-ceAiin ecc-
tAifi "06 itiA yUMtef f6iii -0011 ]mJ.
'Oo ]\6nA'6 tAf An |\i J, Aguf l^f An
cCortiAi|\te, -obgde Aruf fCAuuici
tiuAi-de lAn nA ■o-coit fein. Tie
fciMOfAt) ie6 nA Viui^xt) -o'lAp bo
cet)Aigde<i TCAib f AojAotcA-oo bei6
occA, e-donjWAnAi^, cAnAnAiJ, cAit/-
tcA^A 'OubA, AwUf b]VAlf]M C|\01p,
Aguf nA ceit]\e nuiix-o bo6cA, c^on,
An co|\'o minijp, p^xep'oiup, Ca^x-
oiutici, Aguf -Au^UfciniAni. Tlo
c6ccbA'6 A ccic^epnu]', Agtif a
tnbeAtAro mVe giif An ]m§. Tlo
b|Mfe^ Leo -onA, nA niAinifC|\e6A.
Tlo ^\eACfAC A cccinn, Agtif a
cciuccA, CO n^ bAoi Aon ihAinift:i]\
6 A|\Ainn nA nAotVi co Tnui]\ niodc
gAn biMfc-d, jAn buAnpebA-d, Aic
niA-d beccAn nAtnA 1 nepmn nA cucc-
f AC 5oibi X)1A nu'ix)Vi, nAd ■oia nAipe.
tlo CoifCfoc beof, A^uf ]\o b|\if-
fecc loniAi^e oip-ocApcA, fcnine,
Aguf cAip nAetVi e^xenn, Ajuf sIiax-
An. Tlo ioi]'ccpoc mA]\ An cce-onA
iA]\ pn -OCA Id fnuipe oipt)eA|\c
bAOi 1 nAt U|xtiiTn -oo Jnio-d ycfCA
Agtif miopbAUA, x)0 f tAnAi Je^ "ooitt,
bui-bip, A^Uf bACA1 J, AgUf AOf gAdA
ce-bniA A|\6enA; Aguf An "bA^Ait
lofA bAOi 1 nAt CtiAt Acc •oenAiii
tmopbAt beof 6 Aimpp Pac|\aicc
guf An |\6 pn, Aguf bAoi itUkim
Cpiop: 'OIA wbAoi eci]\ -bAoinib.
"Uo |\6nAi6 ic6 C|\a Aip-oepfcoip,
Aruf piibepfcoip aca fein, Aguf
ge'jA iVi6]\ injpeim nA n1inpi]\e^
tloi^AnAd in AccliAi-d nA hCccAiip,
Ar piAilt vn&> cAimc a cortitn6|\fO
6 n UoitVi Anoi|\ piAtVi, co nA<i 6iccn\
A ctiA|\AfcbAiL x)'fAipi6if no -o'lnn-
ipn wunA nAipidM-oeii An ui -00
6onnA1]^c 1.
A.D. 1537. A heresy and a new
error broke out in England, the
effects of pride, vain-glory, avarice,
sensual desire, and the preyalence
of a variety of speculative compo-
sitions, so that the people of England
went into opposition to the Poi^e and
to Bome. At the same time they fol-
lowed a variety of opinions, and the
old Law of Moses, after the manner of
the Jewish people, and they gave the
title of head of the Church of God,
in his own realm, to the king. There
were enacted by the king and council
new laws and statutes after their own
wilL ITiey ruined the orders who
were permitted to hold worldly pos-
sessions, viz., monks, canons, nuns,
and brethren of the cross, and the
four mendicant Orders, viz., the Mi-
nor Order, the Preachers, Carmelites,
and Augustinians. The possessions
and livings of all these were taken up
for the king. They broke the monas-
teries. They sold their roofs and
bells, so that there was not a monas-
tery from Arann of the Saints to the
Iccian Sea, that was not broken and
shattered, except only a few in Erinn,
which escaped the notice and atten-
tion of the English. They further
burned and broke the famous images,
shrines, and relics of Erinn and Eng-
land. After that they burned in like
manner the celebrated image of Mary,
wliich was at Aih-Truim, which used
to perform wonders and miracles,
which used to heal the blind, the
deaf, the lame, and the sufferers from
all diseases ; and the Staff of Jesus,
which was in Dublin, performing
miracles from the time of Patrick
down to that time, and which was
in the hand of Christ whilst He was
among men. They also made arch-
bishops and sub-bishops for them-
selves; and although great was tho
persecution of the lioman Emperors
against the Church, it is not proba-
ble that so great a persecution as this
ever came at this side of Home hither.
So that it is impossible to tell or nar*
rate its description, unless it should
bo told by him who saw it.
606 APPINDIX.
▲FP. cm.
APPENDIX No. cm. [Lect. XVI., Page 343.]
st.Fiaeeu Original {with TVanalation) of passage in the Poem of Saint
diwrtioii piACC of Steibce, alluding to theprotnised decay and deser-
<>'Tara. ^f^^ q^ Tara (from ilie Liber Hymnorum; mS. JE. 4. 2,
T.C.I).; p. 31, stanza 22).
In -AiA-omAcliA pt^iige,
If a^n •ooi\e|v\chc CmAin
If cett tno]t 'Oun t/ech-gtAff e,
T1imx)it cet) 'oichftib UemAUt
.1. til limwAiti tew CeniAif cit) f Af.
[translation.]
In Ard'Macha there is sovereignty,
Long since Emain has passed away,
A great church is Dun LethgMasse^
I like not though Temair be desert,
I.e.y It is not desirable to mc that Temair should be desert.
APPENDIX No. CIV. [Lect. XVI., Page 344.]
pIS^ On^iwaZ of passage in the " Tripartite Life of St. Patrick^
seehnau^Kad (iny copxf^p, 144; Egerton MS. 93, British Museum^ p. 36).
the chariot t?echc iiAiti bui'o SechtiAlt "00 A\\o ITIacIia, ocur ni n^ibi
of Saint Pa- ♦% i L a *
trick. pACjAAic Ml fof|% C011ACCA1 'OAecn CAfpiiic tA mumcin
pACfAic fof A cliiunn fop fcup; ocuf i^o \\^x>\ SechnAtl
bA cofu int)eic1i iicuc "00 b]\eit •oon epfcop .1. "00 |-^acc.
tlAif •00 fUAcu pACfAic, AuchuAf -00 Afiipn. Ho intex> a
CAppAcc fof HA echu, octif nuffoi'oi Pau|\aic cen •ouine
bed, CO feocA]^ innAiToipufc La TTIochcAe. bx)CAf oeifotb
A]\AbAfAC CO 'OomriAch Se^nAitt. 1x)CA|\ ia|\ riAipce^A •oo
Chitt -Auxili. LocAf lAiAfui-oiu CO Cilt TTlonAcb. Locaja
lAfAtn CO fiACC CO Sleibci. Ifp cucaic in cbAfpAicc "oo
b]\ei^ CO Pacc, a|a no ceijet) -oia SAcbAi^int) lnit)i combit
oc Cnucc 'OfotntriA CobtAi. UAim "oo Ann. 11. bAifgin
teif , tie]Ao f AmA efc. IDia SAchAiitnt) CAfc -oo CAiget) -oo-
cbum Steibci, ocuf 'oo ctJAijAci b6imtn teif "oeu .u. pAnibuf.
Ip cucAiu in cAfpAiuc "00 b]ieicb "oo ^acc, fo cbnAi "OAib
A coiff combu coTnoch]\Aib bAff x>6.
[literal translation.]
At a certain time SechnaU went to Ard Macha, and Patrick was
not at home, and he saw two chariot horses with Patrick's people
before him, unyoked. And SechnaU said : It were more proper to
give those horses to the bishop, that is to Fiacc. When Patrick
returned he was told that thing. Their chariot was [then] yoked
upon the horses, and Patrick sent them "without any person with
them, until they were in his Desert with Mochtae. They went
southward the following day to Domhnach SechnaiU [Dimshaughlin],
APPBin>ix. 607
They went by the east to CiU Auxili. They went after that to CUl app.ctt.
Manach. They went after that to Fiacc to SUibhti. The cause of ^^ ^^^^
giving the chariot to Fificc was because he used to go on Shrore- p»trick,
Saturday until he reached [t.e, used to go to] the Hill of Dramm CdblaL ^S^^od*
He had a cave there. Five cakes he had with him, vera fama est. **»• ehwioi
On Easter Saturday he used to come (back) to SUibhti \^\eitY]y and SS!"*^**"
used to bring with him a bit of his five loaves. The cause of giving
the chariot to Fiacc was that chafers had gnawed his leg so that
death was near him. [Tripartite Life of St. Patrick j p. 144, my
copy ; Egerton MS, 93, p. 36, British Museum.]
Pftasane In
Book of
The following is the passage in tJie Book of Armagh (fol. 18. 6.) :
Luit) SecbnAtt IA^CAITI •OUchupf AJAT) PacjAICC 1tncbAl\pAC Armagh.
boie Uxif. 'Oipn •otifoi'o pAcpicc incA|\pAc cuSechnAtt
ceriA^Mcb .n. atto acc Ainpt •oucp'oe'OAti. foi'op SechriAtt
OlMIATI .111. Aicbgl <MTO tAlf CUtTlAncnATl OCUf ATlIf .111.
Aicbgi U\i^uit)e. foicpp'oe cupiACC. 'Otomi|* JTiacc -ooib.
lA]ipii ice iTnTnetocAp immu -Anectif puchpi, conepeiic in
CAinget, if •ouicpti cucax) 6 pAqiicc 6 |\tipciit X)utobju.
[translation.]
Sechnall went afterwards to rebuke Patrick on account of a
chariot which he had. Then Patrick sent the chariot to Sechnall
without a charioteer in it, but it was an angel that directed it. Sech'
nail sent it, when it had stopped three nights there with him, to
Manchan, and it remained three nights with him. He sent it to
Fiacc, Fiacc rejected them. After that, where they went to was
around the church three times, when the Angel said : It is to you
they have been given from Patrick, when he came to know your
disease.
APPENDIX No. CV. [Lect. XVI., Page 346.]
Original of entry at th^ end of the '' Tripartite Life of St, Entry »tcnd
Patrick (nvj copy^p, 160; Egerton MS., British itfW^Mm, SfSaiStP*-*
p. 40). *^^
-AttoaUx in UijepiiA Ij'a C|iifc in btiAtxMn "oo fcpbAti in
t)etA fo I'PAquMC, 1477; ocuf Oi-ochi lyUgnufA imAjiAC,
ocuf A mt)Aili in ITloimn a C15 hi U^ioigcig t)o fqnbA-b fo,
te 'OomnAlt -AtbAnAc O U|ioi5ui ; ocu]" 'Oeo gpAiciAj" lepi.
APPENDIX No. CVI. [Lect. XVI., Page 347.]
Original and translation of a passage at the end of first ^'"'U?*^*"^^
third jyarts of the tripartite Life of St. Patrick, where St, st^^i.
Ultan is mentioned as one of tJie writers of his Life; (my copy, ^^SulS,^
pp. 34, 155 ; MS. Egerton 93, British Museum, pp. 9, 39).
1c6 f o f epuA A'ocbiJi'oecA|i piuiti h^jienn, ocuf -oofivxcf ac
irojtonAchi nAif nef en. -AcchuAix) cecuf f epcA Pacjiaic, ocuf
608 APPENDIX.
cn. i^ofctmiAi Colutn Cil-oe niAC pemtimit) ; UtcAti ttiac ot Cboti-
p^,^ ^„ fcobAnt; -(\t)ATnnAn o -Acinni; hCte|\An in e-cn^i ; CiA|v\n
THiTufe^f beUvig 'Ouin ; epf cop epmet>Afc o Chtochu]t ; CotmAn Ua-
referrtagto fiiAch ; C]tuimchi|A CoIUmc o 'OiAUitn Hoitgech.
[translation.] -
These are the miracles which the learned of Erinn related, and
which they put into order of narration. Colum Cille \_Cildi at p.
155], the son of Feidlimidhy firstly narrated and compiled the
miracles of Patrick; Ultan^ the son of oi Cknichdbhar; Adamnan^
the grandson o^ Atinni; EUran the Wise; Ciaran of Belach Duin;
Bishop Ennedach of Clochar; Caiman Uamach; CruinUhir CkdlaU from
Druim Roilgech,
Note. — The names of Bishop Ermtdach and Colman Uamach are not in the
first list.
The following is the passage from TirechaiCs Annotations (from
the Book of Armagh, fol. 9, a. b.) : —
Tirechdn Episcopus hec scripsit ex ore vel libro Ultani episcopi,
cujus ipse alumpnus vel discipulus fuit.
Inveni quatuor nomina in libro scripta Patricio apud Ultannm
episcopum Conchubumensium, Sanctus Magonus qui est Clarus,
Succetus qui est [deus belli], Patricius, Cothirthiacus quia servivit
iiii. domibus magorum, et cmpsit ilium unus ex eis cui nomen erat
Miliuc Maccubom magus.
Fron
2?'
APPENDIX No. CVII. [Lect. XVI., Page 350.]
wnthe Original of concludina words of First Part of the ^^ Tripartite
?^atrick? J^ife" of St. Patrick (p. 35, mt/ copy; Egerton 93, British
Museum^ p. 9).
" t)iAC riA f e]ACA CO f o itroiu".
APPENDIX No. CVIII. [Lect. XVI., Page 350.]
FYom ^e Original of Observations, by the original writer, on the open-
stFatrict ing passage of the Third Part of the ^^ Tripartite Life^ of
St. Patrick {p. 100, my copy; MS. Egerton 93, British
Museum, p. 25).
Oen 'oirij'oonA noebAib ocuf •opriA p]ienAib, rpef a caiiic
mot.A'o octJf -A'OAmpu'OAj in Choinroet), pAt) "ooinib, rpcf (no
C]iic) nA ppcu, ocuf cpef nA tni]Abuti x>o iMgni 'Oi<\ [fAip], oc
cox)iui"CAt) mA]ib, oc gUxnA'o chUMn, oc int)A)\pAi6 "oemnA, oc
hicc "OAtt, ocu]" bAccAC, ocuf bo-dujA, octJf cecn cetDmA otcenA,
in if\\\ex\ buAfAt Ai^^micnec -oiaca AipcAch in ecmong nA [pee
octii" nA bAimj^e^iAj^A] .i. SAnccuj" pAU|MCiiif 6pi]"copif .
[translation.]
One, indeed, of the saints and of the righteous men, through
whom came the praise and magnification of the Lord before men,
APPSNDIX. 609
through the wonders and through the miracles which God wrought app. cvm.
[for him], resuscitating the dead, cleansing lepers, banishing demons, ^^^ ^j^^
healing the blind, the lame, and the deaf, and every other disease ;'>Trip. Ufe of
was the righteous, noble, venerable man, for whom there is commemo- ^^ ^^'^^
ration [at this time and period], namely, Sanctus Patricius Episcopis.
[Note. — ^There is some concision hi the ori^nal text here, and the words
in brackets have been taken ftrom other copies of the Life.]
APPENDIX No. CIX. [Lect. XVII., Page 360.]
Orignal of the first two lines of tlie second stanza of the spurious IjJSoSf
SAtcAip riA llAnn ; and original of the first line of that poem; saitaima
{Egerton MS. 185, British Museum),
Pf aIcaiii riA |\Ann biA|* mA|A Aintn.
-Ap mo t)An, ni jAiiAm u^t jAet. —
X)o x>e<Mi x)Ar\ vo muinnap v^. —
APPENDIX No. ex. [Lcct. XVIL, Page 362.]
Original of first two lines of the Martyrology o/ tTI Aetm Aine Ha '"»» the
5o|MnAin {/rom MS. vol. XVIL, Burgundian Lihrary, of Ja^^^^
Brussels; and my copy in die private Library of the Bev. SSriiLS!
Dr. Todd, S.F. T.C.1).).
fop CAttAnt) A)\T) 6nA1]\
Vo ]Aechc Ifu ejAgnA.
APPENDIX No. CXI. [Lect. XVIL, Page 363.]
The Pedigree o/ -Aengur Ceite IDe; (lyeAliA|\ tllop 'Oun a Pedigree of
'Ooi5i\e, now called the LeAbAii b}\eAC, R.LA.,fol. 28. a. a.) ^^ ^^^
-Aenjuf, triAC -AengobArro, mic Oibtein, mic fi-oiuji, tnic
"OiAiuniiuA, mic -Ainmipecb, ttiic CettAi]t, mic OensufA, mic
tlACfluAi5, mic CoelbuiT), mic C]uiint)bA'oi\Ai, mic 6chA6
CobAi.
APPENDIX No. CXII. [Lect. XVIL, Page 364.]
Original of the ^^Canon^' of ^ot^i) riA CAndine; {from same -n^t^'Cmavtr
book J same folio and 2)age) . ®' Fothadh,
eclAf X)e bii,
lyCMc -oil, riA ftlAI,
bit) A cejic fO]A teAch,
fieb Af x)eAch \io bui.
39
APPSSDrX.
611
CXIV. [Lect. XVII,, Page 367.]
of the t^eiipe ^enguj^^i, at Januarxf 1 ; Aengiua;
F*lir4
1 CAildlU'D GriAi^i.
No. CXV. [Lcct XVII., Page 303]
£/ie pet»i\e ^Ungufd, at March 17 [Si. J;;^.'^.
* Mmr. 17. '
.]'|'A]t Sl^eni Aine,
^n3At 6]^enn 0150,
pokC]\<\ic, CO tnec nnte,
Hob t>iau "oiAii c|\oi5e.
,*1X No. CXVL [Lcct. XVU., Page 368.]
ima of the petijAe -AengufA, at April 13 [</'« J*"Jf,,„.
— - - - V ^^ 13 (St.
Tatiach)
bishop UA|yAc] ; (from Hie same),
• In 1115-efpoc UAffAch,
•Oo be]AC, 6 "oo iiAnic,
Copp Citifc, in 1115 Vir-t<3^'^c,
"La CtmiAinn "oo Pacjiaic.
X: No. CXVII. [Lect. XVIII., Page 378.]
■ '* Canon of St Patrick'', from the ''Book o/Thj "Canon
/ 01 r r\ • ^ of Saint 1»«-
f. 21. 0. 6. J. trick", nrom
^ ^ ^ the Book of
u: similiter per industriam at que injuriam vel ne- Amugh.
Ti^TipnffurmtTa faniiliaii^ S'*ii parudiiuni ejus
M- jiisignia ciispexerit ad libertatem exaiuiiiia
■ rt*^^uJb rti I*' jiidieantis pervLMikt c;m^su to-
1 ' ■ 1^ 'm. e.Xi«rta Im'rit afque ignota
.1 I 1 : ill ratlurlram arcbiepiscopi
I .1)1 jj I iti^ ijxaniio^tioDem
f
poterit lalif
The "Canon**
oiFctkmdh.
610 APPENDIX.
Cech p|A-TnAnActi pt,
foit A chubuf tijIati,
iOon ecUvir •oi^xn v^\^^
gnit) AiTiAit cech ino§.
Cech T)itmAin lAjipn
fit cen ]ie6c cen ne\\,
CeAC a A teif fj\i OA15,
Aet)A TnAi|A mic Tieitt.
[This poem consists of four stanzas, and the following, the fourth, wbm left
out in the text, — by mere oversight:]—
Ifhi in jiiAjAit che]ic,
Sech ni mop, ni bee ;
fognAt) CAch A tnog,
Cen on i|" cen ec.
[translation.]
" This is the proper Rule,
Certain it is not more, not less :
Let every one serve his lot
Without defect, and without refusal".
APPENDIX No. CXIII. [Lect. XVII., Page 365.]
"inrocation" Original of the ^^ Invocation'' from Hie petipe Aenguf a {from
j^uri * the LeAbAii trion 'OunA 'Ooitpe, now called the l/e^b^n
^•'•^ bpe^c, RJ.A,; fol 28. a. b).
Sen A Cpifu tno tAb]iA['o]
A ChoirrToe j^ecc nime,
HombepchAp buAiX) tepi,
A pi 5peni 51 te.
Ajei-jpiAn |*opnofnA<«> [a .1. roillpser, Uluminatea.]
Hichet) cu meiu noemi,
A Hi conic -Aingtiu,
A Choinroiu nAnt)oine.
A Choinroiu nAn-ooine,
A pi ppiAn pp-mAich,
ConAmpAib ca6 poUxx),
Ap itioLax) t)oc pigpAit).
IDo pigpAT) nomotAp,
Ot ip cu mo puipe,
"O op At up Ap m'Aipe,
5pepchi oc "00 jui-oe.
guitnu icje x)oib,
HomAin ApAC pogbup,
CAin-poput cu ti5-t)Ach
In pi5pAt> impoptjup.
APPENDIX. 611
APPENDIX No. CXIV. [Lect. XVH., Page 367.] ^' ^^'
Original of first stanza of the Ipelipe Aenjuf^x, at Jantuzry 1 ; A^nguta;
(from i/ie same). ^"^^
He fit •oAtAch •ooine,
UAit)eT) in Ri |AemAin ; '
tuit) fo |\echc Aji-o ejWkit,
Cjiifc 1 CAtUviTTo 6nAip.
APPENDIX No. CXV. [Lect. XVU., Page 368.]
Oriqinal of stanza of Hie petijie -AensufA, at March 17 [St. ^^^*
Patrick] ; {from Vie same)
1/Aff^1^ 5peni AiTje,
-Afp^t Gjienn oige,
Pac^aic, CO mec mite,
llob tnau •oia|a c|ioi5e.
APPENDIX No. CXVL [Lect. XVU., Page 368.]
Original of stanza of the ^ebpe -Aenguf^x, at April 13 [phe^^^^,
festival of Bishop UAff a^] ; (frotn the same). Ap. is (st.
In ]\i5-efpoc UAffAch,
"Oo bepc, 6 t)0 nAnic,
Co]\p Ctiifc, in P5 pi]\-bAitc,
l^ CuniAinn •oo Pacjvmc.
APPENDIX No. CXVII. [Lect. XVIII., Page 373.]
Original of the ** Canon of St. Patrick'^ from the ''Book of^^^^*^
Armagh'^ (foL 21. b. b.). * trick"» ftrom
.... the Book of
Item quicuriKjue similiter per industriam atque injuriam vel ne- Amugh.
quitiam malum qnod(|Uo opus contra familiam scu paruchiam ejus
perliccrit aut [>raMlicta ejus insignia dispexerit ad libertatem examinis
cjusdem Airddmadia} prajsulis recte judicantis perveniet caussa to-
tius negotionis caiteii.s aliorum judicibus prajtermissis.
Item (juiP(rumque causa valde difficilis exorta fuerit atque ignota
cunctfs Scotorum gentium judicibus ad cathedram archiepiscopi
Ilibernensium, id est Patricii atque bujus antestitis examinationem
recte relfercnda.
8i vcro in ilia cum snis sapientihus facile sanari non poterit talis
caussa prajdicta; negotionis ad sedem apostolicam decrevimus esse
mittendam, id est ad Petri apostoli cathedram auctoritatem Eomas
urbis habentem.
Ilii sunt qui de hoc decreverunt, id est Auxilius, Patricius, Se-
39 b
i^iT'jt. »-:",r:::rjK. l#-?r— ^17:3- 7"3K "*Tn ->33XDZZL ifatzicu. frrrri ammpixi soi
-I -^-T^-.- T-1 •.--■^•r n i^D Eaunrr. -r -naiice pppfpense. and
"^^ " j:*—!" ■ "s"^-:.--'" r* — ^ Hi mv .luiiiT' 'o lu r'azziil'^ or parish,
■r ■ ..... "--..: :_• -: .^ -j^j. MMVMa Tria. MmL-nipr. "iie :a2j«^ ■:■£ the
-"i:. •- :...:- ' i: .•-":.- -.i-aI v -yi^niiTi-i o "iie n^-r .n^-r'sriiz-in*: n of
- •.'- .-.:•:.- ■--...■ - - -^-"T^'-ia ' fc. uii""- Utij^r.:: -ut-rrh il ^uitrr j-id^rs of
.-.' ----- ; i:: - .^.^ «■:. iaJl ini*- -i OEnr»:Tne iiiSi-Tilr^ and
,r .- ■ ■►•-.._- •-:•—-: -• nir -mr i at* in^iiois-iifo »i -lie Iriah.
-.-..i: >.L - - .- i,--.-.i. uiJi "iir iins^LiLnin "i ^'A-i^ ■:i*ii« p ( :f
..:•-■....-.■'.. T- i,fc-- J— r— i -iiiir r ?♦• -^Ariir ~.' "lie ini stoiic
; r '?: i* J. " ? irr:-. : x 2^-. ±j- . : ■; .^^ lar-tfiZ^ tt- r i • nr i::? ': •;< : ks.
™i*'- '..i.-- ~r -iirxrri^c.'S ir^ crbiTc'.: zl Fir' J ' »i- a-rr :t.rT»c!ilj)
r.- Ar- . ■-.. ; L'-..*-r 1 '.^1 . tt-jj: -rizj-^r:-? "lit^ TiLr^i.;^ i:} :';L-
li--^-: — "'•■'''.:-.- --rr \7.~ -..ii.^ -Jul: > -r^r^ -Lin' -ril-. xrji "-'>-:♦ tti
t.: ■> r-:"-rr-: '. -X-: «.:tT :: -Le arjL'LjL'-u :: :!:•: Ir:;rJ: :.: -xiu
Pi-.i-.k . I.-- 1 -. : -j-r rXJZiiriiri'-.c. ■-: :-•;• pr^!;i':-r •j.'frr:- BvL" if
niir.v. ■ / :-ZL irA 11^^.^ z:-::- x oarLs-r -it rlii* iiAr^ir*; ::iZJi.;c rf-islT
r.r r..a.i-.- -j:- x-r I^t^t 'i-^rr-rv-i i: aLaH ir-^ ^tlz v.? :'-•= Sir A^i;ri>ML:L\
rl'.Ar ;* :-. -aj. :■: :Lr •-.La.ir ot the aT*-'?:lt: P-ftrr, wl:.:!i j.:i:l :'.ie
a:i->..-r.':7 :f '.'-•^ ci'j •:!' R.-me" — RrJJtjio>k or" -.v -1 •".!«? -if InJu -rap.
Ti_. : ►f':'-*;.*, t:1. :t_ p. ;>oO. He cite-? rhr «:riiirjl l~ '.l-r -rce, Aiid
APPENDIX Xo. CX\1IL [Lect. X\^II., Pakje 374]
I?S«"£fci» ^>'*'*^^ o/^^*« ''^^' #-?ii^-?n-f« o/rt^ " /?wfe of St ColuTTi Olle":
owrf^'. ^yW/m J/.S'., To/. XVII., Burgundian Library of Bnnkf-zU;
see App, Xo, CX.).
**-Ap TiA berep inefpA, uc 'Oominuf ^mc, Hon App^Nj^ebi]'
4knce me UACuuf"'.
[Tljis little tract is published, with my translation, by the Irish
An;httoIo^ir:al Srx;iety ; in the volume [for 18.M)] containing Primate
CoJton's VufikUioTij edited by the Kcv. Dr. Kecves ([). lOU).]
^
APPENDIX. 613
APPENDIX No. CXIX. [Lect. XVm., Page 876.] ap.c««.
Original of extract from an A ncient Treatise on, or Expositixm ^SS.
of the Mass {from the t/eAtI)A|A Tn6p 'OuriA 'Ooig^AC, com- thai
monly called the \^e^6\( \>\(e^t\ B.JjL,;foL 126).
Conit) hepn foitA n<\ hij^fe •otejAit t)A ce^ cpifCAi'oe t}0
ctninniugAt). ConiX) yop]"in fochApn cumcAigef ce6 fUA-
Umj, ocuf ce6 rroeggnim •oo geriA.
Uaiii 1]^ u]AiApn comlAncitifpn tia hijip, coTToeiiic |te-
terjig, CO fpefccpn fon<M|ic, fUvnAigait cec p^Aon ; ti^nt ip
in'oi]\e|YA .1. int>i)tef CAcli^tACOA, i'on<MC]:ef nAyi^Aenu copn-
gne .1. CO fejAt) 'Oe ipn cociT)echc, ocuf ipncinput) hicA.
l]'e in fegAt) pn cAi^\]\n5i|Ace|i a|\ foc^iAicc |ro|\oj\t)A X)onA
p^\enAib lAp nej^epgi.
If e 1iuinop)\o, gelt |"0]\AcbA'o iconectAif ipif cotdic fpipn
f^giit) pn, in Spi^tuc lloem nop AiccjAebAnt), ocuf x\o\ com-
t)it)nAn'o, ocuf nof nepcAnt) y^\ cec inj^UMj. Ife inSpn^uc-
fA ]:ot)tAf At)AnA t)!!.]*! ycpnn "oa cec i]vifech ipn-oecUMf
AtriAil i|' Alt tei)% ocuf AiiiAit connic AnAipan uat); uai]! \\
on Spi]\uc llocni cit)nAicc1ie]\ nA "OAnA oi^ic^da^^a •oonectAif
icip nA t)Ainib A]\cenA .i. bAiccp ocuf Aiqnge, ocuf p\e|"apti
•ocA^ic ocuf u]AebtAci.
\\ "oo -OAnAib Aijioj-oAi in Spi)\iirii iioib in Scppctii]t
'OiA'OA o nino)\cAi5c!io|A cocb nAinootu)", ocuf oconi'oi'OAncA|i
cec uoi]\p fwegntlA; onA-OAiiiccp cec ^^olLp pjijuirAbtJA, o
fonApcnAigdic]! ore nin-otobpA. tlAi|A \\ x:\\\^\\w Scpb-
cui]\ noib 'oicin]\clio]\ i)\)'e ocu]" inxjtuigce onoectAif, pit-
tAijche]! ceclix)ebAi*o ocuf cec t)ccbcr|:AiT). l^-mnce fo-
jAbu]! coniAi|\le ];o]\bui ocuf ^'oiicooiiL coniAOAi]'' -oo cech
ceimuin -pobcidi i^^inooclAi]'; ij^rpirlie inx)Anbrh<\)t int)-
clcoii loemnA ocu]" t)UAlAcb o cocb ijie^AcIi ipn-oectAip
14ai]\ ip in Sci\ipriii]i 'Okn'oa i]" niAc:Ai)v ocu]" if mume
Ailgen •oonAbiilib ifcfAcliAib nof nnit)icnii5ec ocuf nof
nmi]TAiT)cc; ocuf Aitroji conoAC nicic rogA 'oo IDia upA nA
comAifle. 11ai|\ uo-oaiIit) in-o ocnA co bcpneoAcb X)ia mAcu
bilbtAfA in-otennA fomilif, ocuf Ai|vr)\A inbi"0 pdiiaucaI-oai
omnmcfcdiA)!, ocuf ofAilcni5oc X)o ^pop
If f Ann ele turn, "oon gitlpn fopAcbuo iconectAif "Oia
corm)'it)nAX) .i. Co|\p Cpix, ocuf a put i-obAipdie^t fO|\Atcopb
nA cpfrAioc. In co)\p on ^vogenAif o tllin]\e 615 ingine, cen
•oich noige, cenfCAitiut) nm-ojucA, cen tAdiAi]i fefji-OA; ocuf
]io cfocbAt) o lutJAitJib Ami)\]'ccbAib, a]i uniic ocuf fO]iniAc;
ociif iqiAAcc iAnrfet)enuf a bAf, ociif fint)ef fO]i t)eif '06
AdiAf inllim. 111 ngtoi]! ocuf immiA-OAintAi, pAX)Ain5tib
Tlime. If be in co^Appn, AniAit aca ipn moji-stoiit, X)o me-
of Saint P»-
trick**, flroin
the Book of
612 APPENDIX.
AP. cxTO. cundinus, Benignus. Post vero exitum Patricii sancti alumpni sui
The •*Cuio& ^^^^ ejusdem libros conscripserunt.
[translation.]
Moreover, whosoever in like manner, of malice prepense, and
wrongfully or wickedly, shall do any injury to his family or parish,
or shall treat his aforesaid insignia with contempt, the case of the
entire matter at issue shall be submitted to the free investigation of
the same prelate of Ardmacha, duly judging thereof, other judges of
other (tribunals) being passed over.
Moreover, if any case should arise of extreme difficulty and
beyond the knowledge of all the judges of the nations of the Scots,
it is to be duly referred to the chair of the archbishop of the Irish,
that is to say, of Patrick, and the jurisdiction of this bishop (of
Armagh). But if such a case, as aforesaid, of a matter at issue,
cannot be easily disposed of (by him) with his counsellors in that
(investigation), we liave decreed that it be sent to the apostolic
seat, that is to say, to the chair of the Apostle Peter, having the
authority of the city of Rome.
These are the persons who decreed concerning this matter, viz.j
Auxilius, Patrick, Secundinus, and Benignus. But ai'ter the death
of Saint Patrick his disciples carefully wrote out his books.
[The last two paragraphs are printed in Part 3 (but not correctly)
by Archbishop IJssher (1631), who translates the passage as fol-
lows:— "Whensoever any cause that is very difficult, and unknown
unto all the judges of the Scottish nations, shall arise, it is rightly
to be referred to the see of the archbishop of the Irish (to wt^^i
Patrick), and to the examination of the prelate thereof. But^ ^
there, by him and his ^vise men, a cause of this nature cannot easi^^
be made up, we have decreed it shall be sent to the See Apostol^^
that is to say, to the chair of the apostle Peter, which hath "3
authority of the city of Rome" — Edition of the Ancient Iriah^ cO-'
viii. ; Works, vol. iv., p. 330. He cites the original in the note, s^"*
gives it as an extract from Vet, Codex Ecdesice AiinachancEJ]
APPENDIX No. CXVIII. [Lect. XVIII., Page 374. -'
J?8t cwlSn (^^^^^l of the last sentence of the " Rule of St. Colum Cil— "^
omr, ^ (from jUS.j Vol. XVII., Burgtindian jLibrary of Bni^-^
see App, No. CX.).
**^p TiA becen inefpA, uc 'Oominuf aic, Tion App^\^
Ance me uacuu|"'.
[This little tract is published, with my translation, by tli*^-^_ —
Archaeological Society ; in the volume [for 1850] containing P ^^
Colton*8 Visitation^ edited by the Rev. Dr. Reeves (p. 109).3
APPENDIX. 613
APPENDIX No. CXIX. [Lect. XVni., Page 376.] ap.c»i«.
Original of extract from an A ncient Treatise on^ or Exposition ^J^*
of tlie Mass {from the l/CAbAp ttlo]^ 'OutiA 'Ooigjie, co^n-thti
monly called the l/e^bAp bpeAc; RJ,A,; fol. 126).
CoTiiT) hepn jtoca tia \\\\(\e T)le5Ap -oa ce6 ciMfCAi-oe t)o
cuimniu5A'o. Conit) yopi^in ^ocliApn cumcAise]" ce6 fUA-
Uxig, ocuf cec Tix)e55nim -oo gen a.
tlAip If cpiApn comt<Miciufyin riA tii]ip, coiroei^ic |te-
tenig, CO p]ie]"cci*in i"onAi|vc, flAnAigcriiA cec p]\en; UAip ip
iTiT)n^ef]"A .1. inT)ii^ef CacIiaIacoa, iT)nAic]:ef TiAppenu copn-
gtie .1. CO fegAX) 'Oe ipn cocfoeclic, ocu]' ipncinput) hicA.
Ife in fegAX) pn CAii\i\n5HAce]\ A]t |:oc]\aicc yo]\o]\T)A "oonA
pi^enAib iA]^ nei"e]\5i.
1fehuino]\po, gelt ):oivAcbAt) iconectAif ipuf coleic pMpn
feguT) pn, in Spipuc noeni no]' Aicq^ebAnt), ocu|" nof com-
'oi'onAnx), ocuf noj^ nepcAnt) pn cec ^UAtAig. Ife inSpipuc-
fA f-OT)!^]" AT)AnA x>\ly\ yepnn 'da cec i^ufech ipnx)eclAif
ATTiAit 1]" Alt tei]', ocij]" AiiiAjt connic AnAi]ticin uax) ; uAip if
on Spi]\iju Hoeni ci*onAicdiep nA t)AnA oi]\e5X)AfA t)onectAif
ici]\ nA T)Ainib A)\cen<\ .i. bAicef, ocuf Airpge, ocuf f pefcipu
x)eApc ocuf c]\ebtAci.
If "00 T)AnAjb Aiix^g-OAi in SpiiMiru noib in Sc]\ipuuni
'OiA'OA o ninoi\CAigriioii cocli nAiiirotuf, ocuf oconi'oi'OAncA]\
cec coi]\p fAegntlA; onAT)*Mncr|\ cec folLp fpijiucAt'OA, o
fonA]\cnAi5die|\ crc nni*otobju\. Wc<\\\ if r]\u\]*in Sc)\ib-
cuif noib 'oiciti|\ulic]\ ii\fe ocitf in-otitigce onoectAif, fit-
tAi5c1ie|\ ceclToebAit) ocuf cec •occ1icr);Atx). 1]'innce fo-
5Abu]\ comAijvte foi\bri ocitf fO]\cc"oiit conKxOvMf "oo cech
ceimum foteiuli ifinx)octc\i]*; i)'r|vrclie in'o<Ni\bch<N)\ int)-
cte-ou "oeninA octif "ouvxlAch o cech i|vei*Acli ifUToectAif.
tiAif ip in Sc|\ipcini\ 'Okv'oa if niACAin ocitf if mume
Aitgen 'oonAluitib i]\efAcliAib nof nmtucnngec ocuf nof
nim]tAi"oec; ocuf Aitr:oj\ conoAC mcic rogA t)o IDia Cf ia nA
coniAifte. llAif coDAitit) mo eciiA co liejincoAcli 'oia tnACU
liitbtAfA inotennA fomitif, ocitf AipofA inbio fpifucAt'OAi
oninme]'cdK\]i, ociif ofAitrnigoc "oo gpr^f.
If f Ann etc "oini, -oon gitlfin fojiAcbuo iconectAif t)ia
comx)ix)nA*o .i. Cofp Cfifc, octif a put i*ob»M|\dief fOjVAtcopb
nA cfi]XAiT)e. In co|\p on fogonAif o lllmpe 615 ingine, cen
•oidi noige, cenfCAituix) nin-ouicA, cen tAcliAif feffT)A; ocuf
fo cfodiAO o 1iiT)Ai'oib Amifj^ccliAib, Ai\ cniic ocuf fOftUAc;
octif icfAACc lAfCf e*oeniif a bAf, ocuf fui-oef fof x)eif 'Oe
^diAf inlliin. 111 ngtoi]! ocuf iinniiAT)AtntAi, pA-OAingtib
tlitne. If he in cofppn, AmAit aca ipn tnof-gtoif , t>o tne-
614 APPENDIX.
App. cm. tAic TiA p]ieoin -00 meif *06 .1. 'oon a1c6i]i noib. ttAi|t if lie
in co|\pfA fec-Lon |"AiT)bi]i r\^ ni]Aifech AcliAfCTiAic ia|\ fee
Tr«iti«e<m AiUcj^e ocuf Aic|M5e iTicfoesAit ipif ipn'OAchA]i'OAi nem-
**^****^ -OAi. Ifhepn fit riA befepgi iptimbetAit) fu^Ain x)onA
pperiAib. Iflie htimo]i]io, if bunAt) ocuf ifAt>buf ecAf-
cbuicme •ootiA 1iecfAibx)echu nAchcpenc, ocuf t)onA cot-
UMT)ib nAC inncf AmtAigec ciA6f ecic. tllAif 5 T)ini, cf ifCAix)e
nA6 inT)CfAmUM5en'o in copp noemfA inChoinroeo, ia|i
CAin-be]'Aib, buToeifc ocuf icfocAi|ie; UAip ippn chiifp-
f A fojAbAp •oefmipecc nA "oeeiici •oo]ion"ce cec n-oeeif c .1.
A ti*onocut fen cen cinAix) x)Afcent) chinAX) fiL A-OAim.
If hepn iniof]\o, oige ocuf cotntAnuiuf nA biffe CACAbc-
x)Ai, Am Alt fO]\chAncA]i ipn Scfipcuif , ecc.
APPENDIX No. CXX. [Lect. XVIII., Pages 378, 379.]
sTJrfreniw Original of the commencement of the Invocation of God the Son
"ihewite". in the Prayer of St. ^ifefAn the Wise; (from LeAbAf
bin-oe tecAin, MS. H. 2. 16., TCD,, col 338).
O X)eiif pAcef omnipocenf 'Oeuf e^cefcicuutn mifcf ejii
nobif.
A *0e ^cliAif ultecbumAchcAig, a X)6 nAftog Aif chif "oin.
Ai]ic1in" 'o'ln A X)e tiitediumAchcAij. x\ Ifu Cfifu. A
THic 'Oe bi. ^ TDic fojenAif fo t)!. A oengeni 'Oe AubAf .
Tlie petition to the Holy Spirit (same Appendix) begins : —
Ai]\chif "Oin A 'Oe uitectimACCAig. -A Spifuc Hoib. A
Spipuc If UAij^te cAcli Spipuc.
APPENDIX No. CXXI. [Lect. XVIII., Page 379.]
Sl^ofd Original of explanation of the word Oifcif (or -Aifcif), in an
Ai,^ihi$^^ ^'^^^^"^ C/o-ssary, referring to the Prayer of St. AipepAn;
(from MS. H. 3. 18., T.C.D.,p. 534.).
Oifcif .1. fUfUACc, ATTiAib A-oeif A ntifnAi'6^ ^ifif Ain in
CcnA. Oif cif x)in a 'Oe ^ctiAip tiilecumACCAi5.
APPENDIX No. CXXII. [Lect. XVIII., Pages 379, 380.]
^^guua^ Original of commencements of the first and second parts of the
Luintehda. Prayer of Cotgu Ua 'Ouinec'DA; (from the t^eAbAf tDui-oe
tecAin, MS. H. 2. 16., T.C.D.; cot 336).
xXceocli f|\ic A If u Hoib, 'oo ceiclife SuifcelAi^e fofcfib-
f AT) "oo ShofcetAi ConrbecA, e-bon TTlAtA, ttlAif cc, LucAf ,loin.
APPENDIX 615
The second prayer begins [at/oL 337]: —
▲P. ozzn.
A IfU tloeb, A CllApA COem, a Hectu mAl-OITTOA, a 5l11An Pr»yer»af
Uxn tAichix)e cunix)Acht)Ai, a t3|\eo An iriA ppen ocuf , inA S^SUml
p]\inx)e, ocuf iriA bichbecliAT), ocuf itiA bichi^uchAinecAt).
APPENDIX No. CXXm. [Lcct. XVIII., Page 380.]
Origmal of commencement of an Ancient Litany of tlie Blessed lJJJJJ"*^
Virgin Mary; (from the 'LeAbAn Vf]6]\ 'OuriA 'Ooigpe, now the Slv.m.
called l/eAbA]^ bpoAc, RJ.A.^foL 121.).
A tnuipe mop, A ITJun^o Af mo T)onA ttluijAib, a Homo]! ha
mbAn, A TligAn tia TJ^iti5ob.
APPENDIX No. CXXIV. [Lect. XVIII., Page 381.]
Original of commencement of the Litany of -Aenguf Ceite *06 utanj of
(from the same bookyfoL 11. a. b.). cZ^jU
U]M CAecAic cu]ichA -oo Aibich|\ib HomAti jAbfAC .b.
bimele um HocaI, um nemj^encliAix), um CbopnucAn, pep
lepim [ecc] Ueo]\A mile AtichApAX) po]xectAm]"AU tA ttlu-
mAin y]\\ hoen-cei|x um C]*poc lbAi]i, "oia CAbApcliACAp Aingeb
X)e in yleiT) mAip x)o pgne SAncc bpigic 'oo Ifu inA cpit)iu,
pep lefum [ecc] U]\i CAecAic AiLicbep Aibe bocAp Ia
nO^LbAin, buA "oo pepAib HomAn, ocup LetA, pep lepum.
fecc] Upi CAecAiu ]:cp gpAix), pppiAgtAcb cec oen, vo
5oex)elu, bocAp a noibicbip inoenpenuit), um xXbbAn mAC
bui CopmAic. pep lepum [ecc]
[literal translation.]
Three times fifty canoes (full) of Roman pilgrims, who took up
in Hi Ir/iele, with Notal, with Nemhsenchaidh, with Cornutan^ per
Jesum [etc.]. The three thousand father confessors who congre-
gated in Alutfihain to consider the one question under Bishop Ibair^
by whom to th(* angel of God was ascribed the great feast which
St. Brigit made for Jesus in her heart, per Jesum [etc.]. The other
three; times fifty pilgrims, who went into Scotland {Albaxn) third
in succession to the men of Rome and Letha, per Jesum
Tlie three times fifty men in holy orders, each of them being a man
of Rule, of the (laedhil who went into pilgrimage in one synod with
Abban, the son of Ua Cormaic, per Jesum [(?tc.].
[The following poem, ascribed to St. Briijitl^ is the only tract that I hare Poem by
met which could throw any possible light on* the circumstances of the nynod ^^ Brigid
held in Munster under Bishop Ibar. The poem is undoubtedly an ancient
one, and must, I am sure, have been in existence in the time of Atnghui, (It
is taken from the MS. Vol. XVII., Burguudian Library, BroMela) :~
616
▲PPSVDIX.
Poem by
SUBrigid.
\>fii^\nzx: (ecu.)
llopA'A WAiC tetn copm-titit) ni6|t,
HopA'd m Alt tew mtiinnceix nimne
AccA Ii6t cf e bite fi|\.
RapA-6 WAiC tew cAtince
C]\eicnie c^vxbAix) jtAiti,
llopA'6 WAiC tern pifCA
CcLa oc wo t^eib.
ttopATj wAit tew p|\ miVie,
1w cegViTJAif r6iii.
tlopA* wAit tew T)Ab6A
Atiwneic -oo A|%ei]\.
UopA* WA1C tew tefr|\u
"Oeiixcce -oo T)Ait,
HopA-b WAit tew efc^A
C|\OCA1]\e T)1A ^AIW.
TlopA* wAiC tew f oicVictt,
"Oo bicTi itiA tuff.
HopA-6 WAit tew Ifu
"beif T)0 belt ipiff .
TlopA-b wAit tew riA ceo^A
niAipi, W1AT) A Ctu,
UopA^ WAit tew wuinnce|\
tliwe T>A ce6 t)u.
RopA-6 WA1C tew co|\bAW
Cif Aige •oon ftAit,
IHat) cheff iwnex)
IpopfA cip|\e'6 beti-OAdc waicIi.
UopA-d WAicli tew.
Brigid (ooanef).
I should like a great lake of ale
For the King of the Kings ;
I should like the fiunily of Heaven
To he drinking it through time
eternal
I should like the Tianda
Of belief and pure piety ;
I should like flails
Of penance at my house.
I should like the men of HeaTen
In my own house ;
I should like kieyes
Of peace to be at their disposal
I should Uke vessels
Of charity for distribution ;
I should like caves
Of mercv for their company.
I should like cheerfulness
To be in thdr drinking;
I should Uke Jesus,
Too, to be here (among them).
I should like the three
Marjs of illustrious renown ;
I should like the people
Of Heaven there from all parts.
I should Uke that I shoukl be
A rent-payer to the Lord ;
That, should I suffer distresa,
He would bestow upon me a good
blessing.
I should Uke [etc}
APPENDIX No. CXXV. [Lcct. XVIIL, Page 383.]
A(Um8 of Oriqhial of passage in the AjZAXX^m An t)a Shu At (the Address
A'eidh^, of the Arch-Foet AcAipne to Heme), (rrom the Book of
Leinster; H. 2. 18., TC.D.; fol. 148. i. a.).
CiAfu pti pU immAb Uugen.
from the
BaiU
Chuinn,
APPENDIX No. CXXVI [Lect. XVIII., Page 386.]
Original of two passages in the b^ile Chuinn {MS. Egerton 88,
Jbritish Museum^ fol. 11. 6.).
Ibcuf A\\c lep cec1iAi|ACAicc ai-dci ; comnAjAC CAup con-
bebAu TTlucpuime. —
Co l^AOgAUte lotTD teniretAit ici|a, "oo UAitcenn cecViu .1.
Pau|aaic; CA151 CA]\fnA .1. ectAfA; C]ioinn c^oitia bepcu]'
btAcliA t>o t)inn.
APPENDIX. 617
APPENDIX No. CXXVII. [Lect. XVIII., Pages 386, 387.] af.
Original of passage in tJie '* Tripartite Life'^ of St. Patrick^ u to
{my copy, p. 21; MS., Egerton 93, p. 6, British Aluseum), SStoSIJo
quoted from tlie b^ile Chuinn, of the word UAitcenn, or ^*'9«'^
UicfAc CAitciTTD, coTiucfAc |iu<MnA, Tioipc cettA ceoitcijc
benx)ACA (.i. t6o, ue. by them), bent)chop<M]A, iti lfiA^t
imbA6'LA.
The following explanation of the word Taiiginnj or Tailcenn, is
from the opening of the ancient Law compilation, called the Sendiua
Mor, or Great History, in the completion of wliich St. Patrick took
part along with King Laeghaire and others (vellum M.S., H. 8. 17.,
T.C.D., p. 1), where this prophecy of the Druids is quoted, with an
interlined gloss, as follows, [and see another version in App. No.
CXXXIII.,;?o^, p. G24.]
UiucfAit) cAiljinn,^*^
UAp mtup meipginn,
A qAOinn cnoni-cinn,^^^
-A cinn coll-ciTin,^*'^
A miAfA^'*^ in iA|\tAp [read Aiptiup] Acige,
-d'oenuic uite Amen.
^ .1. intufic •043L cuttJirp ca* a cinti aj rl^icuin, t.«., the parties to whom
all persons will humble their heads in genuf exion.
i^^ .1. ImbA^tA c|\om43i iriA tAni4Mb, i.e., their bent staffs in their hands.
t*> .1. -A coi|%ne iniA centiAib, i.«., their coronas (tonsures) upon their heads.
<«*) .1. -A riAlcoix, I.e., their altars.
Tlie connection or relation between the words Tuluigh, to humble,
and Taikenn or Tailgitm, the person or persons (for the last form is
plural) may be seen from the following example, taken from the vel-
lum M.S., II. 3. 18., T.C.D., p. 653 :—
ni muiix ci\of nA6 CAilgiteix po It is not the tempestuous sea that
tiAibnib 1]\ .1. uiViLa no cenpigA-b abates to angry rivers, i.c., that hum-
.1. t\od^ cutAitenn in muip cpen- bles, oris pacified; that is, I lie power-
cor>r»A6 jxif nA liAibnib fcpgAdA, no ful-billowy s(*a docs not humble itself
f uCAinc. to [cither] the angry or placid riven.
And yet it is difficult to avoid thinking that there is as much
natural relation between the word To/l-ci/in, tonsured-head, and Tail-
cinn, as there is between the latter and Tulaighenn, to humble; and,
indeed, a very curious case in point occurs in the very ancient tale
of the Bnughen Da Derga, in the ancient jAobhar na h- Uidhre (foL
63. b.), in the Royal Irish Academy. Ingcel, the pirate chief, in
describing the monarch Conaire Alarms attendants, says :—
AcconnAixc An-o bo|\p-6cl^c6 a|\ I saw there a portly young man
b6bAib nA im-oAC cecnAC f ojx \^\i in in front of the same couch in the
cige. Atif WAite fAi]\. Vinnieit\ middle of the house. The disgrace
cAnA^ ft^be cAd pnnA Af Af ciMAnA of baldness was upon him. As fair
ietix), • • • • • CAuUnnnc, as the mountain cotton (cat's tall ?)
618
▲PPEKBIX.
cxxvn.
As to the
word
Tailemin^ or
Tailgetm.
fig t)|\ti* 1M5 CewfAd, clefAtnnAd
ChotiAii\e in pti ; ire|\ com^ic tii6i|\
m feppn.
Ancient
aceonnt of
the BaOi
an ScdiL
is everj hair that growa throogfa faif
head. * ♦ • • • 1 hat man is
Taulchinn/y the royal bufibon of the
King of Tetaair, juggler to Contort
Mdr [the monarch] ; a man of great
power is tliat man.
It is evident from this passage that the name or soubriquet of
TalcJienn^ or Taul-chtnne (which is the same as Ttd-chinne, au in the
ancient Gaedbilg being the same as u in the modem), was descrip-
tive of baldness, and a term of reproach, baldness being at all times
looked upon as a disgrace ; and I believe it was as a submission to
disgrace or humiliation for the sake of God that the tonsure was
first adopted by the Christian priesthood.
APPENDIX No. CXXVIII. [Lect. XVIH., Page 387.]
Original of ancient account of the l3Aite ati ScAit (from the
MS, classed HarL 5280, in the British Museum, p. 119).
Ia\a poboi CotTo 1 UempAig ia]i rroit 'ootia ^tijAib, Acp^cc
ruACAin mocb ^o]i ]ii-]iAit riA Uem]tAC, pA cui^cbAtV 5|teine,
ocuf A c|Ai •opuic <\poen ^\y .1. ttlAot, Dtoc, Dtuicne; ocuf
A cpi pbx) .1. GcliAin, Co]Ab, CefA^n. Vot)e5 AucpAigepoTn
cec T)iA in tionfen, vo AipT)-exin, A|t tia 5AbT)Aoif pip-pt>e
pop e^MTiT) cen AtjAiugA'o •oopim. In t>u x)ia nx)ecbAit)pom
T)o 5]\ep, CO CA]itAic cioich Ant) ]:oa coy^Aib, ocuf f Atc]\Aif
jTuipi. Tlo -^ey An ctoc yo coy^Aib co cto]" yo tJemjvAij
uiti, ocuf -po bpejAib. If Anx)pn ]\o iA]\fACc Conn x)ia
t)fuiT)tb ci-OA ]\\iy -^ey An .ctoc, cia bAinm, ocuf CAn -oo
fAtATD, OCMy no jIAgAt), OCUf CIT) jAO CAflAltt UomfAig.
^ye'6 i-obepc An -ofAi y]\^ Conn, ni fton-OAt) co cent)
CAecAC tAici, ocuf A C]M. In CAn |ao cint)iot) An Apompn,
\\\iy lAffAfcc Conn t)on t)pAi Afpi-bip. If Ann At)be|tc An
t)fAi : l^^At AnmAitn nA ctoice. 1nif "foAit Af a CAptJAt).
UemAif cifi fAiL 1 fO]AfomA'6. Uif UAittcen AnAijiiiye co
bfAt, ocuf ip An ciffen buf oenA6 cluice cen uhef fbAi^of
A Uem]\Ai5; ocuf la t)e5inAC An AonAig, in fbAit nACAf
f A15P bit) cii]\-if An bUAt)Ainpn. Xio jef 'PaL fOAc cof Aibfe
Annu, ot iri t)fvAi, ocuf t)o ^tAifn^efc; An tin gAifm |\o gef
An cloc ifet) bion fig biAf t)oc fiot co bfAt. t1i bA me
not) fboint)fe t)eic, otin t)fAi.
-AmbACAf lef um, conAcouAf , ciaic moif itnmAcuAifc, connA
fet)gcAf cit> t)o couAf Af met) An t)Of cu t)ijf nAinecc ; conco-
ACAf cfecbAn in mAf CAig Af a nAmuf . ITIoAf mAifc t)uinn,
ot Conn, t)iAnA fuccAi a cif nAiniuib. 1efpn t)obbeci An
mAfCAC cfi ofcofA cucAi, ocuf If CfAit)e x)UfnAnAic in
cofcof t)e5enAC inAf [in] cofcnof uoifec. 1f x>o guin -pig
eth. Of in t)fAi, cibe t)ibfAiciuf Conn a Uemf A15. ^dnAit) lAp-
APPENDIX. 619
pn AH ruA^ACAc vm wbi^ACCAX), ocuf nc cuca, ocuf pejUMf cxmn.
fAilci p]ii Conn, ociif conjA^ic tef -oia c]teb. *OufcocAii ia- ^^^^^
jMim con-ouf j^aLai ipn mAg nAlAin-o. ConAcucA]i An 1^15-1^^1 1 aocouiit of
inpn ocuf bib 6\^v^ in a T)o]tAf , ocuf conACACA|; cec nALAint) 2?/
nAnn |ro occac pn'opuine, T)eic c|\ai5ix) pcic a pox). t.ocA]i
lApum tpn [cig], conACACAp An ingen mACOAccAipn coig ocuf
bA]\|\ 0]1T)A pop A mutlAC. IDAbAC AipClt), CO CipctAlb Op-QA
impe, ocuf p tAn vo 'oepg-tin'o ; ep c]\ai oip pop a up ; copAn
•01 op pop A beoUvi. ConACACAp An pcAt pox)epn ipn C15 pop
A cinn inA pi5-ptiix)e. Hi ppic a UempAic piAin pep a me-oe,
nAC A CAoime; Ap Aitte a cpocA, Ap ingAncA a 'oetiluA.
Pptpgepcp-oe T)oib ocup Acbepc pptu : tli'ooni pcAt-pA etn,
ocup ni"oom upcpAc'ocup ■oom tiip*oepcup •ouib; lAp mbAp •00
'oeocA'OAp, ocup ip T)o cinet -Ax)Aim 'OAum : ippe mo plon'OA'o,
Lug mAC 6t)len'o, mic UigepnniAip. Ip "oo -oo •oechAX)up
coneciup x)ex)pe pAegAt x)o plACAU pen, ocup cac ptACAi biAp
A UempAic. Ocup bA pi An ingen boi ipn cig pop a ciont)
plAiciup Gpenn co ppAC.
bA p An ingen x)o bepc An ■oicet) •00 Cont) .1. "OAm-ApnA,
ocup copc-ApnAi. Cetpi cpAigit) pcic pot) An 'OAtfi-ApnA; occ
cpAigit) icip A cuAim ocup CAtAm. 1n CAn luit) An ingen
'oon x)Ait A'obepc p]uu: CiA -oa ctbepcAp An Aip-oeoq'A?
tpipcApc An pcAt copo pluin-op-oe cac ptAit o Cunt) co bpAt.
ocAp A popcAt) An pcAit conA pACAicpecAp An ]\At nA6 An
rec. l:roppAcbAt) Ua Cont) in t)AbAig, ocup in u-epcpAi opt)A,
ocup Ant) Aip[t>]ech. 1p t)epn aca ^ipbng AnjScAit ocup
egr]\Ai, ocup cApgpAit)e Cuint).
CiA po]\ A nt)Ailpt)ip An Aipt>ecpA, copAn t)epg-tAic? 61 in
ingen. 'OaiL t)e, pop in ScaU, pop Cont) cet)-cAtAC .1. cet)
CAt-pAi bpippup; CAecAU btiAt)Ain nAmA t)o t)0 cAit, no t)o
lbt)A. pppt) CACA .1. CAt bpeg, CAC Cll, CAU -AlCe, CAt
ITIacai, cAt Cint)-cipi ; pecc cacai ITIoigi t/ine, cac CuAitgne;
pecc CAtA ClAipme, ecc.
A compAC Am UibpAici /T*^-^^
Cec tet-comnApc Anui-be, ^'vV- 7*V'^
Ipe git)nicep ac t)tuigi ^Y \H:\.:''^^\
Ha ptuAg biAp tAppuit)e. ^j /.. ; V cJ
IDippAn t)o Conn cet)-cACAc \^;V ' ; 'r /w
lAp nApcenet) t)pecn-mAg, V/r',--^. <. S/
goncAp, lAp cimcett cecn puip, ^<Z.S^>^
X)iA mAipc A UuAt Cmpuip.
CiA poppA nt)Aitpt)ip in Aip[t)]ecpA cup in t)epg-ptAit [read
tAicJ, op in ingen. 'OAit t)e, op in ScaL, pop -Ape mAC Cuint).
fep cpi ngpetA.
620
APPBIIDIX.
cxxvin.
Ancient
Account of
the BaiU
anScdiL
ip\]\px> CAt p-o^AUif mACAin muqvAime,
1mA coecfAt) mAi]i-biti.
Id A x)i|Af An T)o A]ic in AC Cuint)
Cu meic ^itel^A Otuitn.
'OlA'OAp'OOITl pcit) CAt
A CAOCUf tA pL 'LtlJAfc.
U]11CA btlAt)Ain flATTlA
1n cAfi no x)oc ib'OAA.
[translation].
A day that Conn was in Temair after the destruction of the kings,
he Went up at early [morning] upon the royal rath of Temair, at the
rising of the sun; and his three druids along with him, namely, Afadj
Bloc, Bhuicne; and his three poets, namely, Ethain, Corb, Cesarn,
The reason that he went up there every day with that number, to
view all the points [of the heavens] was, in order that hill>men
[fairy-men] should not rest upon Erinn unperceived by him. The
spot that he always frequented, he happened to meet a stone there
under his feet, and he stood upon it. The stone screamed under his
feet so as that it was heard all over Temair, and over Brtgh [or
Bregia]. Then Conn asked of his druids what the stone screamed
for, what was its name, and where it came from and where it should
go to, and wliat brought it to TemodrS^^^
What the druid siiid to Conn was, that he would not tell till the
end of fifty days and three. When the number had ended, Conn
asked the druid again. It was this the druid said : "FJ/ is the name
of the stone. It was out of the Island of Foal it was brought. It
was in Temair of the Land of Fal it was set up. In the land of
Tailltin it shall abide for ever ; and it is that land that shall be the
sporting fair-green as long as there shall be sovereignty in Temair;
and the last day of the fair, the sovereign who does not witness it^
there shall be hardness in that year. Fc^ has screamed under thy
feet this day, said the druid, and prophesied ; the number of calls
which the stone has screamed is the nimaber of kings that shall
come of thy seed for ever: It is not I that shall name them for
thee", said the diniid.
As they were there, after this, they saw a great mist all round,
so that they knew not where they went, from the greatness of the
darkness which had come ; and they heard the noise of a horseman
approaching them. " It would be a great grief to us", said Conn, " if
we should be carried into an unknown country". After this the
horseman let fly three throws [of a spear] at them, and the last
throw came with greater velocity than the first throw. " It is the
wounding of a king, indeed", said the druid, " whoever shoots at Conn
in TeT)iair'\ The horseman then desisted from the shooting, and came
to them, and bade welcome to Conn, and he took them with him to
(2fi8) It will be perceived below that this question In not answered by the droSd ; the
however, had been brought to Temair by the Tuaiha Di Danann.
APPENDIX. 621
his house. They went forward then until they entered a beautiful cxxTm.
plain. And they then saw a kingly rath and a golden tree at its
door ; and they saw a splendid house in it, luider a roof-tree of uooant of
Findruine; thirty feet was its length. They then went into the ^£SJi
house, and they saw a young woman in the house with a diadem of
gold upon her head ; a silver kieve with hoops of gold by her, and it
full of red ale ; a golden can [escra] on its edge ; a golden cup at its
mouth. They saw the Seal Lchampion] himself in the house before
them, in his king's seat. There was never found in Temair a man
of his great size, nor of his comeliness, for the beauty of his form,
the wouderfulness of his face.
He spoke to them and said to them : " I am not a Seal indeed, and
I reveal to thee part of my mystery and of my renown: It is after
death I have come ; and I am of the race of Adam ; Lug, son of
Edlenn, son of Tighernmas, is my name. What I have come for is,
to reveal to thee the life of thine own sovereignty, and of every
sovereign who shall be in Temair^*. And the maiden who was in the
house before them was the sovereignty of Erinn for ever.
It was this maiden that gave the two articles to Conn, namely, an
ox-rib and a hog -rib. Twenty- four feet was the length of the ox-
rib ; eight feet between its arch and the ground. When the maiden
came to distribute the drink, she said to them : " Who shall this bowl
be given to ?" The Scdl answered, that every sovereign from Conn
down for ever would be named. They went from out of the shadow
of the Scdf, and they did not perceive the rath nor the house. The
kieve was left with (7o/m, and the golden esera, and the bowl. It is
from this have come the " Vision [^Baile^ of the Seal, and the ad-
venture and journey of Conn". [There is something irregular here,
as this paragraph ought to be the end of the talc.]
" Who shall this bowl with the red ale be distributed to ?" said the
maiden. " Distribute of it", said the Seal, " to Conn of the hundred
battles : that is, he will gain an himdred battles. Fifty years shall he
spend when he shall die. He will light battles, namely, the battle
of Bregh; the battle of Eli; the battle of Aic/ie; the battle of
Mocha; the battle of Cenn-tird; seven battles in Magh'Line; the
battle of Cuailgne; seven battles in Cldirine, etc.
"In his combat with Tipraile,
Though unequal in strength, their advance ;
It is he that shall be wounded while cleaving
The hosts that shall accompany him,
" Woeful for Conn of the hundred battles.
After having paved Drech -Mhagh,
He is killed, after having gone round all the bays.
On Tuesday in Tuath Eemruis".
" Who shall this bowl with the red ale be distributed to ?** said the
maiden. " Distribute of it", said the Scdl, " to Art, the son of Conn.
A man of three shouts".
622
APPENDIX.
CXXYUl.
Andent
•cconiitof
th9 BaUi
anScdil,
'< He shall fight the battle of Fidh-BoSy the morning of Mueruimhl,
In which shall fall great warriors,
It will be woeful to Art the son of Confiy
With the sons of OUill Oluim.
" Upon Thursday he fights the battle
In which he falls by the sons of Lughaidh,
Thirty years only (shall he reign)
At the time that he shall be slain".
APPENDIX No. CXXIX. [Lect. XVIIL, Pages 389, 390]
Refserenee to Original of stanza, referring to the b^ite An ScAit, in the Poem
acdiiyhy on the succession of tlie Km^s of lara, by yUMin Tmaitih'-
''**"• cj^ec, /row the Book ofLeinster; H, 2. 18., T,C.D.;fol 98,
{j^2nd stanza); and original of first line of the same Jroem.
THApb iA|\nA jAijA •oon cftog,
Coco min-gtAn Tnugme-oon,
KO fljAAT), Cit) C|AUt Aite,
tlo f cpibAT) ifpn ScAL-bAite. —
tlij Uetfij^A "DiA cej^bAtTO cnu. —
Poem by
Kingilrf.
Mcribtrd
Finn Mac
CumfMilL
APPENDIX No. CXXX. [Lcct. XVIII., Page 391.]
Original of first line of the ^^ProphetuT Poem ascribed to Ajtc
*' the Lonelrf\ son of Cortrt {from teAbAjA tia b-Ui-dite,
RLA.Jol 11),
CAin -oo 'OennA -oen.
APPENDIX No. CXXXI. [Lect. XIX., Page 392.]
icri£d*to Original of the heading and commencement of a Prophecy of
St, Patrick, ascribed to pnn THac CtufiAibt (from a vellum
MS. in T,C.D., classed H, 3. 17, jp. 835).
Finn^ the grandson of Baiscn^y fore-
telling of Patrick, when he slippi^d
off the flag on which he afterwards
came to Erinn :
It is not through a path of crime mj
foot has come,(»^
For of strength 1 am not bereftjf**)
But a stone rejects a Fenian king,<^)
A flag***' which represents a chasto
man with the dignities of the
Holy Spirit.(')
It will not bear God-grieving, flcsbj,
Fenian bodicsJO
A residence pleasant /•> with Angels to
watch in presence [of the rock] in
the heavy circle of plaintive clerical
music, pn*aching<'»> a great^*' work.
With ornamented instruments, whoae
name is, the Altar of the all-direct-
ing, strong judging God.
pnt) Ua bAMfcne cecinic, occ
caiixcocaaI P<£c|vaic, ir> c^n t>o t\o-
chAip T>ont) leic po]\ a cAnic [in
tobAjx?] lAppn CO heiMtro.
tli(*) tno coff A ofce fecAX>
A|\f»^ tiim nenc r>Ai|\citiif,
Achc^*' clocn T>l.omAif pig thermit)
tecc^'*) CAi^ CAif etbcAi co ngpA-
T)AiV*>noeb SpipACA.
tli^O pjiLMug Ai-oe cunpu feoUM-oe
pAtit) ■Oeo-c|\Aicecn.
A]Mjf<*> neAc inT>Ai'oe y\^\ Ainjel i
•pnectiA]\cui', 1 cuAiiNt) C]\om ciuib
cte|%e nepiA'DAch oc P|\ocepc,^'*J
1T10|\(*> -OAHA.
Co n-A^bA-otcAib [A-obA-OAib] cum-
[■ojAccAib, -oiAmbA ViAinTn ALcoip
■06 C|\eopx>Ai, cpen-bpetAig.
APPIITDIZ.
623
TIAtTIA j;tlA, 5nAT>A1CC1'6 pti-o yi\{~
in-oe neTn-|M nuA^fAL, fOffAT) fui-
t)iu5AT), T)iAneD pig-rui-oe nem ;
T)iAni'o i^ofcetTiet CALum, Aitigii
CO cru|\ ceoAt i CAtAi|\ Cuipcc.
Conuf cAfCAp CAitx:eriti ci\en "oot)
Scfe gufi" oeti Ap cixecfe, cotibiA
A diLAnn biclir»AiT)e c6n niA]\Af
Ctoch COCjAAIge/^^ pAcpAic.
pnic.
[minitijA*.]
<*) .1, til c|M coe Aifce x)0]\Aii\cif rno
6oif.
.1. ni Viu|vcli|\A nipc pt oi\um.
^«) .1. a6c If ctocli nig pAtin ^Mf
x)U)TnAif in 6to6.
<«*) .1. If C6.\X) in CI WAttAfTAf tn'^^xA
f A in ctoid.
<•> .1. ^jXA-OA epfcoip.
<'> .1. ni piitAing cuppA nA pAnn
feoilmAjx C]\Ai'oic "OiA.
<■> .1. if ^ptif nAicc nAinjct bit ica
ipnAi-oe Pac]\aic Vii pAX)-
nAife nA Uce.
^) .1. feAntnoi^ no ceAjAfC.
(»)
.1. mop ceipc,
<''>.i. x)iAbAiU ninmoin .i. AnwAin.
Its ttrength is more preTailing than j^p. cxxzi
the strength of the soul's false ene- — ■ '
my.<''> The lover of fair truth, the " Prophecy''
illustrious HeaveDly King, who on Mcribed to
His throne sitteth; whose Jtingly ^**jJ|{J**
throne is Heayen, whose footstool ^•""*^*'
is the Earth. Angels seeking Him
shall be in Corc^s City.
Until comes the powerAil Tailcenn,
who will heal every one who shall
beUeve; whose children shall be
perpetual as long as Cothrai(/h€*8,^^>
Patrick's, Rock shall live. Ymia.
[OLOSS.]
(*) I.e., it is not through a path of crime
I have brought my foot.
0>> I.e., it is not decay of strength that
is on me.
(*> t.«., but it is the stone of a Fenian
king which the stone rejects.
(<*) I.e., he is a chaste person for whom
comes my refusal by the
stone.
<') ue., the dignities of a bishop.
^'> ue,, it will not bear the bodies of
the fleshy Fianns who griere
God.
^'> Le., it is a pleasant residence with
the angels who are watching
for Patrick in presence (?
the flag.
^1*) {.«., a sermon or instruction.
<*) I.e., of great right.
<^> I.e., of the devil. Ninmoin; f.e., a
souL.
(*) ue.f another name for Patrick is
Cothraighe,
(*\i. Ainw Aite T)o Pau|\aic Cot'
pAige.
[It is quite clear that there are two stones, or rather, a stone and
a rock, referred to in this curious ancient piece ; that is, if we
believe the heading to be correct, either in its first form, or with
my presumed correction. One of these was an altar stone, that
upon which either Patrick or the leper came to Erinn; and the
other the celebrated Rock of Cashel, which to this day is called
Carrat'fj PhcUratCj or Patrick's Rock, but which was also anciently
called Leac Phdtraic^ or Patrick's Flag-stone. It is alluded to in
a popular oath under that name — -o^x^ An Uc Pac^vaic aca a cCAifet :
*'By the Leac Phatraic which is in Cashel". See the old tale
of ceifncAth Inline ^liuilt (" the Grumbling of Goll's Daughter"),
a story of Fetdklim Mac CrinHithainn^ king of Munster, who died
A.D. 845. The city calhjd Corc^a City, where the angels were to
keep vigil for the coming of Patrick, was the City of Cashel, first
founded by Core Mac Luyhach (who was king of Munster at the
time of I*atrick\s coining), he having been induced to do so by the
resort of angels to the place, as will be seen in the Note on Rdith
Breasail (ante)j Appendix III., p. 485.]
624 APPXHBIX.
cxxxn. APPENDIX No. CXXXn. [Lect. XIX., Page 895.]
*' Prophecy** Original of stanzas in one of the ^^OssianuT Poems^ containing a
pS^r°*" ''Prophecf ascribed to ptin ITIac Cuffu\iU {MS. H. 1. 11,
cwmAoot p. ^ Oifin, An jVAi-be ^tinn
til "00 i'Aij^cine ffiic CurfiAitt,
iTTlAp cUM|\n5ip ATI ]M5 CO ]V\t,
XXinjlt 50 p]\ *OA AV^AA-b.
O. InneofAT) ■ouic fceAt 50 gpinn,
A, pliACHAic djAif) line CAtppAinn,
xXgAf bA c|\A"6 let)' d^^AOi'Oe,
5ac t)At ACA A rcAi]in5n\e.
SiJit)e •00 |Mnn "pinn cai]a,
Of 5linn Ag Den n Alb GtVAiji,
50 ]:^'ACAi^ neAb "oub ACUAif),
'Oo TTiuc Gme \\e liAon-UAin.
X)o |\ofbeA|Au CAOitce cjiAOi-be,
Ue pnn oi|\t)ei|Ac -AtrfiAine,
UAbAi]i co|\x)65 pot)' •66at) py
If nA tei5 pnn a neifbf .
p. UpuAg pn A ChAOilce c|AA0i'6e,
If ciAn UA1C in cAif njife,
ThefCfAio 'OAnAif CAf tnuif meAnn,
-A nuitc fon fcAfAib GincAnn.
pcAf "oiA 'OApT)Aoin cem A|tA cceAnn,
Olc An iAfmAi]\c T)'iAt GipeAnn,
111 AC 1Hu]\c1iA'6a, An •OlAbAt T)Uf,
Id A pAbAf CA e Af nimpu-b.
APPENDIX No. CXXXIII. [Lect. XIX., Page 397.]
MOTi£d*to Original of stanza containing the ^^Prophecy^ attributed to the
the Dmid jjruid of King l^AegAife; with the ancient Gloss, {from
Laeg£5r4. Hie Tripartite Life of St Patrick; my copy, J?. 21 ; ifS-
Egerton 93, British Museum^ p. 6.) [See also Appendix
No. CXXVn., p. 617].
Uicf A cAitcent),^'^
UAf muii^ meifcenn,
-A bfAUC cotUcent),
A cnf Anx)^^ cf om-chenx)
A miAf^"^ in Aipchiuf a C151,
p^fefef Au huiti. -Amen, -Aniens
[Gloss :] (*^ .1. Pac^xaic, «.e., Patrick.
»»>.i. bAiA^t ifu 111A Uim, «.«., the staffof Jesus in bia hand.
(*^ A ^tcoip, i.e,, his aHar.
ited
Colum
▲PPEHDIX. 625
APPENDIX No. CXXXIV. [Lect XIX., Page 399.] cxmr.
Original of the first line of the ^^Prophetie^ Poem attributed "Propiwtic*'
to St. CAillin (MS. 3. 54, j9. 6 ; Hodges and Smith Col- TS^
lection^ R.I.A.).
" 6i|te oXXj oilen Ainjel.
APPENDIX No. CXXXV. [Lect. XIX., Page 399.]
Original of first sentence of the ''^Prophecy" attributed to bes "Prophecy"
iriAc -06 (Ilarleian MS. 5280, BritUh Museum, p. 62). %J^^
IS Tn<M]i5 chAipgeubAi a liAiiiifne a tuc z\\^\ n^ njAi-oet,
in m<\c A Ti'oiAi'6 a AtAp An Apt) iVIacIiai.
APPENDIX No. CXXXVI. [Lect. XIX., Page 400.]
Original of stanza of a ^^Prophecg** attributed to St. Colum "Proph.
Cille, quoted in tlie fragment of the Wars of the Danes^ to^t
in the ''Book of Leinster'' (the MS. classed as H. 2. 18, ««."
TC.D.,fol2\la.a.).
In loingef fAin IocaHi,
THAit "00 monAT) gAtl genci
bit) UAX)lb ADAT) XXllMOniACA,
bit) [p]ottAninACC AnptAcliA.
The following is the original of the first verse of the Poem in
which the stanza occurs, (MS. H, 1. 10, T.C.I).; p. 157).
d]"c jtiom A tDliAoictn buAin,
t.e 5Ut mo ctuic in 1 A-bpuAiji
50 mn-oipm lAp^^o-bAin
-A •OC15 f|\iA T)enie'6 •ooriiAin.
APPENDIX No. CXXXVII. [Lect. XIX., Page 401.]
Original of stanza of ITlAOilin 65 IVIac bpuAmeA-bA, referring
to the last-mentioned '^ Prophecy (A nnals of the Four if asters,
A.D. 1599).
IDo Wi 1 nx)An 1 nt)i05Ait Oitig,
-A Aot) TltiAi"6, T)o \<ec An fAit)
Uocc t)Ap ftuAi5 50 liiAu HlliAg nAt)Aip;
ACUAI-O lA]\tA]1 CAbA1]1 CAlg.
APPENDIX No. CXXXVIII. [Lect. XIX., Page 406.]
Original of first stanza of a second '''Prophetic' Poem attributed
to St. Coltim Cille (MS. 1. 75, p. 14, Hodges and Smith
Collection, R.LA).
Cifc jiiom A bliAoicin bAin,
A UAf All AH fl6p-fc|tAbA1^
40
626 APPSHDIZ.
cxxxvin. go ]toiiinipnn, ipit 5ATI re^tt
-Prophecy-- V'oy 5^6 t)AU U CotiAlt.
•ttritmtod
toSLCWuM .
APPENDIX No. CXXXIX. [Lect. XIX., Page 407.]
Original of first line of a third ^^ ProphetUT Poem attributed
to St. Colum CiUe {MS. 1. 75, p. 19, Hodges and Smith
Collection^ EJ.A.).
tlA cpi Ctiinn A]A fbod;c ah TltiAi'6.
APPENDIX No. CXL, [Lect. XIX., Pages 409, 410.]
Original of first stanza of a fourth ^^ProphetuT Poem cUtrihuted
to St Colum Cille (J/S. H. 1. 10, p. 161, Library T.C.D.),
UeAiTiAip b]AeA5, UeATfiAi]i bjie^g,
51*6 tionniA]\ bb tiort a fCAp,
til ciAfi 50 mbiA 'n^k f AfAC
Same Appendix and page. Original of the first stanza of St.
Colum Cille s fifth Prophetic Poem, addressed to St, Bearchan
{MS. H. 1. 10, T.Cl).,p. 116).
UiocpAiv Aimp]t A l3lieA|\CAiTi,
If bo otc teAc beiu in 6i|\inn ;
Deit) riA pAjUv gAntiA,
b<\ f ATitiA TiA meic teijinn.
Same Appendix and page* Original of the first stanza of St
Colum Cities sixth Prophetic Poem {MS. 1. 75, p. 27,
Hodges and Smith Collection, R.I.A.).
THo ceAti "ouiu a te^ccAipe
Uhij 4xy ceAJAn* TI15 lliTfie;
Oy yAtn' "bein cijij^e,
tie 'OiA beipitn a bui-be.
Same Appendix, p. 410. Original of the first line of St. Colum
Cilles Prophetic Poem on the final disposition of his own
body {MS. 2. 52, p. 414, Hodges and Smith Collection,
R.LA.).
UiocjTAit) tllAnx)Aft tiA ni6|\ bong.
APPENDIX. 627
APPENDIX No. CXLI. [Lect. XX., pp. 412, 413, 414, 416.] ai^^cxli.
Original of three stanzas of a Poeti<:al " Prophecy^ ascribed to HJ^^JjS^
67. t)e|\6An, quoted in the Tract on the " Wars of tlie Danes^\ st Atrdkfn.
in the ''Book of Leinst^r' {the MS. classed as H. 2. 18., ZCZ).,
fol. 217 a. a.).
UicyAic genn x)^]\ muni ttiaII,
TTlefCfAic yo\\ jrepAnt) hCnetro,
bit) UAtub AbA'b yop CA6 citt,
bit) tiAt)ib nepc fop G^tunt).
Secc nibtiAt)nA t)oib, ni peitjm ]:Ant),
In Ajt-o-^ugi tiA hCpeAnt),
In AD-OAinecACA citti, —
Xyo gencib tDuin 'Ombtinni.
biAit) AbAt) fonm Chittp t)e,
til co5e|VA t) iA]tme]\5e,
CAn pACijt CAn 6^\et)A,
CAn tAcin, Acc 5Att-be|\tA.
Same Appendix, p, 413. Original of the first stanza of St
Berchans ^'Prophetic" Poem, of which the above quotation
forms stanzas 7, 8, 9 (i/S. 3. 59, p. 57, Hodges and Sfnit/i
Collection, R.I. A.): —
Ai\\\y beAj a ifiic big bAin,
Si]x ypiA liAgAtlAim bheAitcAin,
Co CA|\c c]\o|" t)Ap'o'beAt binn
CopAC bcAnncAt) ■com bACAitt.
Same Appendix, p. 413. Original of the tenth stanza of the
preceding ^'Prophetic' Poem of St. Berchan.
yo-^A^we CO ciocfAif) niAC
ChAb]VA|" A biiAnt)ACC
5 AH ncApc 5^tt 50 bpAC b]\Af ,
5a eif A n'Oun 'Oa lyCAdgtAf .
Sajne Appendi^v, p. 414. Original of the twelfth stanza of the
preceding ^'Prophetic' Poem of St. Berchan.
AbpAX) ncAC y)\i niAC ^o'6a,
V|M ColniAn vno]\ me cAoriinA,
til CA Acn t)At mi]" o note,
50 ivoec t)o eg, nA ton5]bo|\r.
Saine AppendLr^ p. 416. Original of the ninety-seventh stanza
of the mme ''Prophetic^ Poem of St. Berchan, being the first
stanza of ilie second jyart.
-AcAi^t mAC, If Spn^uc llAom,
40 b
628 APPENDIX.
" Prophades'
1|* ATTlAjtAd C^lt) A]t Ce^t,
attributed to Pac|\aic ITIaca, mtnti seAtiTntiAit)
APPENDIX No. CXLII. [Lect. XX., Page 417.]
Original ofjirst line of a second ^^Prophetic^ Poem attributed to
St. bet^cAn (MS. 3. 59, Hodges and Smitli Collection, RJ.A.;
p. 90).
APPENDIX No. CXLIII. [Lect. XX., Page 417 ]
Original of verse quoted from a so-called ^^Prophecy^ of St.
DejACAti by lpe\\ye]yA O Ctei^ig {Annah of the Four Masters,
A.D. 1598).
A cc^t An -AtA btiiiie,
Af Uxif cuicpe HA •OAfiAip,
lAp troitiugA-b AttrfiunteAC,
bit) f Aoiti-b p]t 6 UhoivAig.
APPENDIX No. CXLIV. [Lect. XX., Page 417.]
Original of first stanza of a " Prophetic'^ Poem attributed to
St. bepcAfi {but believed to have been written by Ua-oj
O'rieACCAin, about 1716) (MS. 2. 11, Hodges and Smim
Collection, R.I.A.; p. 10).
UiocfA |\obA'6 "oeif •oitionn,
tllAji fAoitiTTi 1 nlni^ 6ntionn,
Cuippof •0|teAm cum miojpotuinn
\je ^Ajib-cuinn t^ocA Sitionn.
APPENDIX No. CXLV. [Lect. XX., Page 420.]
The Raiu Original of commencement of the bAile tnliotinr: (MS. H. 2.
-Acbepim ^^\> a iAirniu.
Hi "00 chint) cm til m diAi-obui
CoimecAit) bA|t c|iichA fein,
'Oo pcfAC co)XAip X)o chein.
PpichAilcejt tib, •oof pt •ouib,
pepgAl mAich TTiAc tTlAile'ouin,
X>o fAecli ACAib UA CAem Cuitto,
1 CAch -AtmAine a'dIuitto.
APPENDIX. 629
-Aet) AtU\n coha cliAcliAib a pp. cxlv.
Uis X)o 1615A1I A AcliAtt ; ^^ ^^^ ■
pAicebcriAp f utro la h^ei) memo, Mhohn^.
If biAit) pAen 1 pt) Chuittent).
APPENDIX No CXLVI. [Lect XX., Page 422.]
Oriqinal of first stanza cofitaining the so-called " Prophecy" o/*'^^^^
Sevr,^ [h. H. 1. 15, T.CJ); p. 961). -^riSr"
^txxm jMom A Sh^A-oriA,
SceALA "oeifeA-b •oorfiAin,
CionriAf biAf At! Line ;
Hac tonig p|ie A mbeAtA.
APPENDIX No. CXLVII. [Lect. XX., Page 423.]
Oriijinal of first line of Pomi by X)on'inAtt TMac bnuAi-oeA-bA
{circa 1570), referring to the so-called ^'Prophecy* attributed
Se-oriA (3/5. 1. 57, Hodges and Smith Collection^ R,L A,;
p. 1).
CiA Af pne CAH\c a|\ t\\\c tieibt.
APPENDIX No. CXLVIII. [Lect XX., Page 423.]
Original of first words of so-called ^''Prophecy' attributed to "Prophecy"
triAelcAtiiUccA (J/5. H, 1. 10, T.CD.; p. 167). f^iSe^
-AbAip A tllllAOltcAnitACCA.
~ APPENDIX No. CXLIX. [Lect. XX., Page 423.]
Original of passage from the Life of St. ^'OAmnAn, ( J/.5. Vol. fhV?!fe1?™
XI. 4190-4200, Burgundian Library y Brussels). saint'ii<tom-
t)A '00 fAin-'OAtiAib A'OAtnnAin p]\ocepc ocuf |:o]AcerAt.
Ho pfioccAt!) lAfATTi ipfi TTibbiA'UAin •oeigetiAC A bechAiX),
conce]\cA'o pocViAi-oi imon peib n-6oin p -oo pepAib 6|\eiin
ocuf ivtbAti. tlo tAtAi5ei!> occbAech AiiAitni-b 50 CotmAn
C|\UACAn -Aigte .1. AncAjtA boi 1 ContiACCAib, ocuf no Aif-
nei-oet) in c-occtAec mop X)o ingAncAib "oo CbobmAn ; octif
Afbe|\c ffiff* ^^ CAipngepet) AtJAmnAn pocAmi X)ye]iAio
Cjienn ocuf ^bbAn imon ^eib n-6oin p? U6, ot CotmAn.
bit) p|i -oono, ob in-ooccbAec, ip*i in pocAi-oi, -A'bAmnAn vo
cecc -oocum nime imon ^eib n-Coin p.
APPENDIX No. CL. [Lect. XX., Page 424.]
Original of the " Vision' of St. A-OAmnAn (frojn thr LeAbAp J^J^yi****"
Tt)6]\ tDunA 'Ooi5]\e, now called LeAbAji bpeAC ; R.I. A., AdanMan.
fol. 129. b. b.).
Uipo <juAe ui-oic A-OAmnAnuf tiip Spipcu SAncco pbenuf
hoc efc Angebuf "Oomini •oixic liAec uepbA eiuf iblum
630
APPENDIX.
AP. CL.
The**Vbloii'
ofSAlnt
Adamnan.
U^e UAC uijtif hibe|tiiiA iniHjtAe tnAn'OACA 'Oomini c}VAnf-
gp.'oiencibuf . Uac ^xe^ibur ec ppnctpibuf <\u^ non T)ipi5unc
uniCAcem ec •oibgunc in [r] ini<jtitcAcem ec -pApinAm. lUe
t)occo|tibvif <^ui non x)ocenc tinicAcem ec coni^enpunc unicA-
cibuf iTnpe|t|:eccopum. tiAe me]tic|MCibuf ec peccACopibur
<:|iii pcuc ]:oenum ec |xiputvim conqieniAbunctip a bujw
ignACA in Anno bifexciti ec embotepni ec in pne cijiculi
ec in •oecottACione loliAnif 'OAUcifCAe. In j^excA ^epiA
ViAec ptAgA coniienic in itto Anno nip ■oeuocA poemcenuu
pjiohibuejuc uc llinuencAe feceitunc.
Of the
ditea«>ei
called the
Bnidhe
Chonnaai
and Crom
ChonHoiU.
APPENDIX No. CLL [Lect. XX., Page 425.]
Of the bui'6e ChonnAitt, and the C^iom ChonnAiti.
The character and cause, or material, of this fearful pestilence,
the Croni Chonfiaill, has been at all times a difficulty to our old an-
nalists, and to such of our writers as have given the subject their
consideration. But as it has been no part of my plan in the course
of these lectures to go out of my way to discuss opinions which did
not bear adversely on historical truth, I shall on this subject content
myself with simply recording the most curious and precise reference
to this pestilence which has hitherto appeared, except through my-
self. The mere fact I communicated some years ago to Mr.
W. R. Wilde, and he has published it in the " Report on Tables of
Deaths", of the Census of Ireland for 1851, page 416.
Among the nimierous ancient and important Gaedhelic historical
tracts knoAvn as the Lives of the Saints of Erinn, there is a Life of
8t. MacCreiche, the founder and patron of the intt^Testing ruined
church of Oil MicCreiche\ near the town of Inistimon, in my native
county of Clare. Like many of its class, it is a very curious docu-
ment, • and one of great importance in the investigation of the
genealogies and topography not only of the north-western seaboard
of Clare and the Arrann Islands, but of the counties of Kerry and
Tipperary, and of much of the southern portion of Connacht.
MacCreiche was a native of the present barony of Corcomroe, in
Clare, and paternally of the same race as the O'Conors and
O'Lochliiinns of that coimtry; but his mother was a native of
Kerry. He was the contemporary and friend of St. Ailbhe of Indiuch
[Emly], and the foster-father and tutor of St. Manchin^ the founder
of GUI Manchin, (now called St. Munchin's), in the city of Limerick.
When the Croni Chonnaill pestilence was raging, about the year
544, the Life tells us in this short passage that.
If Annpn CAngACAp ceccA o CtiiAjiiw^ige a|i cent) TTlheic
Cfiei6e, CO n-oecbi^At) 'oo •biongniAit ptAigi "d'lob. An bA •6iob
A ifiAtAip; ocuf bA hi An ptAig ifin .i. An Cliiioni CnonnAilt,
APPENDIX. 631
^\o bAi Ag |:o|\bAip VO|t|iA hi ITIuig UtA-b. TTeit) TMac C|tetce app. cli.
AtiiAC A|i b^i-b, ocuf po bACAp C'lApivAige uile hi TTluig tHA-b ^^^j^^
A]1 A Ctnn. OljVJlC Ulte |tOinie, OCUf CU1|MC -poltCAOin jTAltce Alaenaet
n"r- 5^^^^r 1TIac C|\ei6e A|"A 6<\]ApAC, ocuf x>o jAb foif- /h«Sl»^ **
ceU\ ocuf UjMiAige impA, ocu]' 'oo |Aoine ppocepc bpeicpe tDe 2d*c!Sl»
•boib; ocuf '00 qAOifq^ec mte .1. ITIac Cpeice ocuf CiAppAite c^^^^^tu-
in oi-oce pn, ocu-p "Oo 'ponA'6 u]\'o Aip]\inn "ooib ApAbAjiAcn.
1|' Ann]nn cAfigACAjx C|\i meic Ctiitcinne .1. c]\i meic bi\AT^A]t
tnACA|\ tnheic Cpeice po bAi coi]\ acc Raic tTluige. -Ag cecc
Afioip -ooib, jtucc ATI Cli]\om ChonriAitt o|1]\a, ocu-p x)o cuic-
l^eAUAi^ te, Arc|\iup bpAtAjt. UuA]\CAib ITIac Cpeice a fmn-
jTAi-beAC AriAip-oe acc pAiccpn a b|\Aicpec niApb. T\\o]\ ciati
•061b Ann conACACAjt ^'Aignen zene-d vo Hitfi cuca, ocuf
cuici'b Ap in Cpuim CtionnAitl, 50 n-oeimA min ocuf tuAit
•01 Ap betAib An cftuAig. SteccAit) tJite, rpep An ppc pn, -oo
mhAc Cjieice. Conix) -oe pn aua fepc Ctoinne Cuitcinne,
ocuf nA Cpuiine ConnAilt a]\ tlloi^ UIa-o.
[translation.]
It was then came messengers from Ciarraighe [Kerry men] for
Mac Creiche, requesting him to go to ward off the plague from^hem,
because liis mother was of them. And this phigue was the Crom
Chonnailly wliich was attacking them in Magh Uladh.^*^^ MacCreiche
went with them, and all the Ciarraighe were in Magh Uladh to
meet him. They all arose and bade him a truly hearty welcome.
MacCreiche was received out of his chariot, lie recited the Gospel
and prayers around them, and he preached the word of God imto
them, and they all fasted, — that is MacCreiche Vindi the Ciarraighe^ —
that night ; and there was Office and Mass performed for them on
the next day. It was then that the three sons of Cuilcinn came—
that is, the three sons of the brother of MacCreiche^ s mother, who
were to the east at Raith Miiighe,^^^^ At their coming from eastwards
the Crmn Chonnaill overtook them, and they fell by it, the three
brothers. MacCreiche raised his Finn/aidhech^^^^ on high at seeing
his kinsmen dead. They were not long there afterwards until they
saw a fiery bolt from Heaven coming towards them, and it fell on
the Crom Chonnaill, so that it reduced it to dust and ashes in the
presence of the people. And it is therefore that the mound [or
grave] of the sons of Cuilcinn and of the Cruim Chonnaill is upon
Magh Uladh.
That the Crom Chonnaill was a living animal, or at least believed
(HoO) Magh (ladh, i.e., the )>1aln of tho Ultonlans. It received thii name from the drctun-
•tauce of the Men of Ulster having encamped on Jt at the time of the murder by them •f Curtd
AfacDairi, kint; of Weat Munster, and the deatructiun of hia court, the famoua Cathair Conroi^
which »too<l on the mountain above this plain, to the weat of Tralee.
(260) Haith MuigM.—Thi» I believe wa« Raith Muighe Tuai*€eirt, or northern lUthmof,
DOW liattoo, seven milen west of Listowel. on the nmd from Tralee to Ballybuunian.
(201) Finnfaidhech, i.e., » the Fair SoondinR". lliis was the name of one of St Patrick's
most sacred and celebrated bells ; but the name appears to hare been also glveu by some of
his disdples and successors to their own favourite bells, as In the present caso.
632 APPENDIX.
App. CL1. to haye been such, would appear clear enough from the passage
■ just quoted ; but farther on in this curious Life, where some of the
lueuM ^^s ^^ the saint are summed up in Terse, the fact is stated still
^"•Jt'w more clearly, as may be seen in the following stanzas :—
?7koiHi<» t>^ i^fpn no (ecli^itig It was afterwards be went, —
"Ji* ^*2r ^" T^^ fodtA f6bA6, The fiunout, pleasant jewel ! —
.himaiu. ^^^ C|\eide A|\ tipiAf -blA, Mae Creich^ our constant theme, —
50 fnAt|\^ iTTloig Ul^<6. To his maternal kindred in Ma^
Uladh.
\)A h^nnpn t)o f i]gne, It was there he performed
In pnc, p^T) in vvi^^t The miracle before the people;
tn^^O^if At) cVipom cYionn^itt, He kills the Crom Chonnaul,
1)^1 ^g DponT)4&-6 ^n cfVuAi^. Which was destroying the hosts.
It may be further stated that the Gaedhclic word Crom, or Crtim^
signifies literally a maggot ; while the word ConncUl signifies lite-
rfdly the yellow stubble of com. This word differs from ConalL, a
man's name, only in its being spelled with double n, while the proper
name has but a single n. It is a remarkable fact that the name
of the celebrated idol of the ancient pagan Gaedhil was Crom
Cruach, which would signify literally, the " Bloody Maggot** ; whilst
another idol, or imaginary deity, in the western parts of Connacht,
was called Crom Dubh^ or the " Black Maggot", whose name is still
connected with the first Sunday of August in Munster and Connacht.
The Buidhe Chonnaill^ or ".stubble yellow", would appear to be the
name of a particular disease of the jaundice kind, but not produced
or accompanied by the presence of any animal like a maggot or fly.
APPENDIX No. CLII. [Lect. XX., Page 426.]
u>°the*isSiiI Original of passage in the l^eAbAji m6\\ tDtinA tDoijiAe/o/. 111.
• Fanait, b.b. {in the R.I.A., commonly called the Ue^bAp bpcAc),
concerning tlie " ScuAp a 'Patiaic'*.
1f ATiAimpji X)iTii, ptitAiTTo ChinAit) C1CC in T^ocb tlAmAch,
ocuf in ScuAp A^AnAit), ocuf in S^ignen cenncije. CbAch
C|iuicii\e, iTiAC SmiiA-ouib, mic SmAit, pij tia c|m Tloff , a Sit>
t)Ane. 'Oottui'o CLiAch iA|\um 'oo tocbup ingine uui-ob a
StT> A|\ femin. boi lAppn btiA-OAin hyr\ oc -peinm a c|\uici
fjtiA Sit) Amui5, ocuf Til |\occ nibut) neffA cu boi-ob, a]^
m6c A cuniAccA; ocu]' ni coemnACAip ni con mjen^vAix); acc
|\o feptiAin cojipemAit) in cAtAm foi, ccnit) t)e aca in tocb a
muLlAch in cflebe .1. t/octi bet S6t). l/och bet S6t) -oo
jIA-OA ).*|Mf .1.
Coe]AAbApboerti, ingen CcAit 4^nbuAit a Si-OAib a C]\^ch
ConnAcc; ocu|^ bA hingen ciimA6cAch, itcjiocViAch hi. U]m
CAejAic ingen impe, ocuf cegctf in bAnnc]iocc pn ce6pe
mbtiAt)Ain nie6cAib rpi CAecAic 6n itcpoctiActi, ocuf in a
nT)oinib in btiA-OAin ele. 1^ AmtAit) himojipo, bicif in en-
tAichpn, CO ftAbpAt) AipgAic ecA|i cec -oa n6n t)ib. Oen en
erujutu, Aitte "oo 6nAib in t)omuin, co muinde t)e|\5-6i|\ iniA
APPENDIX. 633
l)|w^5<MC. U]\i CAecAic fLxbiAAt), Aff CO nubAtt 6i|\ fO]A ctnx) afp. cm.
ce6 ftAbpAit). In f^z bA henUMch iac nombicif yo\i t^och ^^^^^t-^
CjlOUCA CtlACh, C0T11X)eA'0 Acbe]AC1f CAch: 1f im-OAl y^V to the Semmf
rAineATTiAit Ap beotu I/OcVia Cj^oxxa; conit) x>epr\ Acbquxnt ^ '^'^'^
Loch bet S6t) f^Mf .
t/Och t)et '0|\ACon, c|W^, "oo |\a'oa f]iif .1. •o|vaicc cenncije
piAijt muimme Uhepnoc n\tchc b|v\CAiTi, con-oepepc fupfA,
SAnccuf fniA a co^\ itlx)ch bet Sec. Ocuf ip in -oiw^icc
pn cicfA m feit Coin .1. ppiA t)epeT> •oomAin, in Aimp]i
phtAint) Chin AIT). ConAt) -oipn, ocuf conit) e|xi fAfAf in
SAignen cenncige rriAjibAf reo]\A cetjiAimA fey •ootnAin, ecip
mnAi, ocuf mAC, ocuf mgin, ocuf inxnte connice miiipcop|\en
f Aiji. Conit) ve 5A|iA|i tx)ch bet X)|VACCon fpif , no, t)e.
CtiAch C|iuici]ii t)in .1. t)A chjiuic no bicif A150 inoenpeic
OCA femmtn, conit) Ai|ie pn AcbepAji Cjiocca CtiAch ocuf
StiAb C|10CCA.
If t)o fenmAiii in cf Aignen cenncige beof, AmAit |io 6a-
chAin TTIoting SAnccuf, 1 CAiiingnie nA V^te Coin, uc
t)ixic: —
-A X)e mAi|i [A X)e rriAip],
ConAjAbAint) mo t)i e|iAiU" (^.y. icge, [request.]
tn Aninim tA hAingtiu e|VAin,
tlimcAip t)iiinebAt) getAin.
hi f-eit Coin cicfA c|\eff,
SipfCff Cipnt) AnAi]\t)e]Y, [AniA]it)e]y]
'OjiAicc tonn to]yq:e]Y CAch |ionicc,
Cen djomAint), cen -pACCAjAbAic.
T)pem t)ub t)opcA bjiifeiy bpuch,
-AcbetAC f]ii bpiAchA]i-C|itich,
IfAcn t)o cex)Aib nAtnA,
*Ooneoch t)ib x>o epnAbA.
O X)un CepmnA co S]\uib bpAin,
Si|i]:'eff con 11lui|i Uojipen fAip;
'OjiAicc tonn tApiAch tAn t)o tein,
till* ]:iiicpe Acc niAt) ceqiAmcAin.
TTlAiiig t)o picf A, tnAipg t)o nAiji,
1TlAip5 nA foctiche|i in ptAig,
In niAnic CAjipAfCAji in ]:eit
If yeyy a pochitt x>o cein.
Hech Aq:ec fcetA t)e,
X)on phtAich A]iA fumeAbA,
CuiC tAchi epitAlg lAf CAIfC,
Cuic btiAt)nA pen t)uinebA.
Uicf A Aimpp lApmocA,
1 mbi btiAt)Ain bifecA,
634 APPENDIX.
tDuinebAt) reUxin ntmcAm.
to the sei«»p -A X>6 iTiAm, ecc
a /'oiwiil.
APPENDIX No. CLIII. [Lect. XX., Page 429,]
Note on tbe Original of note on the Scu Ap a Paiiaic in the fetipe -Aenjuj'A,
/w/ln preserved in the same Book (UeAt>A|t ITlop 'Outia "Ooigpe,
the Feiiri ^^,^ ca//<?(/ the l/GAbAp b]\eAc, jR /.-4 .), o^ tA« end 0/ Awjust,
"^ foL 37. 6.
Ij' irj-oigAit mA|Abc1iA Coin t)AtipcAif •oini, cic tnScuAp a
l^AnAic t)o ejxglAnAt) e^enn fpiA -oeput) 'oottiaiti, attiaiI |\o-
chAH\]\n5HA An\e]\ATi inecriAi, ocuf Cotum Citle .t. hiceiitcin
cfAin-oput) ifAiTo cicrpAi inScuAp a^atiaic, uc t)ixic Cotum
Citte .1. ATTiAil geitc -OA CAch hico]tAic bit) hi teiii jUvnpif
Cipc. An\e]\An x)ixic •oenScobA .1. •01 chonimcech ben in-
oentny coeb r^iicAeb. In pep jVAgup Apncig inA]vxite nipuij-
boA nech AtxAcmnx) imbediAit) ipncig liiitAgA. Ocup ni puigbe
lApum necn inibechAit) ipncij AppAgA, bit) hi t)eine inpn
pAgti]' inScuAp A^AnAic. TliA5Ait t)ixic. Upi Vaa ocup ueopA
Ait)che pop bbAt)Ain bep inptA5pA in Cipinn. IncAn bup
teip echAp pop toch Tlut)pAi5e, ot)opup inppoincige ipAnt)
CAeuc inScop A^AnAir. tllAipc e^ipAig imop]\o, lApCAipc tfe
tAirh pechcmAine hicicpA inScop int)i5Ait cepcA Coin, uc
t)ixic ITIoting, ocpiugpAT) nA peite Coin: —
hipeit Coin cicpA cpepp,
Sip|:e]y Ci]\int) AnAipt)epp,
'OpAic tonx) toipc]:ep CAch ponicc,
Gen chomAint) cen pACv\pbAic.
APPENDIX No. CLIV. [Lect. XX., Page 432.]
Giraidus Original of two passages from Giraldus Camhrensis^ concerning
vreTunded' pretended ^^ Prophecies" of political events,
*• Pmpliecy*'
by St. coiuM [The Title of Cambrensis' work is Expugnaiio Hibemicej sice
^*"' Historia Vaticinalis Silvestris Giraldi Cambrensis; and the following
extracts are taken from the edition of that piece published by
Camden in his "Anglica, Normannica, Hibemicji, Cambrica, a
veteribus scripta", etc., Francofurti ; MDCIIL, p. 755. The passage
from Cambrensis, liber ii., cap. 16 (p. 794, 1. 41), is as follows : —
" Tunc impletii est, vt dicitur illud Hibemici Columbw Taticiniii;
qui bellii istud longe pracinens, tanta in eo futura, inquit, ciuiii
strage, vt hostes ad genua eorunde fuso cruore natarent. Pra? glisis
namq ; mollicie, dum ad ima pcnetraret humana ponderositas, terra
lubricae sanguis profluus superficiem tenens, genua cruraque de
APPEKDIX. 635
facili pertingebat. Scribit etiam idem vates, vt fertur, quendam jlpp. clit.
paupere & mendicu, & quasi de aliis terns fugace, cum parua manu
Dunam venturum ; & citra maioris autoritatem vrbem obtenturiL SSSraiW
Bella ([uoq; plurima, variosq; reru euentus: quae omnia de Joanne pretended^
de Curcy sunt manifesto completa. Ipse vero Joan, librii hunc bys? ^Lm
propheticu Hibernice scriptum tanqua operum suoru spcculu p ^^^
manib. dicitur habuisse. Legitur quoq ; in eode lib. Juuene
quendam cum armata manu Guaterfordiae muros violeutcr irruptu-
rum, & ciuTi magna ciuium strage urbem obtenturum. Eimdem
quoq; per Guesefordiam transiturum, & demum absq; difficultate
Dubliniam intratiurum. Qua omnia de Comite Richardo costat esse
completa. Vrbem quoq; Limericensem, ab Anglonim gente bis
deserendam, & tertio retinendam Sanctus ille testatur. Sed deserta
quidem iam bis videtur. Primo, vt dictii est, a Reymundo: se-
cundo h Pliilipix), sup. c. 18. de Breusa: qui cum ad vrbem sibi
datam, aqua tamen interlal)ente veniret : citra conatus omnes, fi
insultus eandem reuertendo deseniit : sicut plenius suo loco, dicetur.
Vnde juxta idem vaticinium : vrbs tertio petita, erit retinenda, vel
potius longe post sub Ilammone de Valoignes Justitiario fraudu-
lenter destructa, & per Meylerium restaurata recuperataque".
The passage from the same book, cap. xxxiii. (p. 806, 1. 57), is
as follows : —
" Cum enim quatuor Ilibemici prophetas habere dicantur : Mo-
lingum, Braccauum, Patricium, & Columkyllum (quonun etiam
apud illos libri adhuc extant Ilibeniice scrij)ti) de hac cxpugnatione
loqucntes omnes testantur eam crebris coniiictibus longoque certa-
mine multa in posterum tempora multis cajdibus foedaturam. Sed
vix parum ante diem iudicii, plenum Anglorum populo victoriam
compromittunt ; Insulamq ; Hibernicam de mari vsque ad mare ex
toto subactam, et incastellatam. Et ([uanquam Anglorum populum
antea pluries bellici discriminis in Insula vices experiendo turbari
cotingat, <S: dobilitari (sicut Braccani testimonio, per (|uendaRegem
de descrtis Patricii niuntibus vt tunim, & nocte Dominica castrum
quodda in nemorosis Ophelania parti b® irrupturum ; Omnes fere
Anglici ab llibernia turbabuntur) c^orundeni tame assertione, Ori-
entalia Insulaj maritima continue semper obtinebit".
APPENDIX No. CLV. [Loct. XX., Page 434.]
Original of stanza of a pretended ^^Prophec]f quoted hy iStr " J^P^^cy"
Geonje Carew in 1602 (Carew MS., 607, ». 141); iawietA siJiTclStw,
Library, London). ^ ^«^''-
Uic]:et) t)0 6aa]\c An ChApunAig
50 mut) ViAijieAC lib ATToencAOi,
but) hionrOA glop aUu^umj
X>^ f CA0ileAi6 coif tlA tniAclAoi
Mae Ntua.
636 APPENDIX.
AFP. cLTi. APPENDIX No. CLVI. [Lect. XXI., Page 453.J
oirSKfikor W ^ accounts of the celebrated King of Ulster^ Contoh^fi
ITIac TleffA.
Conchchhar was popularly called Conchohliar Mac NcmOj from his
mother Nessa, daughter of an Ulster chief named Eckaidh Sal-
bhuidhe, the wife of another Ulster chief named Fiotchtna. Nessa
was left a widow in the prime of youth and beauty, at a time at
which Fergus Mac Roigh was king of the province, and when Conor
was seven years old. Fergus fell in love with the widow, and
proposed marriage to her, with a request to name her dowry. The
widow consented on condition that the sovereignty of the province
should be resigned to her son, Conchchhar^ for one year ; in order, as
she said, that his children might be called the chOdren of a king.
Fergus took counsel with his people, and they advised him to agree
to the condition, feeling that the youth would be but too glad to get
rid of the cares of government long before the year was expired
In this, however, they were mistaken ; for when his mother found
herself in a position of wealth and influence, she supplied the boy
and his tutors, who, of course, were his counsellors, with all the
money, goods, and other wealth that she could lay hold on, to be
distributed secretly among the most important and influential chiefs
of the province. She also advised and enabled him to keep up a style
of splendour and liospitality such as none of his predecessors ever
attempted before him ; so that his court soon became the resort and
residence of all that was brave, dignified, scientific, and learned in
his kingdom. The poets extolled him in verse ; the druids pro-
phesied his future fame and renown ; the ladies loved him for his
beauty; and the chiefs, the warriors, and the youthful military
aspirants of the province, looked up to him as the very soul of
munificence and chivalry; so that when his year of office was
expired, the Ultonians refused to allow him to hand the kingdom
back to Fergus^ alleging among other reasons, that Fergus appeared
willing at any time to barter it and themselves for the sake of any
woman who took his fancy. Fergus did not submit tamely to this
breach of covenant; he raised a war against Conchchhar^ which was
carried on for a long time with vigour, but he was ultimately de-
feated and forced to an involuntary submission. Conchobhar married
MedJibh, (or Meave,) daughter of the monarch Eochaidh Feidlechj but
she soon eloped from him, and her father gave her to another man,
and made her queen of Connacht. This was a disastrous circimi-
stance for Conchobhar^ as it laid the foimdation of a constant warfare
between the two provinces. Conchobhar's court at Emania became
the central or head quarters of the knights of the Royal Branch (not
Red Branch, as they are erroneously called) ; and more or less in
connection with the exploits of this famous order his name holds a
distinguished place in many of the great Historic Tales, both as a
king and as a knight ; — in the Death of the Sons of Uisnech; the Tain
▲PPEMDIX. 637
Bo Chuaifgn^; the Battle of Roa na Righ; the Mesca Uladh^ or app. clti.
Intoxication of the Ultonians (during which they made a sudden in-
cursion into Munster, and destroyed the ancient palace of Teamhair cat^Suw
Luachra, near Abbeyfeale, in Kerry) ; the Seirglighe Chonchulainn; ^«« ^•'^
the Tochmarc Emire; the Fledh Bricrinn; the Ceasnaaidhean Uladh^
etc., etc.
The entry of the Death of Conchohhar in the Annals of Tighemach^
(according to Dr. O'Conor), is, at a.d. 33, as follows : —
33. ConcobAjt ITIc lleif obnc cui fuccefpr fibuf eiuf
CumAfq\<M'o [? CumfciuMt)], <|ui jtegriAiiic ah CAmAin Annif
1111.
In the MS. of Tighernach, in T.C.D., however, (H. 1. 18, fol.
116. b.), the passage is as follows. (Indeed Dr. O'Conor is not to
be depended on as to the version in the MS. quoted by him.) It
is at A.D. 46 :
Con6obA|\ TTlAC TleffA obic qui [a.d. 48] Conchobhar Mac Nessa
fuccefpc pbuf fuuf 5tAipie, qtii obit, cui successit Alius suus Glaiitn^,
f\epi4vuic ^nnif ix. qui rcgnavit aiinis ix.
The following is the account of the Death of Conchohhar Mac
Nessa given in the Historic Tale called the Ai-oe^ cliondobAii\, or
Tragic Fate of Conchobhar^ preserved in the Book of Leinster
(II. 2. 18., T.C.D.; fol. 79. a. b.):—
t)Ai mei'CA m6\\ fop Utco ycccriATTo inCmAin tTlActiA.
'Oocu|\i'OAn t)ini, immApbAgA niopA ocuf compAtriA ecujtpo
.1. eciji CnoriAtb [Ce|\nAch] ocu]' CoincuUMnn, ocuf Loe-
gAiiio [biiA'6Ach], UucAit) "OArrn^A, A]t CoriAtt, inctiint) ttlef-
5e5]\A'o copoAcitbtJjA ocu nAcotTniAin. t)A bef "o'lltcAib
int)inb<M'opn cac cupAit) no mA]\b'OAif Ap gAtAib oenp|\ no
gAUA Aninctiint) AiyAcen-OAib ocuf commefccA Act Ai^ii^ib
con-oenAT) tiAtpoice cjiuA'oe "oib. Ocuf incAn nobicif inim-
mA]tbAi5 nocom|VATnAib, "oo be]\cif "ooib combicif innAbAtnAib.
TTlAit A ChoncbobAni, Ap ConAtt, nAcon"oe]\nAC oic nAcom-
|\Am ecc poninnAf A Ap gAlAib oinynt, ni-OACcuAtngi comiw^m
fpimpA. 1|Yn\6n A^x ConchobAt^. 'OonACA'o lAjtAm, poppn
^o]!^^) po]\Ambi'o -oo 5]^cf in-oincint). Liiit) cac Atcti A^nA-
bApA6 'OiAc'Lticiu. X)oLLtiiT) "OAnA, Cec ttiac THacac "oocuAipc
ecc]\A Ia Utco. beijx AffAn'0]*Am |\ob6i in h6|\in'o in Cec.
Ifct) •ootttji'op'oe •OApf'Ai'oci nA liCmnA, ocu]' c]ii tcAtcint)
teif TJO UtcAib, incAn bAcAp nA ontnice co cluciu •oo inctiint)
niej-gejiiA, iiyet) Acbepc in'oonmic p]\iA|iAite. tlocbtuin-
et)A]i Cec An'ipn. 6tAi'opt)e inincm-o AttAim in-OAbAnAi
ociif bepiT) teif ; opopcip Cec poboi icAjtngepe "oo TI1e|y-
gegpA A-oigAil lApnA ecAib. Cac cAt ocuf cac ip5A[it] nobit)
t)o ChonnAcco pn Utco nobepet) Cec innincint) inA 6pif|*
•DUf in cecAptAt) ^6c nAmpA "o'lllcAib •ooniApbA'o "oi.
638 ilPPENDIZ.
App. cLTi. V^cc ATTo •oni, 'ooltiii'Of eom inci Cec f ai]! co cue uaiiai mbo
' -A l^e^AAib tloify. tDonAji^iAit) iniA|tmonA6c tlLAiT> inAt>iAiT>;
ConcfuShar 'Oo]t1A6CACAp •OATIA, ConTlACCAl X)OnT)Lett All^ T)1At:ejyA}1-
JfaeSeita, ^^^^ i^eOTTl. PeCA1|A CA^ eCUppO. tDottuiX) CoTlchobAp ^T^ITl
ipn CAT^. Conit) AtTopn gA-OACAit mnA ConriAcc tjo Chon-
chobAp cuiT)ecc |:o]Ateic1i X)0'oefctn A-oetbA X)oib. fTobiiJ
TiiitAbi |:o|icAtmAin t)etb'Ouint AmAit 'oeLb ConchobAip .1.
ecep 6]\uc ocuf "oeitb ocuf -oecetc; ecepmec ocuf cope
ocuf cucpummAe; ecep pope ocup potc octif 51 te; erep
jAip ocup aIaij ocup ep^AbpA; ecep eppiut) ocup Ane ocup
6copc ; ecep Aptn ocup immAt) ocup op'OT>An ; ecep JtiAtp
ocup SAipcet) ocup cenet. tlipbo to6cA6 rpA inci Concho-
bAp. A coTTiApti imoppo, inCheic po 5AbpAC tia inn a Aitjtp
X)o ChonchobAp.
l/Uit) lApAHi popteii Aomup -oiA t)epcin t)OTiAninAib. 'Oot-
tuit) Cec tnioppo combui ecep tiaititia irame'oon. Hopnt)-
tetAp Cec incmtTO ITIepje'opA ipncAbAitt, ocup nop-ceitc
conit)CAptA immuttAC ConcbobAip, combACAp a'oa rpiAn
innA^ttTo ocup cocopcAippeotn, ipA cent) cocAp^A |:^i iAp.
fochep'O'OAc lltAi-6 cuci contt) pucpAC o Chec.
pop bpu -AcA T)Aipe t)A t)Aec ipAtro •oopocliAip ConchobAii.
AcA A bgeAtro bAite 1 copcliAip, ocup copte ppiA6eTit> ocup
copce p]\iAcoppA.
tnAmiT) c]\A pop ConriAccA CO SciAit) -dipt) TiA Con. "Oo
bepcAp ULaix) ]'Aip •oopi'oip co -Ach t^Aipe "oa l3Aec.
ttlo bpichpe A]Y, Ap ConchobAp, 'oo bep pige ntllAt)
•ooneo6 nombepA connici moce6. llocbeppA, Ap Cennbep-
pAi-oe, ApA gitlA po"oein
X>o beippi-oe tomAin imme ocup nombeip popAmuin co
-Ap-o-OACAT) Slebe ^uaic. ItlAitux) Acpi-oe ipngibiu ; conit)-
X)epn ACA, llige Cin"obeppAiT)e pop UtAiX) .t. inpi popAinuin
tec inx)tAi. ConocbAT) cjva, int)ebAix) on cpAt coA]viite
•OAp^tp in pig. CojiAimit) pop Utco lAppn.
• tDobepAji cpA, AtiAig coConchobAp .1. pnjen. 1pyepit)e
no pinnAX) •oonx)iAi'o no cbeiget) -ooncij intin nobit) injA-
tup pncij, ocup cecgAtAp nobit) Ant). ITIaic, opPmgen,
t)iACAtcAp incbtoc Aj^ocinx) biAcniApb pocec6i^\; mAnicuc-
tAp App imop]\o, nocicpAint), ocup Dit)ACip t)uic. IpAppo
t)un, Ap UlcAit), int)Acip otx)A]' Aecpom. UoiccAt) lApAm a
cent), ocup jxopuAget) copnAc 6ip, Ap bACummA t)At puitx
ConchobAip ocup t)AC innoip.
Ocup Apbepc intiAig ppi ConcbobAp combecb ipomcin .1.
ApnAcipAX) Apep5 t)6, ocup nAt)i5pet) popec, ocup nAecj^Aigex)
mnAi CO AnpecA, ocup nAjiecet).
1lob6i t)Ai(\A, AipwcuncAbAixic pn c6in pobobeo .1. un.
APPENDIX. 639
thbtiA-oriA, ocuf THiAboengnATnAtt), a^c AAiitipum innAfnifoi app. clti.
tlATTiniA .1. tlACOCUAtA C|\lfC "OO C|10CA'6 'OOlll'OAI'Olb. ^^^^^ofK,
ATTop'oe q\it mop jropfriA'otiti, ocuf |\o6pitnAi5 nem ocuf ctmoJiktw
CAtATii UxTnec ingnimA •OAjtonAt) Ant) .1. ^y\^ C]ti|x m^c X^ib ^^ ^^*^
t)i t)o c|\ochA'o cenciriAit).
C]\eAC]"o, A]\ Conchob-AiA ].*]\tA X)puit), cia otc mojt -00
gnchep iptiDtAciu^^A irroiu? ^y p]\ on em, Ap in-o^tui, [Ij^u
C|ti|x mAC 'Oe acA A5A b^pigAt) Anoij" Ag lu-OAigib/*'^]
If mop ingnimpn, Ap ConchooAp. Itifeppn datia, Apiiropui,
inoenAi-oci pogein ocuf pojenipu .1. in .uin. CAtAint) enAi|%
cencopinutTO obA'OAin.
IfATTopn pocpeici ConchobAp; ocuf iffepn irroApAfeit
pocpeci •00 tiiA in tiCpint) piAciACCAin cpeicmi 6 .t. tTlo|\Ant)
in fep Aite.
TTlAit cpA, A\\ ConchobAp: t)A liAppAint) nA-OAit cuAp'op^g,
nA|\ nA55 Auumbeoip ippi6c qiuA-o-ciipAt) ciccif accif^"*' mo-
beoit concictAif cpuAf mop mitex), mAi-om nitA mtiAit) nim-
ftoig pepbAiptec, pop-onipet) ^^oep-cobAip. I/A Cpijx conge-
nAinx). 5^1 p bAec bAputeim popletAin lAncom-oet) tAnfcet
cechotncip cpocAt) pig bAmoo coipp Api Ap-opAC A-OAmjAAi.
Uumcicte ingnim icinot CAipifem cpeoin ua^^aL icoim-oet)
coimcecc congnAm CAin be tAX)iA •oit5A'OA6 •oiA^obAip.
CAin poptunt) irobeiAAint). CAin comtunt) cpocpnt) Cpiyx
Apncmchuip, nipupcit ce ce]yAicif coipp dpiAt). CiApbo Ap
Cpifc CAit) cumACCAC CIA X)u -oun nA-Ojiocem pAt) -oup -oep-
coince punopcAp inApmen, monA miAt) nA'opig poAccmAp
poncpAit)!, cpocAT) Cpi]"c mA^ococbAimmif , bAtiAfpu nA-obem-
mip lApnAp-opAC ecomnApc. UAfAt pi poc^p cpoiccpuAit)
Ap-ooine -oigmAij;; •oiApAich pAgAinxjpe bAp, accu |:Iaic pop-
teccAint) ^rocit necA, nAbuni nemdiuip necc pemiceipet) ; •00-
6oimpi'o mocpi"oe ctuAp inAp-opAC ngubA, Ap mu'OiA in'opcib
nA-opig poACC, copppopcACCfpictjmcriAbpon bAip, conAcbiup
Ap omiin •oom'out -opuib, cen *OutemAin xjijaiL
IpAnx) Dopingm ConcliobAp in pecopicpe •oiApoinip t)AcpAc
"opui •oo'LAngib •ooChonchobA]\ Cpijx •oocpocAt), 'oiApAiAp-
f A15 ConchooAp, ciACA Aip'oe ingAncACAfo, ecc.
tlo "OAnA, combA-o^ Atcup in Conpul t)o •oecAit) oOccAum
"oocunjiT) inctiifA co gAe-oetAib noinnipex) vo ChoncbobAp
Cpipc •uochpocAT).
[translation.]
The Illtonians were greatly intoxicated on one occasion in
Emhain Mhacha. Th(;re arose indeed great contentions and [com-
parison of] trophies between them, that is, between Conall Cernach^
and Cuchulainn^ and Laeghaire Buadhach. "Let Mestjedhrds brain
(263) [Keating.] (2<3) Cl6cif . [This is a mistaken repetition of the same word.]
640 APPENDIX.
AFF. CLvi. be brought to me", said Conall, " that I may talk to the competing
warriors". It was a custom with the Ultomans at that time, erery
Gti^Hofhar champion they killed in single combat, to take their brains out of
Mue Nmml their heads, and mix lime with them imtil they were formed into
hard balls. And whenever they were in contention, or at [compa-
rison of] trophies, these were brought to them imtil they had them
in their hands. " Good, O Conchobhat^y said Conallj " the warriors of
the trophy -comparison have not performed a deed like this in single
combat ; they are not competent to compare trophies with me**. " It
is true, indeed", said Conchobhar. The brain was then put upon the
shelf, where it was always kept. Every one went his own way the
next day to his sport. Cirf, the son of Magach^ now went upon an
adventurous visit into Ulster. This Cei was the most dangerous pest
in Erinn. The time that he passed over the green of Emhamj and
having three half heads with him of the Ultonians, was at a time that
the fools (of Emhain) were at their play with the brain of Mesgedhra^
as one fool said to the other. Get heard this. He snatched the brain
out of the hand of one of them, and took it away with him ; for Cd
knew that it was prophesied for Mesgedhra to avenge himself after
his death. Every battle and every combat which the Connachtmen
fought against Ulster, Get used to carry the brain in his girdle to see
if he could succeed in killing some illustrious (personage) of the
Ultonians with it.
Get went eastwards and took a Tain of cows from the Fna
Ross, The Ulstermen followed him in pursuit. The Connacht-
men, on the other hand, went to save him. A battle was fought
between them. Gonchobhar himself went into the battle. And it was
then the women of Connacht prayed Gonchobliar to come to their side
that they might see his shape. For there was not upon earth the shape
of a person like the shape of Gonchobhar; namely, in form, and face,
and countenance ; in size, and symmetry, and proportion ; in eyes,
and hair, and whiteness ; in wisdom, and prudence, and eloquence ;
in costume, and nobleness, and mien ; in arms, and amplitude, and
dignity ; in accomplishment, and valour, and family descent. The
man Conchobhar was faultless. It was by the advice of Get now the
women preferred their request to Gonchobhar.
Gonchobhar then drew aside alone, so that the women might view
him. Get had previously taken his place among the women in the
middle. Get adjusted Mesgedfira^a brain in his sling, and he threw it
so that it entered Conor's skull, and that its two -thirds entered his
head, and it remained in his head, so that he fell with his he^id to the
earth. The Ulstermen rushed forward and carried him off from Crf.
On the brink of the ford of Dairedd Bhaeth it was that Gonchobhar
fell. His bed is there where he fell, and a rock at his head and a
rock at his feet.
The Connachtmen were then routed to Sciaidh aird na Gon, The
Ulstermen were driven eastwards again to the ford of Dairi da
Bhaeth. .
APPENDIX. 641
" Let me be carried out of this", said Conchohar; " I will give the app. clvi
sovereignty of Ulster to the person who shall take me to my own
house". " I will take thee", said CennherraidM^ his own servant. cvmcAoSor
He put a cord around him and he carried him on his back to ^rd ^** ^•***^
Achadh, of Sliabh Fuaid, His heart broke within the servant, and
that is the cause of [the saying of] '^Cennberraidke*8 Sovereignty
over Ulster", t.«., the king upon his back for half the day. The
battle was sustained, however, from the one hour of the day to the
same hour of the next day after the king, after which the Ultonians
overthrown.
In the meantime his physician was brought to Conchohar^ namely,
Fingen. He it was that could know by the fume that arose from a
house the number that was ill in the house, and every disease that
prevailed in the house. " Good", said Fingen^ " if the stone be taken
out of thy head, thou shalt be dead at once; if it is not taken
out of it, however, I would cure thee, but it would be a blemish
upon thee". " The blemish", said the Ultonians, " is better for us
than his death". His head was then healed, and it was stitched
with thread of gold, because the colour of Conchobctr^a hair was the
same as the colour of the gold.
And the doctor said to Conchohar that he should be cautious, that
is, that he should not allow his anger to come upon him, and that
he should not go upon a horse, and that he should not have violent
connection with a woman, and that he should not run.
He continued then in that' doubtful state as long as he lived,
namely, seven years, and was incapable of action, but to remain
sitting only, that is, imtil he heard that Christ was crucified by the
Jews. There came at that time a great convulsion over creation,
and the Heavens and the Earth were shaken by the enormity of the
deed which was there perpetrated, namely, Jesus Christ, the Son of
the living God, to be crucified without crime.
" What is this ?" said Conchobar to his druid. " What great evil
is it which is perpetrated on this day ?" " It is true, indeed", said the
druid [Christ the Son of God is crucified this day by the Jews].^"*^
"That is a great deed", said Conchohar, "That man, now", said
the druid, " it was in the same night he was born that you were
bom, that is, in the eighth of the calends of January, though the
year was not the same".
It was then that Conchohar believed ; and he was one of the two
men that believed in God in Erinn before the coming of the Faith ;
that is, Morann was the other man.
" Good, now", said Comhohar; " it is a pity that he [Christ] did not
appeal to a valiant high-king, which would bring me in the shape of a
hardy champion, my lips quivering, until the great valour of a soldier
was heard dealing a breach of battle between two hosts ; bitter the
slaughter by which there would be propitiated free relief. With Christ
shoidd my assistance be. A wild shout has sprung at large : a full
(364) [Keating.]
41
642 APPENDIX.
▲PP. cLYi. Lord, a full loss, is lamented ; the crucifixion of a King, the greatest
body, who was an illustrious, admirable King. I wotdd complain of
^^2J^ the deed to the faithful host of noble feats, whose vigilant, beautiful
Mac NtiML aid, should be with the merciiul God to relieve Him. Beautiful the
overthrowing which I would give. Beautifid the combat which I
would wage for Christ who is being defiled. I would not rest though
my body of clay had been tormented by them. Why for Christ,
the chaste, the powerful, what is the reason for us that we do not
express words of deep tear-lamentation ? He who is slain in Armenia ;
a greater than the dignity of any righteous king is being tormented.
The crucifixion of Christ if wq should befriend, it were better that
we should not be accounted an unrighteous high king. High the
King who sufFei-s a hard crucifixion for the sake of ungratefu] men ;
for His safety I would go to death ; but a king shall not go to a guilty
death, in order that it should not be that which defiles purity that
should t^ke precedence of Him. It crushes my heart to hear the voice
of wailing for my God ; the arm which does not come to reach with
true relief to arrest the sorrow of death — because I am told that it is
dangerous for me to ride in chariots — ^without avejiging the Creator".
The time that Conchohar made this Khetoric was, when Bacrachy a
Leinster druid, told Conchohar that Christ was crucified; when
Conchohar asked him : " What wonderful signs ?" etc.
Or, indeed, that it was Altus, the [Roman] Consul, who came
from Octavius to demand the tribute from the Gaedluls, that told
Conchohar that Christ was crucified.
The great antiquity of the original of this tale may be inferred
from the concluding paragraph of this very old version of it, in
which the still more remote version, which ascribes to Bacrach the
Druid the explanation to King Conchohar of the wonderful pheno-
mena of the day of the Crucifixion, is referred to, whilst the latter
writer (himself not later than the middle of the tAvelfth century at
least) hints what appears to him to be a more reasonable and pro-
bable source of information. The Book of Leinster, from which this
tract is copied, is a MS. of the middle, a portion of it of the earlier
part, of the twelfth century ; and the writer of the t^le in it« present
form would appear to have copied it out with impatience, when he
leaves unwritten the result of King Cofichohar's frenzied address,
namely, his death. I do not recollect having seen any ancient
original detailed account of this tragical event beyond what is told
here ; but the learned Dr. GeofFry Keating, in his History of Erinn,
gives a modified, and less accurate, but fuller version of the tale
from some ancient authority no longer known to us, and concludes
in the following words : —
rriAppti t)6 fOA^c inbbAt)iiA, In that state did he remain seven
juf An Aoine 'riAjA c^vodA-b CjMOfc, years, until the Friday in which
t>o |\en\ -Divoinge |\e feAtiduf ; Ajuf Christ was crucified, according to
niA|\ 'DO eotiiiAH\c cUxodlo-b ticAiVi- some historians; and when he saw
APPBiroiX.
643
5|A6itie 'fAY\ eAfgA LAn, pAfjVAigcAf
•DO bllAC^Ai, 'D|\A01 -00 LAlttlltb -DO
bi 'riA ]>odAH\, cjAeAT) -da ccAinij Ati
i^aVai^c tierhgn^dAd pn fop riA
t>Ulbb. lOf A ClMOIT TTIaC "06, A|\ ATI
T>|\A01, ACA AgA bApgA-* AtlOlf Ag
lu-DAigib. C|\UAiJ pn, A]\ ConitJ-
bA|A, -OA inbeinnp tiA 'Ui6ai]\ ■do
thuinpnn A]\Aibe ciTn6iotl» tno |\ioJ
•oS oAfugA-b. Aguf teif pn ciig
A dtoi-beATh AiTiAd, Aruf ceit) fA
^on\e coitte t)o bi lAiih |\ir, gujx
gAb AgA geAjA^VA-b, AgUf A^A bllAltl,
Agtif AfcPb A t)6bAH\c, •OA wbei*
AmeAf5 riA mut)AiJeAft, gu^vAb 6pti
T>iot -oo b^A^VA-b 0]^^\A; Agtif a^
iVi6A'0 ha T)ArA*CA x>o gAb 6, •DO
ting Ati wcAtL Af A deAtin 50 ucAi-
tiig cuit) -OA inbinn 'ha "biAig, Aruf
niA|\pn 50 bpiAijx bAf. Coitt t&-
m]vxige A bpennAib Tloif 50H\teA|\
•DOH rViuine coiLte pn.
the unusual chanse of the creation, ^pp, clvi.
and the eclipse of the sun, and the
moon at its full, he asked of Bacrackf Of Kins
a Leinster Druid, who was along Coneh^r
with him, what was it that brought ^** ^•^^
that unusual change upon the pla-
nets of Heaven and Earth. ''Jesus
Christ the Son of God*', said the
Druid, " who is now being crucified
by the Jews". " That is a pity", said
Conor ; " were I in His presence, I
would kill those who were around
my King at putting Him to death".
And with that he brought out his
sword, and rushed at a woody grove
which was conyenient to him, and
began to cut and fell it ; and what he
said was, that if he were among the
Jews, that that was the usage he
would g^ve them ; and, from the ex-
cessiveness of the fury which seized
upon him, the lump started out of his
head, and some of his brain came
after it; and in that way ho died.
The Wood of Ldmhraighe^ in Feara
Rois, is the name by which that
shrubby wood is called.
So far Keating ; and as it is of some interest to throw this story of
King Conchobar^a death as far back on authority as we can, I may
here quote a distich, with its gloss, from a poem on the manner of
death and place of sepulture of a great many of the champions of
Erinn at and about the time of Conchohar. This poem was written
by Cinaeth (/Haiiagain, whose death is recorded in the Annals of
the Four Masters at the year 973 ; the poem consists of thirty-eight
stanzas, beginning: —
pAHtiA bACAp in ewAin. Warriors who were in Emain.
Of the fourth stanza of this poem, the following are the first two
lines, and gloss : —
AcbAd triAc tleppA in pij
Hi coeb beic|\e6 lAm^VAigi.
[.i.tDiA po fetAi-d CoricobA|\ p-^
lAwpAige If Arm tui-b in-
chiHH nie|^e*|\A Af A frinn,
ocuf A mditiH "1:6111 pofc.
Mac Ncssa the King died
By the side of Leitir Lamhraigh4.
[i.e., as Conchohar was cutting
down the Wood of Lamk-
raigh€y it was then Mtsgedh-
ra's brain started from his
head, and his own brain
afterwards.
There is a copy of this poem in the Book of Leinster, fol. 1 6, but
without the interlined gloss ; the only other copy of it that 1 am
acquainted with in Ireland is one, with a gloss, in my own possession,
made by myself from a vellum MS. of the fifteenth century, lately
in the possession of Mr, William Monk Mason of London.
41 B
644 APPENDIX.
APP. CLTII.
APPENDIX No. CLVII. [Note to Preface, Page x.]
M*^^»t 8?^ Statemmt relative to tlie Irish MSS. of the College of St. Isi-
Rom"** ^^^» ^^ Rome, drawn up for the information of their Lord-
ships Hie Archbishops and Bishops of Ireland^ and laid
before them by the Senate of the Catholic University of
Ireland, in 1859.
[The follovring Memorandtun waa drawn np by me on the ooeaalon of an Inqoiiy, terminated
by a lengthened Rer^ort by a Committee of the Senate, on the Condition and Circomstaacei
of the Catholic University of Ireland, In July, 1859. It waa prepared in consequence of a
recommendation In that Report, that measures should, if possible, be taken to secure to the
University " copies, at least, of the valuable Irish Manuscripts of St. Isidore and the Bar-
berinl Library, at Rome". As the contents of this Memorandum are so closely connected
with the subject of the present volume, It has been thought right to reprint It here.]
July 30, 1859.
The following is a brief notice of the collection of Irish mannscripts iUustim-
tiye of Ecclesiastical History, now in the College of St. Isidore*s at Rome. I
have introduced a short account of a collection of somewhat similar historf
and character, and originally made by the same hands, now in the Burgundian
Library at Brussels ; and I have dwelt on the liberality of the King of the Bel-
gians in allowing these precious documents to be transmitted to IreUnd for the
purpose of being copied, in the hope that such an example may lead to a similar
liberality on the part of the authorities in Rome, in respect to the inyaluable
collections now in the Eternal City. The history of these collections leads ns
necessarily to say a few words on the foundation of the Irish College at
Louvain.
Flaithri 0'Maelchonair€, better known to English writers as Florence
Conroy , was a native of Galway, and a Franciscan friar. He was well known
on the continent for his defence of the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception,
and became the cherished friend of King Philip the Third of Spain. In 1610.
he was elevated to the archiepiscopal see of Tuam, his native province, and he
was the chief promoter, if not the originator, of the project of an Irish college
on the continent, in which he contemplated a double purpose. The first, to
afford an asylum to such of the Irish ecclesiastics as thought it more conducive
to the interests of religion at home to preserve their lives for the preparation
and supply of a future priesthood to their native land, than to embrace, as
many of them did, the crown of martyrdom, which was at that terrible period
so liberally bestowed by their fell enemies of English race and creed. The
second purpose, — ^which, indeed, is implied in the first, — was to afford to the
ardent, unconquerable youth of Ireland the means of general mental cultivatioii
and preparation for the sacred ministry, from which they were completely cut
off at home.
Full success crowned our archbishop*s efforts, and in the year 1616, the firrt
stone of the Irish College was laid at Louvain, under the patronage of St
Anthony of Padua, by Archduke Albert, governor of the Spanish Netherlands,
and his princess, the Infanta Isabella, sister of King Philip the Third, the
APPENDIX. 645
cost of itfl erection being liberally supplied from the coffers of this Catholic ^pp. cLvn.
sovereign.
Among the first members of the Theological Faculty of the Irish College at Msa!*at'&?
Louvain was Aedh Mac an Bhairdy better known as Hugh Ward, a native of laidore'i,
Donegall, and a Franciscan friar. He was first Professor of Divinity, and **™**
ultimately Guardian or Rector of the College. He was soon after joined by
Father John Colgan and Father Michael 0*Clery.
These three noble Irish Franciscans soon began to devise means to rescue
from the chances of threatened oblivion the perishing records and evidences o^
at least, the Ecclesiastical History of their native country. They established
an Irish Press in St Anthony's College. Michael O'Clery was sent back into
Ireland to collect, purchase, or transcribe manuscripts ; the expenses of his
mission being provided by Father Ward. Father M ichael O'Clery, than whom
no more competent person for such an undertaking could be found, appears to
have arrived in Ireland in 1626. He immediately set to work collecting,
chiefly by transcription, all kinds of ecclesiastical documents, but more especi-
ally those important historical tracts, the Lives of the Irish Saints. He visited
the Franciscan Monasteries of Dublin, Drogheda, Multifarnham, Wexford,
Cashcl, Clonmel, Quin, Bundroose, etc., etc., and various private libraries,
collecting and transcribing from all. And having made his collection in a pro-
miscuous manner, he then retired to his own monastery of Donegall, while he
was engaged in the compilation of the Annals of the Four Masters, and where,
among his early friends and relatives, the illustrious fathers of that famous
monastery, he appears to have re-copied and arranged all the materials of
ecclesiastical history which he had collected.
Father Ward died in 1635, and the prosecution of the contemplated work
devolved upon Father Colgan. At what time Father Michael O'Clery reached
him with his precious stores, I am not able to say ; but he was in Louvain in
1642, when he published his glossary. Father Colgan*s Trias Thaumaturgus^
containing all the lives of our three great patrons, St. Patrick, St. Bridget,
and St. Colum Cille, and the Acta Sanctorum, extending only to the saints of
the months of January, February, March, appeared in 1645. Michael O'Clery
died at Louvain in 1643 ; and whether it was from the loss of his indispensable
assistance, or some other cause, Colgan, though he lived to 1658, did not pub-
lish any more of the work, nor was it ever after taken up.
The materials collected by Michael O'Clery, as well as any that may have "
been obtained through other channels, remained at Louvain after his and
Father Colgan's death, and down, it is presumed, to the French Revolution, at
which time they appear to have been dispersed, and in such a manner that all
knowledge of their existence was for a long time lost. But it would appear
^rom what has been smce learned, that this great collection became subdivided
into two principal parts, one of which found its way to Brussels, and the other
to Rome.
The late Dean Lyons, of Belmullet, having occasion to go to Rome in the
year 1842, had, previous to his leaving Dublin, an interview with some of our
antiquarian celebrities, and at their suggestion he undertook to examine the
archives of the Eternal City in search of Irish books and manuscripts, with a
promise that he would send home from time to time pcncii tracings of the titles.
646 APPENDIX.
APP.CLvn. chapters, etc., of any manuscripts which he might happen to disooTer. He
was himself a good Irish scholar. All the searches that Dr. Lyons coold make
Mss^ at SL ^^^ unproductive until he visited the Ckdlege of St. Isidore, in whichy to his
i^dore'a, infinite satisfaction, he found twenty volmnes of Irish maniucripts, some of
them of the greatest interest and value to the ancient civil and ecdenastical
history of Ireland, and all of them of more or less importance to the same sub-
ject. Upon making this discovery, Dr. Lyons at once set to woA, and, after
a short time, sent over two letters in succession, with most important endosuies,
being, in fact, tracings in pencil of wonderful accuracy from all the chief heads
of subjects in the entire collection. These tracings were passed over with ink
by me, and at tlio suggestion of the Rev. Dr. Todd, they were pasted into a
book specially made for the purpose, and then, with the consent of Dr. Lyons,
placed in the Library of the Royal Irish Academy, where they remain in safety
and in higli esteem, and accessible to all persons interested in Irish history.
On the return of Dr. Lyons to Ireland, in 1843, the friends of Irish literafure
in Dublin consulted him on the possibility of gettmg possession of these valu-
able remains by purchase or loan, with the view of placing the originals or
accurate copies of them in the Royal Irish Academy, where they would be
accessible tu all who may choose to consult them. I was asked to make up s
short catalogue of their contents from the tracings sent over, which enabled
me tu identify all the pioces, and also to furnish a rough estimate of thdr
value. Tliis I did, and I valued them at £400, that is, on an average of twenty
pounds per volume. Dr. Todd undertook to raise this sum by subscription,
and my catalogue was sent down to Dean Lyons, who transmitted it, with the
offer of the money, to Rome ; but before we could have an answer back. Dr.
Lyons died, the Repeal Association ceased to exist, the public sentiment which
it had raised subsided, the famine set in, and if any answer came to Dr. Lyons'
letters, we have never heard of it.
The next account we had of these MSS. was the pubhcation, without my
privity or consent in any way asked or obtained, of my Catalogue, by the Rev.
J. Donovan (in the third volume, p. 977, of his Ancient and Modem Rome)y in
1843. I may here state that'a consideration of the heads of subjects snd
chapters of the MSS. in question, leaves no doubt on my mind as to their having
formed part of the original Louvain collection of Father Michael O'Clery.
Shortly after the discovery of the collection at St. Isidore's, I had the plea-
sure of making the acquaintance of Mr. Laurence Waldron, the present MJP.
for the county of Tipperary, to whom I mentioned the discovery. Mr. Waldron
was accustomed to make an annual tour on the Continent, and I requested him,
when next he went there, to look out for Irish MSS. in such libraries as he might
hapi)en to visit in his travels, and more particularly Brussels, Liege, lisle,
Ostend, and the other cities of Belgium. This gentleman was good enough to
receive instructions from me as to the way in which he could identify manu-
scripts of importance. In the summer following he sent me from Brussels a
large quantity of tracings from several manuscripts. These tracings, made
with great care and accuracy, enabled me at once to identify Micliael O'Ctery's
(to me) well-known handwriting, and the noble collection of the Lives of the
Irish Saints and other ecclesiastical documents, which he had made in Ireland
for Fathers Ward and Colgan between the years 1626 and 1685. I imme-
APPENDIX. 647
diately communicated this information to the Rev. Dr. Todd, of Trinity ^pp. cLvn.
College, who at once started for Bmsscls, and fomid that I was quite correct "~
in my identification of these MSS. The collection was next visited by the Mss!^a/stf*
Rev. Dr. Graves, of Trinity College, and next by Mr. Samuel Bindon, of the Isidore'*,
county of Clare, who made a most accurate and valuable catalogue of the whole
collection.
It was about this time that I discovered in the library of Trinity College,
Dublin, a large and valuable fragment of the history of the wars of the Danes
in Ireland ; and on the discovery of the Brussels collection, it was found to
contain a full copy of this most important tract, made by Michael 0*Clery in
the convent of Multifarnham in 1626. Under these circumstances, Dr. Todd
visited Brussels again, taking with him my copy of the fragment in Trinity
College, Dublin, into which he inserted from the O'Clery copy all that was
wanting to it. At this time Dr. Todd had the good fortune to obtain an inter-
view with the King of the Belgians, to whom he explained the nature of his
visit to the Burgundian Library, expressing his regret at the diffictdties which
the distance from Ireland placed in the way of making these valuable records
available for the imrposes of Irish History. Some time subsequently, in May,
1849, and incidentally to my examination before a Committee of the House of
Commons, the importance of these MSS. was fully made known, and through
my instrumentality an effort was set on foot tb obtain a loan of them from the
Burgundian Library. With most commendable liberality his Migesty at once
consented to permit any one or more of the manuscripts to be sent over to this
country through the Belgian ^Vmbossador in London and the Lord Lieutenant
of Irekuid; and, accordingly, in 1849, two volumes came over, containing the
Martyrologies of Aengus the Culdee, of Tallaght, of Marianus Gorman, and
that of Donegall compiled by the Four Masters. Of these I nuide accurate
and laboured copies for Dr. Todd*s private library and at his private expense,
no public body here being willing at the time to undertake the cost of such a
work. On rctmning these books to ^rust^els we next obtained two other
important books, — the Danish wars and a volume of Religious and Historical
roera;?. Of the former I made a copy for the Library of Trinity College. In
185G we had the remaining volumes of the collection sent over for the pur-
poses of the Brehon Law, Commission ; but although O'Clery's magnificent
collection of the lives of our saints was among them, there were no parties here
who could be found willing to defray the expense of copjring them. I, however,
at my own expense had copies taken of the lives of SS. Adamnan, Moling,
Berachj MacCreich^, Crannatariy Ceallach, Colman Ela, and Mochoemdg of
LeUh Mdr.
We have, in the instance of the Irish MSS. in the Burgundian Library and
the collection at St. lijidore's, examples of the manner in which the materials
of our ecclesiastical history are scattered all over the continent The writings
of Dr. Lauigan, and all others of a similar kind, are mere digests of Irish
ecclesiastical history, omitting all the more important historical and social
details which give consistency, and, I may say, unimpeachable authenticity,
to those remarkable documents.
Amongst other reasons which would make it desirable for us to possess at
least authentic copies of these valuable documents, I may state that, as a
Rome.
648 APPBHDIX.
APP.CLvn. Catholic Professor of Irish History and Aidueology, I fed mjaelf greatly
embarrassed in my oonnectioii with' the Catholie UniTenitj. I hare been
MBsV^a J^ preparing and deliyering courses of Lectures in thia InatitatioD on the Antiqoi-
Midore'A, ties and carlj civil History of Ireland, drawn altogether fiom ancient ezistiiig
manuscripts, of which, for this purpose, we hare a tolerably large store remain-
ing ; but I hare been deterred from entering upon any lengthened course of
Lectures on the still more important suliject of our Christian History, solely
because the original authorities are so widely scattered and impoeaiUe of access.
If it were possible, and I beUere that, with the aid of your Lordships' infln*
ence, it would be readily so, to bring together in Dublin, eren for a short time,
the collection at St. Isidore's, and that of the Burgundian Library, Brussels,
copies of these works could be made, whidi, with the materials that could be
procured by transcription by a competent person in a month or six weefci in
Oxford and London ; and then, indeed, would the materials for Lectures on the
ancient Catholic History of Ireland, as w^ as for the general histcoy of this
country, be abundant, authoritative, and unanswerable. Indeed I would look
upon the collection and concentration, in the Library of the Catholic Unirer-
sity, of those scattered fragments of our national history, as supplying neariy
as great a desideratum as the University itsell— EUGENE CCUBBY,
Professor of IrUh Ardueolofir.
[end of the appendix.]
. / •
649
EXPLANATION OF THE FAC-SIMILES.
[The Fac-Similes which follow are arraDged in the Chronological Order of
the dates, or supposed dates, of the MSS., or handwriting, represented. Thej
will be found to be distinguiflhed bj the letters of the alplmbet — (A.), (B.),
etc. — for conyenience of reference to the following Explanations.]
(A.) MS. in the *"OoTtinAc -AiiAgit)"; [R.I.A.]. (temp. Saint [a.]
Patrick; circa A.D. 430).
— " eli . . [ ] gc • • [ ] • • 1^ g6 Jacob Jac . . hi genui . .
t] Omnes ergo generationes ab Abracham usque ad *
avid gen^nerationes xiiii, et a David usque ad Transmigra-
tionem Babil [onis] generationes xiiii., et a trvLns[fnigratione]
Babil . . ni . . usque ad [^Christum] generationes" [xiiii!], etc.
fSee as to this MS. (the "Domhnach Airgid") the text at Lect. XV., page
321-2 ; and particularly the description of it from Dr. Fetrie, at p. 324 ; and
see Appendix, No. XCVI., p. 598.]
The MS. preserved in this celebrated shrine was supposed to have been
miraculously presented to Saint Patrick ; it may at least be said with cer-
tainty that this very MS. was in the possession of the Saint, on account of
which it was always regarded as one of his Belies. It consisted of a copy of
the Four Gospels. The present fragment is one of the two leaves refened to
by Dr. Fetrie (see p. 324). It is part of the first chapter of the Gospel of St.
Matthew, of which the 15th, 16th, and 17th verses are as follows in the Vulgate.
It will be seen that the translations are not identical ; as, for example, the
17th verse, in the MS. begins " Omnes ergo*", instead of " Omnes itague": —
'M 5. Eliud autem genuit Eleazar. Eleazar autem genuit Mathan. Mathan
autem genuit Jacob.
** 16. Jacob autem genuit Joseph virum Marise, de qua natus est Jesus,
qui vocatur Christus.
"17. Omnes itaque generationes ab Abraham usque ad David, generationes
quatuordecim : et a David usque ad Transmigrationem Babylonis, generationes
quatuordecim : et a Transmigratione Babylonis usque ad Christum, gene-
rationes quatuordecim".
(B.) MS. in the C^^t^t. (6th Century; MS. attributed to Saint [B]
Colum Cille).
** Deus in nomine tuo salvum me fac, et in virtute tua judica
me. Deus exaudi orationem meam : auribus percipe verba oris
mei. Quoniam alieni insurrexerunt adversum me, et fortes
quassierunt animam meam" : [etc.]
650 EXPLANATION OF THE FAC-SIMIUS8.
[See as to this MS., (the " Cathach'), the text at Lect XY., pp. 821 and 327,
et seq.]
The MS. consists of a fragment of a oopj of the Psalms of Dayid, believed
to have been hurriedly written by Saint Colum CilU himself. It is in ad-
mirable preservation. The passage represented in the fac-simile ezactlj
agrees with the Vulgate ; Fs. uii. ; vy. 3, 4, and part of 5.
[C] (C.) " Book of KeUs^ [T.C.D.]. {&th Century; MS. attributed
to Saint Colum Cille) ; fol. 46 a.
" Nolltc thewsaurizatc vobis thesauros in terra : ubi er go
[cerw/o] et tinea dcmolitur ; et ubi fures eflfodiunt, et fiirantur.
" Thc/isaurizate autem vobis thensauros in caelo, ubi neque
erugo [wriKjo] neque tenea dcmolitur, et ubi fures non effodiunt,
[cte.]
[See text, at Lect. I., p. 23.
The passage represented in facsimile agrees with the 19th and 20th Terses
of the VI. chap, of St. Matthew, in the Vulgate. The pecuiiaiities are indi-
cated by Italics.
[D] (D.) ** Book of Durrow", [T.C.D.]. (Gi/t Century; MS, atlri-
bated to Saint Colum Cille); fol. 107 b.
'* Dc die autem illo et [yel] hora nemo scit, neque angeli in
cffilo, neque Filius, nisi Pater.
** Videte, vigilate, et orate ; ncscitis enim quando tempus sit"
[See Text, at Lect. I., p. 23.
Tiic passage in fac-simile agrees with the 33nd and 33rd verses of the xui.
chap, of St Mark, in the Vulgate.
[The reference in the margin (see Fac-simile),— (•* mr. civ. VI. mt. cclx".)
— means tiiat tiie same thing told in the text occurs in Mark, cap. civ., and
in Matt. cclx. The VI. is a reference to the (Eusebian) Table.
[The numbers in the margin are those called the Eusebian numbers. They
are a reference to the ancient tabular harmony of the Gospels. These Tabl^
are : 1° the passages which occur in one Gospel only; 2° the {mssages that
occur in two; 3° the passages that occur in three; 4° the passages that
occur in all the four Gospels. The Tables under the head No. 2°. are: (1.)
Matt, and Mark; (2.) Matt, and Luke; (3.) Matt, and John; (4) Mark and
Luke ; (5.) Mark and John ; (0.) Luke and John. Those under head 3^ (I.)
Math , Mark, and Luke; (2.) Math., Mark, and John ; (3.) Math., Luke, and
John ; and (4) Mark, Luke, and John.
[I am indebted for this note to the Rev. Dr. Todd, S.F.T.C.D.]
[E] (E.) Memorandum in the " Book of Durrow", [T.C.D.]. {6th
Century).
•ii 1Tlife)\epe IDomine tlAemAm i^ . , , if^ ph Tiech. . . . ij
[No account of this Natmhan (a name of which Naehani is the Latin form
in the Gen. Case) has been discovered. There is a Naomhany the grandson of
Dubh^ mentioned in the Martyrology of Donegall, at Sept. 18, but no further
reference to him has been found. Nor has any name been yet found of whidi
Neth, could be the first part.]
EXPLANATION OF THE FAC-8IMILE8. 651
(F.) Memorandum in the " Book of Du^row^ [T.C.D.]. (Qth [f.]
century), fol. 244, b.
" U|MfciciAe'\ (tristitiac).
[See Text, at Lect. I. p. 23.
An example of the Irish running hand of the time. The word i« written
in the original handwriting of the scribe, in the margin, as a gloss or expla-
nation. It is placed opposite a line (in an Explanation of the Proper Names
in the Gospel of St. John), in which these words occur :
cHAConiciois TiesociACio ^njusciAe.
(G.) "Book of Dimmar, [T. C. D.]. {circa a.d. 620), fol. 2.b,a. [o.]
** Et cum invencritis renuntiate mihi ut effo et veniens adorem
cum, qui cum audiissent regem abicrunt", [etc.]
[See Text, at Lect. I. p. 23, and XV. p. 386.
From the end of the 8th and commencement of the 9th rerse of St. Matth.,
cap. II.
(H.) Same Book, {circa a.d. 620); fol. a.b. [h.]
[There are several different styles of handwriting in this curious Tolume,
though all belong to the same age, if not actually to the same hand. This
diminutive copy of the Lord's Prayer has been selected for fac-simile, not
only as a good specimen of one of these styles, but to furnish a good point of
comparison with the equally remarkable specimen from the ETangelistarium
of Saint Moling^ [see Specimen (N/),] which belongs to a later period of the
same (vii.) century. The slight diflferences in the reading from the version
in the Vulgate (Matth. \i. 9.) are marked in Italics:
'* Pater noster qui es in caelis sanctificetur nomen tuum, adveniat regnum tu-
um. fiat voluntas tua sicut in cselo et in terra, panem nostrum quotidianum da
nobis hodie, et dcmitte nobis debita nostra sicut et nos demb«imus debitoribus
nostris, et ne paUaris nos itiduci in temptationem, sed libera nos a malo**.
(I.) Same Book, {circa a.d. 620); fol. 52, b. [ij
" Deus qui facturam tuam pio semper donares afectu, inclina
aurem tuam suplicantibus nobis tibi ad famulum tuum nunc
adversitate valitudinis corporis laborantem, placituri respice,
visita eum in salutare tuo et caelestis gratise ad medicamentum :
Per Dominum**.
[This passage is from the Prayers for the Visitation of the Sick.
The writing, in this specimen of the Book, is of the finest hand of the
period. The contraction at the end, for ** Per Dominom**, is one of the
earliest forms.]
(J.) Memorandum in same Book {circa ad. 620); fol. 15, lower [J J
margin.
652 EXPLANATION OF THE FAO-SIMILBS.
[J] pnic. 0|a6ic 'oo 'Oiinniii |iot)fC|iib p|io 'Oeo ec bene-
t)iccione.
[TBANSUmON.]
'* Finit. A prayer for Dimmu who wrote [this] for God ; and a benedictioD*'.
[At the end of the Gospel of St. Matt]
[K.] (K.) Same Book (circa A.D. 620) ; last foL, at the end.
Sunc Aucem ec aIia tnutcA <jiiAe fecic lepi <|UAe p
fC]AibAr>cu|A p[e|A pngujUv nee ip|njm Apbic|\o|t niunt)um
poffe CApe^Ae eoy <\\i\ fcpibenx)i i^unc iibpof.
pnic -Amen. 'OtmniA mAC tiAchi. i{i
Sunt autem et alia multa quae fecit lesu quae si scribantur p[er fiinga]la nee
ipsum arbitror mundum posse capere eos qui scribendi sunt libros.
^Finit Amen. Dimma mac NathL i^t
[The ycrse in Gaedhilic, at the end of the q>ecimen (perhape the oldest
piece of pure Gaedhilic writing in existence), is as follows : —
Si]\im •oom hitLuAg mo f Aechij\,
A teninAin Ate cen 'oichiLL,
Cin neimmcnechc nACjAAt)
Ocuf AC]AAb int) |\ichicb.
[tranujition.]
I beseech for me, as the price of my labour,
(In the following chapters without mistake).
That I be not venomously criticized ;
And the residence of the Heavens.
[End of the Gospel of St. John, and of the book.
[The Si in the first word of the first line of this verse is conjectural, oa
account of the decayed state of the original letters ; but as the other three
letters, -rimf are quite legible, and as the whole verse is a prayer for reward,
and a deprecation against severe criticism, I have chosen (or rather guessed)
these two letters, to make up this well-known and ancient f«rm of " I beseech**.
Similar reasons decided me in supplying n in the negative cm, at the beginning
of the third line. It is a curious fact in regard to this most ancient Iri^ text,
that the undistinguished crowding of words in the lines to be found in later
MSS. (and to wliich the modem school of philologists seem to attach so mudi
importance), is absent here, except in the words hiLtuAg (bit-Lu^g) in the
first line. The four lines are, however, written in two.
[L.] (L.) Same Book, (circa a.d. 620).
" Inltiuin Evangelii Jesu Christi filii Dei sicut scriptum
Jest] in Essaia profeta. Ecce [ego] init[t]o angelum meum ante
aciem tuam qui preparabit viam tuam ante te. Vox clamantis
in deserto, Parate viam Domini, rectas facite semitas [ejus]".
[The first three verses of the first chapter of the Gospel of St. Marie.]
EXPLANATION OF THE FAC-SIMILES. 653
(M.) Evangelistarium of Saint Moling^ [T.C.D.] {circa a.d. 690). CM]
** De Johanne.
** Hie est Johannes Evangelista unus de xii. discipulis Dei,
qui virgo electus a Deo est: quem de nuptiis nolentem nubere
vocavit Dens, cui virginitatis in hoc duplex testimonium in
Evangelio datur, quod et praeceptis delectus a Deo dicitur, et
huic matrem suam iens ad crucem commendavit Deus ut vir-
ginem virgo servaret".
[See Text at Lect. I. p. 23, and at Lee. XV. p. 836-6.
This is St. Jerome*8 Argument to the Gospel of St John.
(N.) Same Book, (circa a.d. 690). [n.]
[The preceding example from this very ancient Book is written in a careless
running hand. Tlie present is a much more careful piece of penmanship. It
has heen selected pturtly on that account, and partly also as affording an
interesting point of comparison with the version of the Lord's Prayer already
given from the (supposed) somewhat earlier ^* Book of Dimma*^ [see antej Speci-
men ( H.)] . The slight differences between this version and that of the Vulgate
(Matth., VI. 9) are here also marked by Italics :
<* Pater noster qui es in caelis sanctificetur nomen tuam, advenlat regnum
tuum, fiat voluntas tua, sicut in caslo et in terra, panem nostrum suptrsub-
stantialem da nobis hodie et remitte nobis dcbita nostra sicut et nos remitte-
mus debitoribus nostris, et ne patiana nos induct in (empt&tXonemf sed libera
nos a malo**.
(O.) " Book of Armagh'', [T.C.D.]. (a.d. 724), fol. 18. b, a. CO]
[See the passage in APP. No. CIV., p. 607.]
(P.) Same Book. (a.d. 724), fol. 21 b, b. CP]
[See the passage in APP. No. CXVII., p. 611.]
(Q.) ** Liber Hymnorum" [E. 4. 2., T.C.D.], (circa a.d. 900). CQ]
[See the passage in APP. No. CIH., p. 606.]
(R.) Entry in the *' Book of Armagh", made temp. Brian Bo- CR.]
roimhS (a.d. 1002); fol. 16. b, b.
"SAficcuf pAC|Ai[ci]uf lenf At) coetum TnAn-OAUir corum
pnuccutn tAbo|Mf fui CAtn bApcifciAtn [?] catti cAiifA|Mim <^iio'o
eiemoifinApum •oefepetroum erye ApofcotiCAe tj|\bi <^ue
Sconce nomiriACup xXiad-o TTlAcnA. Sic ]tepe|M in bibtio-
chicif Scoco|tuin. 650 fC|\ipp it) efc CALuuf pe|\eTinif
G54 EXPLANATION OF THE FAC-8IXILES.
in confpeccu b|tiAni inipe|\ACopif Scoco|tuin, ec <|ue fcptpp
pni5iiit ppo omnibuf t^esibuf tTlAcepAe".
*' Sanctus Patri[ci]ii8 iens ad coelam numdaTit totom fmctam laboiia sui tam
baptisttam [?] tam causarum qnod elemowtnamm deferendam esae apoetoticae
urbi que Scotlce nominatur Ardd Biacha. Sic repm in bibliothicis Sootomm.
Ego scripsi id est Calvus Perennis in oonipectu Briani impenitoris Sootomm,
et que scripsi finiouit pro omnibus r^bos Maoeriae**.
[" Saiut Patrick, going up to Heayen, commanded that all the firnit ^ his
kbour, as well of baptisms as of causes and of alma, should be carried to the
Apostolic City, which is called Seotic^ [jLt, in the Gaedhelic] Ardd BiACHA. So
I have found it in the book-collections of the Soots [i. e., the Gaedhii]. I
have written [thisl, that is [I] Calvus Perennis [lit, *<Bald for ever^, i, e«
Mael'suthairi] in the sight [under the eyes] of Brian, Empenn* of the Scots,
and what I have written he determined for all the kings of Mackrub [i.e.,
Cashel, or Munster**].
[The word " Macerice**, in this remarkable entry, had long been a subject
of doubt among those to whom the Book of Armagh was known. But it wta
certainly intend^ by the writer as a literal Latin translation of the Gaedhilic
word ** Caisear, — " a stone fort**, — the name of the chief city of Munster. The
certainty that this is so, for the first time occurred to me a few years ago, (I
think in 1852), one day that Dr. John O'Donovan and Mr. MacCosh, I think,
both Professors of the Queen's College, Belfast, were inspecting this passage
in the Book of Armagh, then deposited in the Royal Irish Academy, ]>awson
Street. Whilst discussing between them the possible meaning of the word
" 3/aceri«", I asked them to define the oidinary meaning of the word in Eng-
lish. They an8were<l of course, " a stone wall" ; whereupon I at once said th.it
it must mean Cashel, because Caiseal is the Gaedhilic for a Stone Fort, or
wall ; an explanation to which Dr. 0*Donovan agreed at once, and with satis-
faction at the discovery.
The entry was in fact made as a solemn determination by the Ard-Riyk
(Chief- King, " Imperator", Emperor) of the Gaedhii (Scots), of the supre-
macy of the Primatial seat of Armagh over the Archiepiscopal capital of
Casliel, over which Brian, as King of Munster, was the imraediato monarch.
The word ^\finig\t\r in the passage is also a di£Sculty. The a has been slsii
read a ^ It is indistinct, and in fact looks likes a r with a dot above and a
dot below. If so, these dots would represent the scribe's mark of an erasure,
and the letter is to be passed over. The word will then stand **7?mVrf".]
[s.} (S.) teAt)<\i\ n<\ h-Ui-d^te [R.I.A.]. {circa a.d. 1100); fol. 45.
" Uaiti bo cuAitrjge inj^o p|".
" UdiACOTTitAt) ftoiget) Tn6|t Ia Conn<\ccu .i. Ux hAiUll
ocuf Ux 1T1eix)b, ocuf hectiA huAi'oib copi^rtM choicer aiIi.
Ocu]' foice ceccA 6 Ailitt co uii. ttiacu IllAgAch .i. co
hAititt, CO AnttJAn, co tTlocco|tb, co Cec, co Cn, ocuf
t)A|"CALt, ocu]" IDoce .XXX, c6c La CAcriAe ; ocii^* co CopniAC
CoTToLongAf TTiAc CoticobAHA cofiA rpibc6cAib boi ]:o]A conx)-
met) tA ConriAchcA. UecAic uite iA|\um cotnbACA^' \\\
C]AUAchnAib A\
[translation.]
** Turn Do Cuail^ here below.
" A great host was assembled by the Connacians, that is, by AUill and by
Medhbh ; and messages went from them to the other three provinces. And
EXPLANATION OF THR FAC-SIMILES. G55
messages were sent from AiiUl to the seven sons of Alagack, that is, to Atlill,
to Aniuan, to Moccorb, to Ctt, to En, and Dascall, and Doch€, thirty hundred
with each man of them ; and to Cormac Conlongas, the son of Conchohhar,
with his three hundred, who were upon free quarters with the Connacians.
They all came then, until they were in Cruachain At".
[The commencement of the fragment of this celebrated Historic Tale refer-
red to in the text (Lect. IX ; p. 186).]
(T.) "Book of Leinster'' [H. 2. 18., T.C.D.]. (circa a.d. 1130), Ctj
fol. 10. b., a.
[See the passage in APP. No. XXXVIII. p. 626].
(U.) Same Book (circa a.d. 1130). fol, 25, a, 1 a. [r]
[See the passage in APP. No. III. p. 482.
(V.) MS. in T.C.D. [H. 2. 15.] ; (a d. 1300). fol. 13. b. cv j
X)e fotDtAib cineoitcuAiti.
niuuAt^ins buerhemn^chuA poupne tM-
pui'oui, riAt) piASUAii AneuAiiscAUAt).
.i.nococuimgec bpeitemtKxccA •oo]\eip irrophenecAi]" yo]\
pne n<\]:ot)Ae|t .i. ]\e]te cpip. tloecAp^XA^iAt) n<\ pne ocuf
[translation.]
** Of the classification of the tribes of a territory.
"HE IS NOT COMPETENT TO THE JUDGESHIP OF A THIBE
NOK OF A FUIDUIR, WHO DOES NOT IvNOW [the law of] THEIK
SEPARATION".
" That is, he is not competent for judgeship according to tlie Fenechns, upon
a tribe, nor upon a semi-slave. [That is, one who is so during the time of three
successive masters], or the separation of the tribe, or the semi-slave from a
lord^
[The Fuidhir was a person, who, if he only crossed the boundary' line into
the next territory, without stock or means of any kind, and took stocked land
from the chief of that territory, was looked upon, after having renuiined so
(or his children), during the lives of three succeeding lords, as half enslaved.
I)uring this time he or his children might depart, but take nothing away with
them. Should he or they come under a fourth lord, without op)K>»iition from
themselves, or claim from their original tribe cliief, they could never be free
to dejiart again.
This curious tract (one of those called Brehon Laws) treats of the various
grades into which a tribe was divided, their relative positions and reciprocal
retiponsibilities to each other and to their chief, as well as the duties and lia-
bilities of the latter to the people. The MS. belongs to the 1 4th century.
(W.) Entry in te^bAn n<\ h-Uiibpe, (fol. 35, a. b ), by SigpAit) [w.]
O'Cuipnin; [R.I.A.J. (a.d. 1345).
[See passage in APP. No. LXXX. p. 670 (the first paragraph).
656 BXPLAKATIOV OF TUE FAC-8IMILB8.
fx^] (X.) " Book of Ballymote^ [R.IA.]. (a J). 1391) ; fol. 12, a.b.
** CiA 'oin ciACA |\05Aib ^inn AjtcoffAij cAtniAn.
"If OAT) Arbejic tebAit t)|\omA SneAccA cottiax) t>ATibA
Ainm riAcecinseine jtogAb C|\inTi |iiattoiI,itto, octif 50111^16
UAici nobeit b^nbA fO|t 67^11111. U|ii cAecAic 05 'oot>e6Ait>
ocuf c|MA|t feA]A. Uajjvx inqteAf fOAjt, ifepn c6c mAjtb
eiAerjTJ Annpn ocuf ifUA-b AiTimTiigteAit A|tT> L»A5H4xnn
Ce<\tpA6<\c btiA-oATi (notA) |\iAnt)itinx) •oooAt)A|t ipnt)nint)p
pn. IDoffAinis iA]Aoni 5aIaj\ coTie|Aboilcit)A|\ uite AriAen-
feAcrmoin.
[translatiom.]
" Who now was the first that found Erin, the first [pereon] of earth.
** It is what the Book of Drotnsneachta sajs, that Satiba was the name of the
woman who found Erin before the Deluge, and that it was from her the name
Banbil is upon Erin. Three times fiftj Tirgins, and three men. Laghra was
one of the three ; he was the first dead person of Erinn then ; and it is from
him Ard Laghrann is named. Forty years [or days] before the Deluge they
were in this island. There came then a distemper, and they all died in one
week**.
[And see passage in APP. No. IX. (p. 497)].
[vi (Y.) Same Book (a.d. 1391), foL 142 b. b.
[See passage in APP. No. XXVL (p. 610).]
[z.] (Z.) Same Book (a.d. 1391), foL 189 b.
[See passage in APP. No. XXIH. (p. 618).]
[AA.] (AA.) "leAbAiA bui-de tecAin", [H. 2. 16., T.C.D.] (circa a.d.
1390), col. 338, b.
[Sec passage in APP. No. CXX., (p. 614).]
[The passage in the App. copied in the fac-simile is the 8rd paragraph of the
1st Invocation. The fac-simUe goes on to include also the 4th paragraph,
which is as follows : —
A ppimgeni tTlui]ie 6150. A ITIic 'OAbit). -A TTlic -Ab^vMHi.
-A Uhoip5 n<x nuite. -A po]Acent) in 'OoniAin.
[translation.]
" Thou first-horn of Mary the Vurgin. Thou son of DaTid. Thou son of
Abraham. Thou Chief of aU. Thou End of the World**.
[BB.] (BP.) Same Book (ctVca a.d. 1390), col. 896.
[See passage in APP. No. VII., (p. 496).]
[The passage in the App. is copied from the version in the Book of Bally-
mote. The following (which veiy slightly differs from it) is that from the
" Yellow Book of Lecatn", in the f ac-Simile : —
X)o itigneAt) •oirj ^nim nA'6<Mn]vx Ux CopniAC Atropn .1.
EXPLANATION OF THE FAC-8IMILE8. 657
S^tcAiit Co]tmAic 'oo tinot, A|t[|t]o cinoitic pn ocuf reAn-
chAt)^ f eAjt n6|\enn im phincAU m^c niboc|vx, ocuf im pmtAt
pte An'opn,co}to f cpbAit) 001111511 e-OA ocuf quxeb-A coibitiiuf a.
[translation.]
** There waa now an admirable deed performed bj Cormae there ; namdj, to
compile the ScUtair of Cormae ; for he compiled that, and the hiatoriana of the
men of Erinn [with him], including Fintan the son of Bochra^ and FUhal the
poet, there ; and they wrote the sjnchronisms and the genealogical branches**.
(CC.) "teA^Aii trioit 'OuTiA •Ooigpe"; (called ** teAbAjt CCC]
bpeAc"); [R.I.A.]. {circa a.d. 1400), fol. 28. a. b.
[See passage in APP. No. CXUL (p. 610).]
(DD.) Same Book {circa a.d. 1400), fol. 2S, a. b. CDD.]
[See passage in APP. No. CXIL (p. 609).]
(EE.) Same Book {circa a.d. 1400), fol. 32, b. [ee.]
[See passage in APP. No. CXV. (p. 611).]
(FF.) MS.inR.I.A. [H.and S.,3.67] ; (rtVca a.d.1400), fol.3,a.a. Cff.]
[See passage in APP. No. I. (p. 461).]
[The Fac-Similb contains the following sentence before the passage given
in the Appsndiz, which is to be read in continuation of these words : —
PelmAc .1. TTiAc A hiAT), no a huA-o .1. Ai. pete .1. ecp, no
ecep", in-oe •oicicuji pti-oecc .1. 6cp.
[translation.]
" Felmac, that is the son of his lad, or his Uad, that is [of his] Ai [poetry
or science]. FeU, that is, poetry, or a poet, inde dicitur FuidechL that is, ecti
[poetry"].
[This is an analysis of the word Fdmac. Fel [or Fial] is the same as F6U,
hospitality, bat is appUed hero to the teacher who so hospitably dispenses his
knowledge of the science to his mac, " son**, or pupil ; and hence the pupil is
called Fd-mac, that is, the Son of hospitable science.]
(GG.) MS. in R.I.A. {circa lUh Century), [go.]
[The diagram contams the following words :—
tlA Ti^i|\'0]\ennAit a]\ ha nt)0|\cii5Ai6 1. The high stars, on being darkened
ofCAile tiA cAlwAti. by the shadow of the earth.
Speit\ tiA 5]%eine. 2. The sun's sphere.
Spei]\ tiA 5]\eine. 3. The sun*s sphere.
ScAi te HA cAtmAti ac t)oj\6tJ5Ai6 ha 4. The shadow of the earth darkening
X^t^' the moon.
Spei]\ TiA nAj\t)|\etinA6 tit)Ai[ii]5en. 6. The sphere of the fixed stars.
SoU 6. The Sun.
Ce^]\e, [cep|\A.] 7. The Earth.]
42
658 EXPLANATION OF THE FAC-8IMILS8.
[GO.] " Si Atirem yol Tnino]Mf ef ec CAtroicAicif , eccece|tA. 'Oa-
inAt) ttigA cAitTOigecc tiA gjAeitie tia riA cAimAn, jac uile
m t)0ftitAin5, t)oce'OAici A-oubitAniAi^ ocuf cuitVe tec, t)o
ceigeniA'OAif Ann, oy\K x>o beit fCAiLe ha CALmAn a fijt pf
ocuf A]i teem on cAlAm aitiac co fpeip nA nAntt)|tin'OAC,
ocuf "oo t)0|AcocA'6 ^6 An cuit) but) mo acu ; ocuf 'oo ceje-
ifie"6 ectippf "oonA pUxneoAib An 5AC en mi, ocuf t)o beic
ecbpfif An ]Ae a]\ bun jao ^re^ nA tiAi-oji, mA|\ A^oeiit. tllAfeio,
on AC jTACAmAjt Am Alt yo pi Am, ocuf o nAc cuAbAmA]i, ocuf 0
nAC ]:uA]\AmAp -pgpibtA, i^" ecin nAc tu^A cAintJijecc nA
5]\eine nA CAin'oi'OecT: nA cAtmAn ; ocuf if ^rotbuf ipn pguip
-po cif An ]AAet)]"o A-oeuMm.
[translation.]
'* Si autom sol minoris eset canditatis**, etc. If the magnitade of the sun were
smaller than the magnitude of the earth, every thing unsustiunable, anpermi»-
nble, we have said, and more along with them, they should fall in it ; for the
shadow of the earth would be continually growing and leaping from the earth
out to the spliere of the high stars, and it would darken the greater part of
them ; and an eclipse would happen to the planets in every month ; and the
eclipse of the moon would hold during the night, as he says. Well then, as
we have never seen the like of this, and as we have not heard, and as we
have not found it written, it must be that the magnitude of the sun is not
smaller than the magnitude of the earth; and what I say is manifest from this
figure down here".
[This remarkable Astronomical Tract does not appear to have been yet
investigated by scientific scholars. A specimen has therefore been selected
such as to show one of the many diagrams with which it is illustrated. It if
a beautiful vellum MS., of eight leaves, in the finest style of himdwriting.]
[HH.] (HH.) MS. in Trin. CoU. Dub. [H. 2. 7.] (circa a.d. 1400), fol.
196, a.
[This volume consists of a collection of Genealogical and general Historical
Tracts and Poems. It is known by the name of the Book of Hy Maini, be-
cause the chief portion of it is devoted to lYacts and Poems concerning that
district of Connacht, and the History of the O'Kellys and O'Maddens, its
Princes, — of which the most important pieces were published by tlie Irish
Archaeological Society, in 1848. The passage selected for fac-simile, as a spe-
cimen of the MS., is from another portion of the volume. It is as follows :--
SeoAn O •DubAgAin "oa |\i«i in [translation.]
T)u^n fo. ** Seoan O Duhhagain that made
this poem.
rnobAlt) CubnA ClAnn A n eilt, " Sweet trees are the Clanna Neill,
tusbuiic UArAl t)'An ii^mein "ta?2^! herb-garden'.) of the true
ITtieTfiA pnemnA p^u «< Roots of the true vine,
IgeATTinA nA bAipojugi. " The bulb-roots of the High-King-
r*^ Herb-garden ; in the original text, tti5bu]\c ; put-by transx)ositioi! for
tti D-£ti|\c ; from ttiib, an herb or plant, and ^oju;, a garden or field.]
EXPLANATION OF THE FAC -SIMILES. 659
(II.) " Book ofLecaM' [RI A.] (a.d. 1416), fol. 19, a. a. tn.]
[See passage in APP. No. XXXII. (p. 522).]
(JJ.) Same Book (a.d. 1416), fol. 77, b. b. CJJ.]
[See passage in APP. No. X. (p. 497)].
(KK.) Same Book (a.d. 1416), fol. 155, a. a. Ckk.]
[See passage in APP. No. 1. Cp. 462).]
The Fac-Simile contains a sentence more at the beginning than the passage
printed in the App., as follows : (after which the passage in the App. is to be
read in continuation) :
In corroeLj hypn tAicneont i]" eoA^AjAUM Uxpn pb"o. . . .
[translation.]
" The Degree of Comparison, with the Latinist, is the Distinction [or Sepa-
ration] with the FtU, . . .
[The word Condelg is the ordinary Irish for what the Latinists call the Three
Degrees of Comparison ; while the Philosopher or Poet's word for it is Etar-
gairij which however has Seven Degrees or distinctions. The Tract from which
this passage is taken is an ancient Treatise on Grammar, comparing that of
Gaedhilic with the I^atin ; and this passage is part of a lengthened explanation
of the different systems of Comparison in the two languages.]
(LL.) ** Liber Flavus Fergusiorum" (a.d. 1434). [ll]
[See passage in APP. No. XL. (p. 529).]
(MM.) »* Book of Acaiir [E. 3. 5. T.C.D.] {circa a.d. 1450), [mm.]
fol. 21, a.
[See passage in APP. No. XXVII. (p. 611).]
The Initial Letter has been omitted in the MS. It should be t. It was,
perhaps, left in blank to be filled up by a scribe specially skilled in ornamental
letters, or this work was postponed t'dl the copyist had concluded the more
ordinary iiart of his Libours.
(NN.) " Book of Fcrmoy", (a.d. 1467). [nn.]
[See passage in Al'P. No. XVIII. (p. 603.)]
(OO.) MS. in R.I.A. [43. 6.] (a.d. 1463). too]
1S]"e'6 1]" Ai]" -oon UijepriA .i. fecc mbtiA'dnA, ocuf c]ti
ficic, [ocu]" ceitpe ceo ocuf mite]. 5- ^^ t'iciiA 'OoTfiriAig,
ociJf A bocr in tluimip Oiri. UittiAtn ttlAC Ati l/CgA <jui
fcjtibpc, libeitA mopce pejAiDic.
660 BXPLAKATION OF THB FAC-8UIILS9.
[00.] [traksi^tiov.]
" The age of the Lord is, t.e^ teven ▼ears, and three icore [and four hun-
dred, and one thousand]. O is the ]>oiiiiiiical Letter, and 8 !• the Golden
Kumber. William Mac-an-Ltgha qui tcripnt, libera morte perihit".
[This MS. consists of a coUectioo which inchidet a copy of the FeBr^
AmgusGy some Law Tracts, etc. This entry occurs in fed. 11, b.b., and appears
to be in the same hand as the preceding part of the Tolmme. It seema to ba^e
been written in at the time of the death of the scribe Mac-an-Leaha,
Mac-an-Legha (a name which may now be Englished Mac j^nlay, and is
now sometimes Mac Alea,) was a professional scribe, and was the writer of a
Medical Tract, in Irish, now preserred in the Library of the King's Inns, Hen-
rietta Street, in whicli the date of the MS. occurs as 1463. The name Mac
an Legha means literally " Son of the Physician**.]
CPP.l (PP.) Entry in " W^a^i nA li-tlif^jte", [R.I.A.] ; (a.d. 1470).
[See passage in AFP. No. LXXX. p. 670 ; Tthe second panigTaph>
WQ3 (QQ.) MS. in Trln. CoU. Dub. [H. 1. 8.]. (I5th Century); fol. 1,
col. 1.
[See passage in APP. No. XXXTI. (p. 517).]
^3 (RR.) Same MS. (15tfi Century), fol. 1, col. 4.
[See passage in APP. No. XXXTL (p. 518).]
f8sj (SS.) " Book of Lismore''. {Ibth Century.)
[See original in APP. No. XCIV. (p. 594)]
^•^ (TT.) Memorandum in " teAt)At\ ITlott 'OunA'OoiJiie'' ; [RJJ^.]
(\bth Cent, or drca a.d. 1500).
[See passage in APP. No. XIX. (p. 604).]
t^'u 3 (UU.) MS. in Trin. CoU. Dub. [H. 3. 18.]. (a.d. 1509), fol. 47, a.
[See passage in APP. No. IL (p. 472),]
[vv ] (W.) MS. in Trin. Coll. Dub. [H. 1. 8.].(16tA Century), fol.114,
b. b.
[See passage in APP. No. XLIL (p. 583).]
tww.] (WW.) MS. in Trin. CoU Dub. [H. 3. 17]. (15<A, and 16fA, Cen-
tury), col. 765.
[See passage in APP. No. XXV. (p. 508). j
EXPI^KATION OF THE FAC-SIMILB8. 661
(XX.) MS. in Trin. Coll. Dub. [H. 1. 19]. (a.d. 1580) (at a.d. Cxx]
1256)
[Seepasiage in AFP. No. LIU. (p. 536.]
[TT.]
(TY.) Handwriting of Michael O'Clery ; (vellum) ; [in the (Au-
tograph) MS. of Ann. IV. Mag.; R.I.A., fol. 1.]
[See passage in AFP. No. LXVII. (p. 648).]
(ZZ.) Signature of Michael O'Clery ; [same MS., fol. 2.] Czz-3
[See passage in APP. No. LXVn. (p. 644).]
(AAA.) Handwriting of Cucogry (Cucoijqtice) O'Cleiy, (vel- C^aa.]
lum); [same MS., fol. 650.]
[See passage in APP. No. LXVIII. (p. 644).]
(BBB.) MS. in Trin. Coll. Dub. [H. 1. 18]. (circa a,d. 1600); Cbbb.]
(fol. 113;or, inoldink, 140).
[See passage in APP. No. XXXH. p. (619).]
(CCC.) Handwriting of 'OubAtcAfc mAC Pnbint, [H. 1. 18., [cccj
T.C.D.]. (A.D. 1650), fol. 234 a.
[See passage in APP. No. LXIV. p. 642.]
(DDD.) Handwriting of Cucogry (CucoigciAidie) and Michael i^^^-^
O'Clery. [Paper MS., (Autograph) copy of Ann. IV.
Mag.;R.lA., vol. 1, p. 80.]
A.o^Y Ci\iofc, 1316.
>Aoif C|\iofc, tnite, cpichet), At)ech, a f6.
StuAigeAt) mo|\ t)o cionot Ia ^ef^limi-b Ua ConcobAijt im
tnhAC feojUMf, ocuf im ghAltAib lA^ichAiit ChonnAchc.
UAnjACAit 50 rrochA]i TnhoriA CoirroeA'OA. UAims tluAi-oitt
triAC CA^Ait Hi Choncobdip, tli ChonriAchc iriA nAjAi-d t)ori
tei^ oite. tlo pjeAf) lomAHteAg cAco^tpA, gup ^0 irieAbAi^
yo\\ tluAiT!)^!. Ho mApbA"6 6 bu'O'oein, ocuf 'Oia^ittiaic gAtt
THac 'OiA^MTiACA, cigeAiATiA TTIhuise t^uipg, ocxiy CopmAC TTIac
CeteApriAig cigeAitriA ChiAjtuAige, co 'pochAi<)e ete.
TTIoji f loigcAf^ t)o tionot la peitim o cConcobAijt, te ITIac
662 EXPLANATION OF THE FAC-SIMILSS.
[DDD] feoiiAif, ocuf te S^tUvib lA]itAi|A ChonriAte. Uo6c x>oib
50 UocAu ITIoriA CoinneA'6A. UuAif^pi Ua CcncobAip "Ri
ChonnAcnc vo "but itia da^ai^ Uon a |X)6|\Aicce. lomAinecc
•00 to\\ eAcco|A|AA. b|MfeA"6 f0|\ RtiAi'opi ; 6 f 6in t)o mA|iDA'6,
ocuj' riA TTiAitep ole t)or» •out pn .1. 'OiA]tmAic gAti in43kC
'OiA]imACA uigeA^riA ITIoige tuij\cc, CojtbmAC TMac Cet^eAji-
riAig, cAoii'eAc CiAit]\Ai5e, ocuf focAii6e oiie t)'uAtfbb ^
5^iAtt-occU\c, ocu]' A tnuinci]ie f AiTHAeA^OAip.
[tbanblation.]
"Ageofam«t,1316.
'* Age of Christ, one thoasond three hundred ten and tax.
*' A great host was assembled bj FtidkUmidh 0*Conor, together with Mac
Feorais (Birmingham), and with the English of West Connacht. Thej
came to the Causeway of Moin Coindeadha. Euaidhrtj the son of Catkal
O*0onor, king of Connacht, came against them on the other side. A battle
was fought between th'.>m, and Buaidhri was defeated. He was killed himwlf,
and Dinrmait Gail Mac Dermot, Lord of Afagh Luirg^ and Cormac Mac
Cethearnaif/h, Chief of Ciarrawh€ (in Connacht), and many others.
" A great host was assemblea by FeUim 0*Conor, by Mac Feorais, and by the
Englisii of West Connacht. They came to the Causeway of Mom Cuin-
neodha, liuaidhri O'Conor, king of Connacht, went against them with all hit
followers. A battle was fought between them. Buaidhri was defeated ; he was
killed himself and these other nobles, on that occasion; namely, Diarmait Gall
Mac Dermot, Imt^ of Mngh Lttirg, Corbmac Mac Ceithearnaigh, Chief of
Cuirraigh€; and many more of the gentlemen of his Grallowglasscs, and of hii
own jMirticular people".
[The two first lines (dates) and the second paragraph, — all in a larger and
wider hand in the original, — are in the handwriting of Michaei< 0*Clert. Id
the simce left by him in the MS. the first paragr. in the fac- simile (stu^ai^e^x)
tnon, etc.) is written in by Cucoiochricb (or Cucogry). It will be found to
be the f>ame entr>' (though in difTerent language, and perhaps taken from some
dififerent authority), probably inserted by mistake. This repetition is accord-
ingly omitted in l)r. 0*Donuvan*8 edition of the Annals, which is printed from
this autograph copy.]
[EKE.]
(EEE.) Handwriting of ConAitje O'Clery; [Paper MS. (Auto-
grapli) copy of Ann. IV. Mag.; R.l.A.J.
-Aoif C]MOfc, 1433.
Ao\Y C|MOfc, mite, cec]\e 66*0, cpiodAcu, a r]ii.
CoccAt) mop eicip cenet cConAitt Ajuf CogAiti. Ua
'OotfinAill, IIiaII 5A|\b mAC UonAp-deAlbAig An ponA conA
focj^Ai-oe -00 •6ut ipn 'OuibcitiAn •00 congnAtfi tA IUac
Ui-Oilin. Ua lleill, .1. CojAn, -00 -but ftuAg mop ittenmAin
Hi 'OomnAilt, Agtif ITI1C tlix!)lin. UAinic x)nA ITIac 'Ootti-
nAitt nA hAlbAn co ccoblAC mop hi cconit)Ait Hi tleitt x>o
dongnATfi lAif .
[translation.]
"Ageof Christ, 1433.
** Age of Christ, one thousand four hundred thirty and three.
"A great war [broke out] between the Cinel-Conaill and the [OW-]
BZPI^NATION OF THE FAC-SIMILES. 663
Eoghain. 0*Doimell, [that is] Niall Garbh^ the son of Turlogh an Fhiona^
marched with his forces into Duibhthrian [Dufferin] to assist Mac UidhUin
[MacQuillin]. 0*NeiU, that is, Eoahan^ set out with a great anny in pursuit
of O'Donnell and MacUidhilin, MacDonnell of Atbain [Scotland] arrived at
the same time with a large fleet, and went to where O'Neill was, to aid him**. «
(FFF.) Handwritmg of John O'Donovan, LL.D., M.R.I.A. Cfff.]
(1861.)
•Oo jAb tluAi'6|M 0'ConcobAi]A ^Aige ConriAdc Agu]" U]ATn6i|t
CipeATin, "oo bpij gup jiAtt p Oi^i^iaH, \\ ttlToe, Agur ]ti
t)peipr»e '66; Aguf 5<M]imteA]t \S diAeAtin uite t)e -pAn
cfCAnchti]"; 5i'6eA'6 x\\ ]AAibe Ann acc ]ii 50 bp^AeAf AbpA, mA|\
ACA |Ai A jtAibe m6jA<xn 'o'uAi|'tib CipcAnn A5 ctiit in a AgAi-o.
[translation.]
"liuaidhri 0* Conchobhatr assumed the sovereignty of Connacht, and the
greater part of Erinn, since that the king of OirghiaU^ and the king of Midhe^
and the king of Breifn€ submitted to him ; and he is called king of all Erinn
in the histories ; however, he was a disputed king, that is, a king who was
opposed by a great many of the nobles of Erinn".
[From Dr. Geofiry Keting*s Hist, of Ireland, at a.d. 1166.
(GGG.) Handwritmg (small) of Eugene O'Curry, M.R.I.A. CQQC.]
(1848).
CAin in 'OomnAij Annj^o.
13 0-6 inj^o fopuj' ch^nA in 'oomnAig "oof ^ruc Con^tt m^c
Coetmuine 'oicIiuai'6 'oia Aiticpi t)o tloim, -Ajuf ]ao j^cpib a
Vatti f6in Af in eibi]"cit ]ao -pcitib \^m •oei:o]\ mm a pA-onAip
-pep nime, <v5Uf \^o \ax> |:op Atcoip pecAi|\ -ApjXAit if in
Koim.
[translation.]
** The Law of Sunday here.
" Here is the true knowledge of the Law of Sunday which Conall, son of
Coelmuin^, brought [home], who went on his pilgrimage to Rome; and which
his own hand wrote from the Epistle which the hand of God wrote in Heaven,
in the presence of the men of Heaven, and cast upon the altar of Peter, the
Apostle, in Bome.]
[From the MS. H. 2. 16., T.C.D., (the Yellow Book of Lecain,) col. 217.]
(HHK.) Handwriting (large) of Eugene O'Curry, M.R.I A. tHHH.]
(1848).
Aenju]" A h^enAch nime,
funt) AC A A techc \^ ^^"S^j
yy A f unt) -oo chuAit) Ap ceAt
If in Aine co nAcm noAm.
664 EXPLANATION OF THE FAC-8IMILE8.
l"HH.] IS 4\ CtuAtn eix>Tiech ]U) aIc,
hi CluAin Cionech ]to At)nAclic,
Vii CtuAin eitinech il^p cr^TT'
po teg A f Atmu A|\ cuoff.
[TMAXSLATIoy.]
** Aenous in the Asiembly of HeayeD,
aere iire hif tomb and hit bed ;
It is ftom this he went to death,
In the Friday, to holy Jleaven.
** It was at Cluain EidhMck he waa educated.
It was in Cluain EidhnecA he waa interred ;
In Cluain Eidhnech of many crossea
Ue first read hia Psahns".
[From Ltabhar Mdr Duna Doighri, (RLA.; foL 43, b. b.]
'A.) US. In the " DomAmuk Airjif, [R.LA.]. (t«mp. Si Patrick ; clret a-d. ««.)
7)T^ l(icol> i2fev Ij
iin^M cunie taiJtJon is us c[' ocl
(E ) -IS. in the " CaL\a€h'\ (6th Centorj. MS. attributed to St Colvm Citti.)
*^' ^r: iT>t:nrcctrDexw«cix^t>TOaLrne--
^C^ panxer^|Ucuei7aefxisnxPatnf nYdtrwr^eocin
I --.I
..\
3
g
S
T!i
^f
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■/ci
^
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< H. ) '• book 0/ JJimma'\ (T.C D.]. (drca a.d. BMl)
(1.) " Book of Dimma'\ ITT.C.D.]. (circa a..d WO '
(J ) Memorandttin in '* Book of ZMmma". [T CD.], (circa a.s. €30 )
(K.) " Book of Z)im»na', [T.C.D.j cjrc.i a.d. «20.»
4 . ^ \ /QtlttrS'i3:-&li<^
\
^.^-?''
•m^'^
(L.> " Bnok M [Hmma\ [T.C.D.]. icirca a.d. 6*20.)
\I ' K\flnpeH^tariani of St. SfoUno. [T.C.D.]. (circa a.d. 690.)
'' ;|? ;t vf^ynr ;»«^TMj' t«ir«^ 7 liOK ^ '♦^ fw -^
' ■ lii.-. M'.'arh.ri of St. .Vc/mv. '/I'.r.p '. ^-ircft *.!■ olKi '
Ill
^ ^
-6 W
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^'<.ii.
ft
t3 -$
•^ V
V -i t~ ^, j^ ^ yr i -T y^
ii ^ •- * ^5 *" O* , vL >-»
K ) Kr»tr\ i:i ■ Took <>t Armagh", [T C D.j- (mmle ton. 7^ Brian bofivihe. 4.D. 1003;
■ J.i'if.har na h-li-il, \ . riM.A.j. (circa a. d. 1100.)
!l
m
-i
m^
I
( r.) '• nook of Lcinsier", [H. 2. 18. ; T.C.D ]. (circa a.d. 1130.)
-ftp ^titcxC ^ni4rnt4M.i'li-Cf^fi'5 ^
-it) t>^r>itifiv iv^B^icmh arrfi ^4- Cw^
I r.) ' lUiuk M" Leinster", [H. 2. is. : T.C.D.]. (clrcH a d. 11-30.1
</
V, MS. in Irin. Coll. IM.hl . [II. -.' 1.-,.; (a.d. UOOj
CdTKit).
■■ :'r" .
I
"'■"111
H?'
^Z. ) " Book of Btllymote", [RLA.]. (a.d. 1391.)
^^•1- oi^in c^rw<Gi t7KicirttiitiD4!6;k(
70i5-<lfieTiK^7ioc3cm)f§rr?nr<ir
4
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(AA.) " Yelloll Boo^fif X«<ate^,t9. ».16.; T.C.DJ. (circa A.D. l»!K>.)
(BB.) " Yellow Book of Lecain", [H. 2. 16 ; T.C.D], (clrcA a.d. 1890.)
,. ^.
iCC.) • l.tahhar Mi'r Duna Doighrt\ (called '' Leabhar Breac"), [R.I.A.]. (circa ad. 1400.)
TQisF/ Ml1,^W)erfiom7)((fv^ tWdlD
ii<m tfin^TKi tticTi^c at
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(00.) ]I&lnR^<lr.Aoiid. (AitraMnn s Tract ; dmA.D.1400.>
w^
Siaxrcem sotnmioTtis g
(HU.) MS. In Trin. Co]). I>ubl. [U.3. 7.] (circa a.d. 1400.)
iiHru4ttatMiiij^tiiietti I4<cm4^
u
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(VV.) MS. In Trin. ColL DnbL [H. 1. 8.| (ICth Ceatury.)
^ «H^ icijfi i^fr v^'f) '^'Tf nr
y^xtfx^ iPrtx^f^ficJ) -o^jjufot^^^^
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(CCC.) Handwriting of Duald Mac Flrbis,[U. 1. 18. ; T.C.D.J. (a.d. 16W.>
^ ^^ Sc^towumi.w
I ^
■^ '
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22.
(CCC.) lUndwrlUng of Duald Mac Firbis,[H. 1. 18. ; T.C.D.J. (a.d. 16*0.)
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665
INDEX
. AfiTQfi and the priests, 869
Abban,3<HkotUa Cormaic f3S2lA^^M6
Abr^am, and the Patriarchs, SQS
Absolution ; Canon on, 872
Aotdcmy, Museum of the Boyal Irish,
321
Acaill, the Hill of Screen, 29, 47, 230,
264.— the Siege of [App. 689 n.—
B«ok of, 47, 49, [App. 511, 512
AcaUy or Aiceff, daughter of Cairpri-
Niadh, 49, [App. 514, 515
Accomplishments of ladies in ancient
Erinn, 279
Achadh, Ard-, 100 [App. 641,
Achadh Cotmir^ (Actionry), 101
Achadh (field) [App. 495
Aehadh Leithdtry (in Famey), 69, 72
Acres, lands measured by, 896
"Acta Sanctorum HibemisB", Col-
gan's, 143 [see Colgan.]
Adamnan^ Saint, 342. — grandson of
Afitim [App. 608. — Extract from
Life of, 423, [App. 629, (and see
647.)— Vision of, 424, [App. 629.—
His Life of St. Colitm CiiU, 342,
850, 407, 408
Adam's Bace, 388
Address to the Header, prefixed to
O'Clery's lieim Rioghraidhe, 165,
[App. 551.
Adhair, Maqh, 401
Adelm, Wiliiam Fitz- [App. 603
Adhna^ son of Uithir, chief Poet of
Conor Mac Nessa, 45, 218, 383.
Adonis; Diarmaid O'Uuibhruff the
Fenian [App. 467
Adventures, Of the ; (Echtrai), [His-
toric Tales, No. 10], 283
Ae=Ao, 177.
Aedan, the Poet, 217.
Aedhz=Aodh, 177.
Aedhagan; {Flann Mac), 151
Aedh Allan, Monarcli; 130, 420
Aedhay Mac ; («S'ilr/c, son of), 331
Aedhan Mac Gahhrain, K. of Scot-
land, (A.D. 570), 414, 417, [App.
589 n.
Aedh Dtnnan [App. 590 n.
Aedh CliaUujhlas {Aedh^ the gray-
bodied\ 401
Aedh; Colman Mor, son of, 414.
Aedh Dubh O'Donnell, ^07
Aedh Engach, (" the Valiiilit";, 419
Aedh, K. of TirconnelJ, (1237), 401
Aedh Mac Ainmir€; 50, 218.~Mon-
arch, (A.D. 594), 232.— killed (a.d.
694), [App. 588 n,^Domhnall, son
of, 333
Aedh Mac Neill, 364, [App. 610
Aedh Menn, 420,
Aedh OirdrndhCf (Monarch, a.d. 793-
817), 363, — and the Enchanted
Goblets [App. 532
Aedh Ruadh ; Tale of the Adventure
of Macha, dausrhter of, 283
Aedh Ruadh ; (0*Donnell), 22, 70, 396,
406, 407, 417.— Life of, 22,^Aedh
Ruadh, son of Badurn, 70
Aedh, the son of Colgu, 420
Aengoba, or Oengaba^SsXhei of Aengus,
363 [App. 610
Aengusy son of the Daghda, 46. 478 n.
— Gabuadech, 48; [and see Uengus']
Aenghus Ua Flainn, 399
Aengus of Brugh na Bomn€i The Four
Kisses of, [App. 478
Aengus Cede Dtf, Mac Aen- Ghobhann,
12, 17, 26, 53, 76, 163;— his Pedi-
gree, 363, [App. eiO.—Felir^ of,
851, 363, [Anp. 611 et seq.— Invo-
cation in Fetir^, 365, [App. 610 —
Pedigrees by, 353, 359, 363 Li-
tany of, 289, 294 ;— on the Festival
. of St. John the Baptist, 429;—
Saltair na Rann, of; 21, 360.
Aengus Mar, K. of Scotland, 55
Aengus O' Domhnallain, 334
Aengus Ollmucadh^ death of; poem
on, 241
Aengus, son of Natfraech [App. 686 n.
Aengus's tribe, 50
Aengus Tirech, 209, 213
Affiliation, St. Patrick's law of; 225
Agad=aQat, 177
Agallamhan dd Shuadh, "Prophecy"
in the, 383.— Passage in [App. 616
Agallamh na Seandrach, 807 L-^PP'
694
Agraria Lex, the, of the Gaedhils, lOn.
Aherlow [Fntharlagh], 211
Ai=Aoi, 177.
Aich^ Battle of [App. 621
43
C66
IHDEX.
II
Aicher (yTroiqhthiuh, 34C
Aicill, 47, 49* [A pp. 511, 612 (and
see Acai/f)
Ai-m^f Triurhntlh an- ; (in Kerry), 448
AiDEADHA ; or OiTTE, (" Tragedies**,
—Historic Talcs, No. 0), 273
AidhmU i^n Htnltiar.h of), 125
Ai'/futtch, Cmm Srnimha (Carling-
ford), 287 *
Ait/ft'y Crmirhnn ; (Cruach Patraic)
4'2:\ [App. r.L';»
Aiff>, the plain of, <»3
AWihr^ diiu'j^hter of Cormac Mac
Aiit: VJl.— iMWii by, [App. 4«6,
47t).— Tale of tliu (^oiirtship of, hy
Finn .Mar ( 'MmA.i///, 2S3
AiMr, Mitiih: Battle of (a.d. 903),
420, [App. 4(;7
AilUu\ St. ; of himlich (Emly),374 —
his rili^rimaj;*'. 3S2
AW'h'unf, (now Delvin), Ford on the,
2S2
Aiknvhy 133. — Destroyed by Mnir-
ctuni'tnrh O'Brii'ii, 4«K), 405.— Roof
of, made of oak from Cratloe, 401.
— tlie stone-builiUTS of, 222
AlkU [see also AUUl] Finn ; FlidaU^
wife of, [App. ."1^5 n.
Aihn (father of .<<«/<<' A «), 218
Ailrll{»c^ OilioU) Molt, 88-9 [App.
484. &c.
AihllisLHi OilioU) Ohtm, 44, &c.
Alb II J son of E'fi/han ; Klopement of
the wife of [App, 590
Aihnn [see also Ailiim'] ; Palace of,
367, [App. 492
^i7«Ta;rthe Wise, 350, 378, etc. (see
At reran)
Ail/inn [EIphin],175
Aiit/enan : the O'Mearas f^m, 210
Aifiac (qu. .'l*7i«« /), 222
Ailian, Solomon's builder, 222
AUill [see also AilvJf] ; Uyairiy son of
(K. of Leinster), 421
A mil A in^f son of Laeghairi LorCj2i)2
Ailill Fhnm Bey, 361
Ailill, (Prince of Leinster), and
Mcadhh ; marriage of, 282
Ailinn ("^liVidc"); Casruba, Stone-
builder of, 222
^iVfwn, the Rath of; Cricily builder
of, 222
Ailinn f the royal palace of Leinster,
222, 867 [App. 492
AilinUf daughter of Fergus [App.
465,472
Airgetmar, 70 [App. 627
<4w^(Ciioc),816, [App. 486
AiHoen^CTdin B€,^B6); Tale of the,
SSa f App. 686 n., 687 n., 589 n.
Ainghin {Ini*)^ 112
Ainfl:idy,0'; 211
Ainl^, (one of the Sons of Vvsn(cK)^'iS
Ainmir€, son of Cellar^ 363 [App. 610
Ainmir€{Aedh Mac% 50, 191, 218,
232, 5S8,—TJomhnaU, son of, 33S
**-/iir an da Fearmvighe*'^ 198
Aireran »* the Wise" of TamhlacK%
Saint, 879
Aireran^ (or -<4ir*?iia«), the Wise, [of
Clonard], (Samt) ; 350, 379 [App.
608,614
''Airif Erhta'*', tlie, 48.
Airemh ; Eorhaidk^ ,54
Airchinncch (" Erenach"), 290, 344.
— a lay Airchinnech, 408
AirchisyOT OiVt/rw, (the word); 37'.»
[App. 615
Airghiall {Oncl): Ae<lh O'CuiUaidhr,
Bishop of, 361
AiRGNE (»* Slaughters"), [« Historic
Tales^ No. 4], 252, 260
Airmedhy son of Diuneccht, pliysician,
221, 250
Airteach [App. 547
Ainhir {Coill\ 102
Aitheach Tuatha, 194, 230, 262, 4r.3
[App. 590 n.— Tale of tlie Revolt
of the, 262
ArrniDHE, of the ; (" Historic Tales"
of Elopements), 294
Aithifn€ Ailghesach Q^ Aithirne the
Importunate"), 218, 265-8.— his
poem to .YciV//«r, 383 [App. 616
' Aithirn^, Tale of the Death of, 319
Alacluaith, the (of Britain), 88
Alan's (Archbishop) liegister; re-
ferred to [App. 603, 604
Albain (Scotland), 194 [App. 616.—
Datht invoked as King of, 285
A Ibanach O' Troig/tthigh, (Z>oniAna//\
346
Albon's, Saint; crozicr of St. Patrick
at the monastery of [App. 603 n.
Alexander the (Great ; Life oC 25, 353.
— Synchronism of [App. 521
Alexandria, the Bishops of; 369
Ale ; vessels of fermenting, 309, 311 ;
—vat of red, 388, — can (escra) of,
[App. 621
AHan; Aed/t, (Monarch, aj). 730), 420
Allen, Archbishop [see Alan]; 603,604
Allen {Almhain), 191,313, 316
Almhatn (Allen, Ca Kildare); llU,
813, 316.— Fiiin of, 395,— Hill of
Allen [App. 480 n— Battle of, 191,
889,420
Almhain^ Bruighean bheag na h- ; 313
Alphabets; Tables of (B. of Bally.
mote), [App. 470
.4^.
INDEX.
667
^Ipine gold, 810
^Ipine Mountains ; plunderers fVom
the [A pp. 585 n.
Alps; King Daiki^B Expedition to,
and death by Ughtning near, the,
. 284, 288
AHnah-Eilti, 102
Alt Tighe Mkic Cuirin, 102
A/roiV (altar), St. Patrick's; [App.624
AitDs, a Roman consul, 277, [App.642
♦»Altu8*' of Coium Cille, the, 77 n.,
852,406
Altars; *' Cromlechs^ neTer [A pp.
598.— (*^ble at the east end"), 397
Altars at Bath Archaill; Druids, 284
Altar Stone, floating ; of St. Patrick,
893
Ambrose, St.; referred to by Aen-
^u«,308
Amen, amen, 397
Amergin Gluingeal, 45, 217, 448
Amergin Mac Amalgaidh^ 53
Amhiaibh (Awley), 403, 414 (219)
Amhalgaidhy Ibh- ; Clann Firbis his-
torians. 219.— i/t-, 125.— rir, 126
Amhalgaidh, K. of Connacht, 330
Amhra (Elegy) of Colum CUU, 29,
177, 218, 406
Amlaff, the sons of, 403
AmroU{Tuath\Z^^
Ananrij the Paps of, 309
Anbucdlf JCial ; Caerabar Boelh,
daughter of, 426
Andromeda, parallel story to that
of, 280
Anglo-Normans, 225. — invasion of,
414.— power of (after a.d. 1172),
234
Anmchara, 76, (" soul's friend''), 333
Annadh O* Muireadhaigh^ 100
Annagh, parish of (Kerry), 448
Annatists subsequent to Tighernach ;
of the, 74
Annally, Co. Longford; O'Ferrall's
country, 219
Anhals, the Ancient, 52. — As ma-
terials of History, 119. — ^the future
History must be founded on the,
445. — the Latin annals (of Multi-
feman, Grace, etc.), 52. — of Boyle
(80caUed),52,81, 105[App.539.—
of Clonmacnoise, 52,1 30.— of Clyn ,
62.-ot Connacht, 104, 113, 114
[App. 539.— «f Donegall ; or of the
Four Masters, 52, 140, 145.--of
Grace, 52. — of Inis Mac Nerinn
(in Loch C/), wrongly called of
Kilronan, 52, 93, 97, 1 14 [App. 541.
—of InniffaUen, 52, 75, 79.— of
KUionaD, 52, 93, 97, (113), 114
TApp. 540.— of Loch C<^ 93, 95,
[App. 534.— of Multifernan, 52.—
of the O'Duigenans of Kilronan
(called Annals of Connacht), 113,
114.— of Pembridge, 52.— Of Tigh-
emach, 52, 62, 74, 90 [App. 517.
—of Ulster, 23, 52, 83 [App. 517
Annluan Mac Aegan, 141
^nroM, the, 241,243
Anster, Dr.; translation of Fenian
Poem by, 306
Anthony (St), and the Monks, 369
Antichrist, 398, 414, 419, 433.
Antioch, the Bishops of, 369
Antiquarian inquiry, neglect of, 1, 2
*' Antiquarian" nonsense about pagan
worsliip [App. 586 n.
Antiquity of our genealogies ; credi-
bility of the, 205
Antwerp ; Irish MSS. written at, 356
Aodh=Aedh, 177
Aoi, (Poet of TuathaD^ Danann), 217
Aoi; Maah' [App. 564
Aongus AnternmacK physician, 221
Ao8 ddna ; poets, 220
Apocryphal character of the " Pro-
phecies", 410
Apostles, the Hill of the {^Cnoc na n-
Aspa/), 361
Apple-tree in CredhCs house, 811
Apple-tree over Ailinn's grave ; Ta-
blets of the, [App. 465, 466
Ara, the O'Briens of, 236
Arabian Nights, the, (Lane), 296, 297
Arainn Isl^d, St. Colman of; 293
Arann Islands, 417. — "Arann of the
Saints". [App. 605. — Topography
of, [App. 630
Archaill, Hath, 284
Archaeology, Christian, 821
Ardachadh(^Aif\2Lg)i), 100. [App.641,
Ardany 275
Ard=art, 177
Ard Brestin^, 268
Ard-choHl, (Co. Clare), 176
Ardee, named from Firdiadh, 89
Ard'Finain (Co.Tipperary), 76 ;— St.
Finan of, 340
Ard Laghranrif 656
Ardlemnachta ; (Ard Leamhnachia,
New Milk Hill), 450 ;— Battle of
[App. 589 n.
Ardmore, St. Declan of, 340
A rdnurchar ( Bail^-ath-an- Urchair\
276 [App. 693
Ard-Patrick, Co. Limerick, 308
Ard-Righ, 218
ArdsalUs (Co. Clare), 236
Ard Ui Luinin, 170
Argain Chairpri Cinn-Cait for Satr-
43 B
668
INDEX.
clarmaibh h-Erenn ; Story of the,
262. — Argain Dinn Righ^ the, 267
Argonautic Expedition ; Story of, 25.
Argat Rosb, 449 i—Lughaidh's grave
in, [App. 479
Arm of Saint Lachtain; Shrine of the,
837
Armagh, desecration of, 408. — Ca-
thedral, etc., burned, (1178;) [App.
602 n.---(See Primacy of Ardma^
cAa), 399, 400.— Intruding prelate,
NUiIi, or Nigellus ; [App. 602.—
Book of; 21, — Macutenius* notes in,
397 Canon in, 373.— Sketch of
St. Patrick's life in Book of, 847 —
the (original) Book of, 21. — the
Cuilefadh of, 335,— Entry in, 653.
"Armenians'"; "the large size of
the guileless" ; 224 [App. 680
Armorica, [App. 602
Arms, etc., in Museum of Royal Irish
Academy, 38 n.
Arms of the Firbolgs and Tuatha De
Dananrij 245
Army, /7;m's defensive ; 315.
Arond^ stone-builder of Jerusalem,222
Art ; Ancient Irish, 38 n.
Art Aenfhir^ "the Lonely", son of
Conn, 42, 43, 96, 386.— "Prophecy"
ascribed to, 391.— poem of [App.
622
Art CorbjiS
AsaU 44
Asail; 5%A^, the, 463
Ascaill; Glais in [App. 489, 490
Ashburnham, Loi^, 25, &c.
Ash (Mountain- ),Court ; the, (Bntig-
hean Chaerthahm), 313
Aspal, Cnoc na «-, 66 ; Abbot of, 861
Assembly in Munster under Bishop
Ihair [App. 616
Astronomical Tract, ancient, 657-668
Atkair chaigh chuimsigh nimhe, 163
Athairn^ipT -4iMirw^), the poet, 176,
189, 218, 268, 383, etc [App. 616
Ath-an-Imoit (Ford of the Sods), 282
AthcHath of Ireland ; the, 88
Ath CHath ; Dubhlinn-, 146, 269
Ath Cumair, (near MuUingar), 38
Ath Truim (see Baile Atha Truim)
[App. 604, 606
Athens, 222
Ath Firdlaidh, (Ardee), 39
Atlantic, Expedition of the Sons of
Ua Corra into the, 289 ; — peniten-
tial pilgrimage into the, 292
" Atlantis, the" ; Story published in,
36 n.
Athlone, named from story in the
Twn Bo Chuailgn€, 40
Ath Luain, (Athlone), 40
Ath Mdr, 40
Ath na Betthighe, 102
Ath Seanaigh (BaBjahannon, C
Kildare), 420
Ath UwcA^ (the Tard of Uwch/),Si
Atinni, grandfather of St. Adamna
[App. 608
"Attacota" (AtiJkeach Tuatha), n
230.— Tale of the Bevolt of the,2«
AurchailU; Dram, ^2
AusailU; Cill, (KiUossy), 344, 421
Authority, early references to tl
Historic Tales as, 241
Authorities upon our eariy Hktor
441, 443, 445-6
Auxilius, 373 [App. 612
Awley (.Amhlaibh), 414
Bacha/l (see Sciath BhachalJ), 33]
(and see [App. 602).
Bachall Isu, the, 104, 330, 338 [Ai^
639, 600, 624
Bacorbladhra, (the first teacher), 21
Bactrians and Parthians of commc
descent with th« Gaedhil (froi
Magog, son of Japhet;, 205
Baculus pastoralis [App. 602 n. (an
see Bachall Isu)
" Baculus Jhestt" C'^pp. 600 ei seq.
Badamar, court of K. Fiacha Mm
leathan, 305
Badger Wood {Ros Broc), 302
Badley, Philip, 94 [App. 634
Badum, 70 [App. 527
Baedan, K. of Ulster [App. 592 n.
Bacrachy the Druid of Conor Hi
Nessa, 277, [App. 642-8
Baeth(8etDa{r€ddBhaeth) [App.(^
Baghach, Brat; (Flag of Battles
401,402
BaiU, (=hamlet), 40
BaiUan Scdil, the; 385,419, [App.61
Bail€ an Mhoinin^ 346 [App. 607
BailS-atha-an-Urchair^ (Ardnurchu
Co. Westmeath), 276 [App. 695
Baile Atha Cliath, 88, 146, 269
Bail^Atha Truim [App. 604, 606
Bailif Bhricin (" Extasy of BridfT,
418
BaiU Chuinn, the, 885, 419. [App.61
Bail€ CoUlefoghair, 166, 170,
BaiU Mac Buain; Tale of, [Ak
464 et seq., 472
BaiU Afhohng, 420, [App. 628
BaiU Mdr 11 Fhloinn [App. 648
BaiU Ui Chlefriah, 22
BaiU Ui MhaoUchonqire^ 21
Bailldearg (Eochaidh), 210
Bainche, or Bainchn^, 0on of Dobm
Bath-builder of Emania, 222
INDEX.
669
Baimech hill, n€»r Killaraey, 306
Baiscni, 304. — Finn, the Grandflon of,
892 [App. 622
Baithin, St. ; 18^— Storv of [App. 632
Balla (Co. Mayo) ; St. Mochua of; 340
Ballaghmoon, Co. Kildare [App. 487
Ball Dearg O'Donncll, 406
Ballingarry, Co. Limerick; Diaert
Aenyusa near, 3G4
Ballintogher (near Tullamore), 449
BallB of Gold, 426
BallyboghiiU Church, (near Swords,
Co. Dublin) [App. 603
Balljcpnnell ; Toomregan, near
{Tuaim Drtcain\ 418
Ballymacmanus Island {Senaii in
Loch Erne), 84, 85
Ballymote, Book of, 188, &c.
Ballyragg[et, Co. Kilkenny (Raith
Beothaigh, near), 449
Ballysadare, County Sligo; (Traigh
EothaiU, near), 246
Ballyshannon (Co. Kildare), (Aih
Seanau/h)j 420
Ballyshannon, (Co. Sligo); Eas
Ruaidh on the Erne, near, 284
jBa/or" of the stiff blows", 247.— "of
the Evil Eye", 249
Balur, son of Butinlamh, builder of
Rath Breisif, 222, [App. 677.
Baltinglass {Bealach Conglais)^ 232 ;
[App. 686 n. — Dunbulgy near [App.
688 n.— Tale of the Cave of, 283
Bana, (the River); [App. 489. 490
Banbha; 13, 413.— Erinn, 219, 656
Banshees, (see Bean Sidht)\ 36 n.
[App. 604.— Sm, the (App. 699
Bdn^ Sliabh' (in Connaclit) ; the three
Kosscs of, 426
Bangor (Co. Down) ; [sec Bennchuir^,
257, 374
Bann^ Mouth of the, ( Tuagh Inbher) ;
[App. 475
Banquets (Feasa) ; Talcs of, 294
Baoi-.=hoi, 178
Baoithin, St.; Poem of St. Colum
Ci/le, to, 400, 40(> [App. 625
adh Mac A
142,^151, 175
Baothghalcc.h Ruadh
icgan.
Baptist, St. John ; fiery bolt on fes-
tival of, 385, 402, 404
Barbarous custom of a brain trophy,
275
Bare, Dun [App. 689
Bards, 248, — the ** Contention of the,
141
Barnnb, stone-builder of Jerico, 222
Barrdan, Joannes O*, 323
Barrow, the river {liearbha\ 302, 42J.
— St. Eimhin of, 351
Bath, medical healing, of the Tuatha
Di Danann, 260
Battle of Acailf, 230, 264
Battle ofAchadh Leithderg (aj>.331),
69
Battle of Aich^ [^App. 621
Battle of Ahnhutn, (a.d, 718), 191,
389, 420
Battle of Ardfemnachta [App 688 n.
Battle of ^IM Cutnair [App. 691 n.
Battle of Ballyshannon, (1369), 183
Battle of BtalAtha DaiU( 1505), 407
Battle of Bel an Atha buidhe (1698),
417
Battle of Bel-an-Droichit [App. 648
Battle of the Boyne, 331
Battle of Bernas, the, f^PP* ^81,
482 n.
Battle of Bregh [App. 621
Battle of Brislech, in Muirthimni,
[App, 687 n.
Battle of Cacnrai^he, 189
Battle of CennAbrat, (II.century),187
Battle of Ceann Feabhrait, (1679),
395, 416
Battle of Ceantifuait (916), 421
Battle of Ceann Afara (Kinvara), 803
Battle of Cenntiri [App. 622
Battle of CU/ Eochain,(UH), S95
Battle of cm Sosad, or Cill Osnadh
[App. 483, 686 n.
Battle of CVaiW, [App. 686 n.
Battle of Clnirin€, [App. 621
Battle of cnontarf, 233, 400
Battle of Cnoc nn Air, 312
Battle of Cnoc Samhna, 312
Battle of Cnucha, 302
Battle of Comar. 307
Battle of Conachnil, 101
Battle of Corann [App. 686 n.
Battle of Craumigh, 69
Battle of Cruachan Bri EiU, (1886),
395
Battle of Crinnn, 200, [App. 593 n.
Battle of Cuailqntf [App. 622
Battle of Citil Jjreimn^, 329, 417
Battle of Disert O'Dea, (1318), 236
Battle of Dowupatrick, (1200), 235
[App. 547
Battle of />rMimCnV;iyi [App. 487,608
Battle oiDunbidg, (a.d. 594),191, 232
Battle of iv/i [App. 621
Battle of E mania (" foretold"), 418
Battle of Fidh'Ros [App. 621
Battle of Finntrnigh (Ventry- Har-
bour), 308, 315
BbXWq oi Fossud [App. 481
Battle of (iabhra, 304
Battle of Gtisill, (e.c. 1975), 449
(A.D. 1406), 396
670
INDEX.
Battle at Gort na Tibrad, 395
Battle of Einsole, 396
Battle of Leac Dladhma (1027), 414
Battle of Liamhain [App. 492
Battle of Mocha [App. 621
Battle of Magk Ailbhi (903), 420
[App. 467
Battle of Maah Leana, 243
Battle of Magh Mucruimhi (▲.D.
125). 43, 391 [App. 621
Battle of Magh Rath, (ao). 624), 60,
191, 243, 418
Battle of Magh Slecht, (1256), 101
[App. 636
Battle of Maah Tuireadh, 241, 244
Battle of Magh Tmreadh na 6A-
Fomorachy 247
Battle of Mu\rtheimn€, 819
Battle of Ocha or Och€y 66, 88-9,
App.] 484, 488
Battle of Odhbha (1072), 421
Battle of Ollarbha, 307
Battle of Rath Chormaic (at Tan),
402
Battle of Ross na Righ^ (first cen-
tury), 187 [App. 589
Battle of Saingel, 896
Battle of Salchoid (Sallyhead, Tip-
perary), 403
Battle of the Samair [App. 486
Battle of Seaghais (a.d. 499) ; [App.
499
Battle of Tailltin, 448
Battle of Tara (978), 403. 404
Battle of Uchbadh, (a.d. 733), 130.
Battles, the Flag of; {BratBaghach),
401
Battle (with the Danes near Dahlin,
A.D. 917), 387
B^ag=b€ac, 177
Beagh, Rath-, 449
B^Ainaen, Tain; the, 283
Bealach Conglais [see Baltinglass],
232, 283, 686, etc.
Bealach na Beithighe^ 103
BealA tha DaiU; Battle of, (1 505),407
Bean-sidhe (Banshee), 36 n. [App.
604 Sin, the [App 699
Beannchuir (Bangor, Co. Down), 1 70,
374 i—Mac Uidhir, abbot of, 419
Bearbha, the river (Barrow), 302, 452
*^ Bearchan Profetans", 412 [App.
626, etc., [see Berchan]
Beaman Culainn, (the gapped Bell of
St. Culann), 837
Beathach, ancestor of the Tuatha D€
Danann, 244
Bede on the Plots, 450
Bed, four posts to, 31 1 ; — of gold and
silver, 310; — of Diormuid aud
Grainn/, 315 [App. 697.-
St Ciaran, at Clonmacnoise, 27
Begfolad, Tochmarc ; Tale of the, 2
Beg Mac D^ (ob. JuD. 556); "* Pi
phecies** of, 399
Btmn Edair, (Howth), [App. 587
688
Beiih€ Luis Nin, the [App. 471
Belach Lhiin; St. CiaroM of, 2
[App. 608
Belach Mic Uilc fApp. 608
Belach Mughna (Balljighmoon) [Af
487
Bdach Cohglaia^ 232, [App. 586 p.
Uath-, 283
Ba an atha Buidhe^ Battle of (159i
417
B€l an BheaUaiah^ 102
Bd-an-DroicMd (pear SUgo); Bat
of, [App. 548
B^hu [App. 59011.
B^l Dragain, Loch ; 427 [Afp, 68
B^l, Eoghan; King of Cooiiadit,^
Bdgadant Mount, 245
Belgian gorenunent, Ubenlitj of,l
Belgium; Irish MSB. in, 26, 2
856.— the Cathach long in, 331.
MSS. lent by the government
862. [App. 647.— Iriah priests U
refiige in, 356
Bell,— of the kings, the (Clog
Righ), 334.—" the voice of my b
in cold lona", 400.— of St. Patrid
the Finn faidhech, 337 [App. 631
Bells, church, 413. — In Museum
R.I.A., etc, 321, 836
'* Belle Isle", Ballymacmanus IsUd
[see Senait], in Loch Erne, 85
Bil S^ad, Loch; 426 [App, 633
Belltain€, pagan Festival of (Ms;
day), 286
Benedict, the gifted, 369
Benen, S. (St. Benignus), 4, 37
[App. 612.— His Life of St. P
trick, 349
Bennan, Aedh ; K. of WestMonsti
[App. 590 n.
Bentichur (Bangor, Co. Down), 17
267, 374, 419
Bennchair, Cuil; in Ui Failgh/, S«
Benn€ Brit, 48
BtothatQh, Raith ; 449
Berematn, the Strand of ; (near Tn
lee ), 305
Berchan, St. ; of Chain Sosta, 4(
[App. 626.—" Prophecies'^ of, 41;
—Book of, 353.- Quoted in ll
"Danish Wars", 405 ** Berckt
dixit'* (in " prophecy" ascribed t
St. Moling), 421
INDEX.
671
Bernard, St. ; his Life of St. Mala-
chy cited [App. 602
Bernard, a Danish chief, 403
Btmas, the Battle of. [App. 481. 482
Berraidhey Ctann ; (servant of Conor
Mac Nessa) [^pp. 641-2
Berry-juice, a bowl of, 309
Besom out of Fanait ; the, 420, 42 1,
423. 426, 428
Betham, Sir W., and Sir N. O'Hon-
nell, 331. — account of the Cathach^
327
Bethech ; DuterU^ 364
Bethlehem, 369
Bha^hy Doire da, 276
Biatach, CHospitaller), 84
BiU, Magh ; (Moville), 287
BUigh, Raith ; rRavUly). [App. 488
Bindon, Samuel, 174, [App. 647
Biographical Dictionary of Mac Fir-
bis, 123
Birchwood used for tablets [App. 470
Birds, fairy ; in the eaves of Credh^s
GrianaH, 310
Bird, fairy (golden head and silver
wings), 333. — Fairy transforma-
tion into, 426.— Music of, 334.—
Birds of Baiit, the. [App. 479
Bishops, Hill of the (near Cabin-
teely) ; (Tulach na n-Espuc), 882
Bishop ; punishment of a, 372
Bissextile Year, 427
"Black Book" of Christ Church, re-
ferred to [App. 603
Black JMaggot, the (Crom DM)
[App. 631-2
Biadk .
App. 586 n.
Bladhma, Leac, (Meath), Battle of,
(1027); 414
/?/«!, 48
Blar (father of Bole), 222
BlaiA mac ySt. ; sonof Flann, Monarch,
362.— Crozier of, 338
Blathnait. [App. 590
Bhc. the Druid, 388, [App. 620
Blod, 209
"Bloody Maggot,the" ( Crom Cruach) ;
[App. 631-2 (and see 103, 538)
Blue Mantles, 310
Bluicn€, the Druid, 388. [App. 620
Boar, bare rib of a, presented to
Conn, 388
Boat of Hides, a large curack or, 292
Bobbio,; MS., formerly in, now at
Milan, 27
Bochra, 11
Bochna, (Fiontan Mac), 171
Bodhbh Derg ; the fairy. 426
Boethj Coerabar, 426
Bo Finne, Inis, 418
Boi=:Baoi=Bai; 177
" Boin ; h gach", etc., 328
Boinn^; Brugh na^, [App. 605
** Bo'inin ; le gach bom a", 328
Boirch€; Cathair, [App. 591 n.
Bole, son of Blar, ratli builder of
Cruachain, 222
Bolg, Inis ; in Loch Techet (Loch
Gara). [App. 547
Bolg, Magh; murder of Fiacha at,
(A.D. 56) ; 264
Bolt, fiery, on the festival of St John
Baptist, 385, 402, 404
Bo; Mael na m-, 421
Books before St. Patrick, Of, 4
Books of Poetry, the Twelve, 301
Books of Erinn ; " the countless hosts
of the*\ 368
" Book, to every, its Copy", 328
Book" (" the smaUest), 9
Books, of the Lost, 1 et seq., 20. —
Of the chief existing ancient, 181 ,
et seq.
Book of Acaill, 47
Book of Armagh, 21, 27, 343
Book of BaUy Clery, 22
Book of BaUymote, 9, 44,188, 216, 666
Book of Bally Mulconry, 21
Book of St. Berehan of Clonsost, 363
Book {Saltair) of Cashel, 19
Book of Cluain Eidhneach, 21
Book of Clonmacnoise, 22
Book of Clonsost {Cluain Sost), 21
Book of Connacht, 225
Book of the Dun Cow (Leabhar na
h'Uidhr^, 20, 182
Book of Cuana, 19
Book of Dimma, (T.C.D.), 23, 27,
335
Book of Z)o/r^ (Deny), 20
Book of Drom Ceat, 21
Book of Drom Snechta, 13, 41, 666
Book of Dubh da leit/i^, 19
Book of Dun da Leth glas (Down-
Patrick), 20
Book of Dun Doighri, the Great,
(called the Leabhar Breac), 31,
190, 352
Book of Durrow, T.C.D., 23
Book of Feenagh. [App. 503
Book of Fermoy, 25 and n., 294
Book of Flann of Dungeimhin, 20
Book of Glenn dd Locha (Glenda-
loch), 21
Bookof HyMany(/&A Mainti,\2,^b^
Book of Hymns, (T.C.D), 24, 343
Book of Inis an Duin, 20
Book of Invasions, 21, 86, 168
Book of the Island of Saints {Loch
Ribh), 22
672
IKDEX.
Book of Kells (T.C.D.), 23
Book of Laws {Senchus M6r\ 16
Book of Lecam Mic Firbhisiah, 22,192
Book ofLecain, (the Yellow), 125, 190
Book of Leinsterj 69, 186, 215
Book of Leithghlmn, (the Long), 21
Book of Lismore ; [Note.— The Cork
part of it has b^n restored to the
original Book of Lismore, since the
deliverv of these Lectures.] 196, 199
Book of Mac Aegan (the Bed), 21
Book of Mac Brodj, 22
Book of James Mac Firbis; "The
Dumb'', 126
Book of Mac Murrach,(the YeUow),20
Book of Saint MochtcB, 19
Book of Saint Molaga (the Black), 20
Book of Saint Moling (theYellow), 20.
—his EvangeUstarium (T.C.D), 23
Book of Mona8terboice,(the Short),20
Book of Munster, 225, 237
Book of the O'Duigenans, 22
Book of the OTerguses ; the Yellow,
("Liber Flavus Fergusiorum"), 76
n. [App. 531
Book of Pedigrees and (Genealogies of
Duald Mac Firbis, 120, 215
Book of Sabhall Phatraic (Saull, Co.
Down), 20
Book of Seanadh Mkic Maghnusa (in
Loch Eim€; called the Annals of
Ulster), 22
Book of Slane ; (the Yellow), 20
Book ; the Speckled, {Leahhar Breac ;
and see Great Book of Dun Doigh-
rO; 81, 190, 362
Book (Sahair) of Tara, 9, 10, 11, 41,
42, 204
Book of the Ua Chonghbhatl, 13
Book of Ulster, 226
Boroimhe, 10, 66.— (i5rtan), 213, 214,
231, 238
Boromean Tribute, History of the
Origin of the ; Tale of the, 181, 230
[App. 686 n., 688 n.
Borrisoole [see Burgheis UmhaUl],
[App. 661
Bothar-na-Bruighn^ ("the Road of
the Court''), 259
Bowen {0' Cnaimhin), 211
Bowl of berry-juice, 309
Box, ancient ; of St. Moling's Oospel
(T.C.D.),23
Boyle, Annals called those of, 62, 81,
106 [App. 639
Boyne, Battle of the; Domhnall
O'Donnell at the 331 "Ford of
the Sods" on the, 282.— Meeting
at the mouth of the, 333.— Tale of
the eruption of the. [App. 631
Braccan (Serehan), 433
BragantiOf in Spam, 447.
Brahmins f Gen« Yailanoey and the
866
Brain i 5r«ifeA, 427 [App. 477
Brain of a conquei«d warrior nudi
into a ball, tm a trO|>hy, 275
Bran, 211
Bran Dubh^ King of Ldniter (a.d
594), 232 [App. 588n
Branch, Knights of the Royal, 14
244, 270, 279 [App. 507, 637.
Bra^finn (SlioM), 211
Brat Baghach (Flag of Battles), 401
402
Brat Sliabh, 101
Breacanj Tale of the Voyage of (aj>
405), 257
Breac; Ltabhar (so called); [sei
Great Book of Dun Doighri\, 31
181, 190, 352
Breagain, Magh; (in Ti^eraiy)
[App. 593
Breaghach; Domhnaa (QMaaUtck
latmi),387
Breas, herald of the TwUka D€Da
nann, 245, 247
Breasail, (K. of Leinster), 91.-
Baith', [App. 485, and n.
Brecan (sou d Partholan) [Appi587n
Bregh, or Breqia; the east part o
Meath, 49, 63, 193, 259, 286, 409
461 [App. 620.— Battle of [Apf
621. — Magh Muirtdha in, 451.-
Tara of, 409. [App. 626,— Otrii^w
(" of the poisoned spear'',) King d
44.
" Brchon Law Commisaion", 16, 17
"BrehonLaws",MSS. of the, 201
etc. [and see " Laws", " Soanck^
Mdr"^, etc.], — example, 665
BreiMy 102 — O'Rourkes of, 335, 33
Breis^(see Eath Brti<^\ 222
Brenainn ; Chain Ferta-, [App. 477
Brenan Ban, 210
Brenann of Birr; Legend of Sain
[App. 532
Brendan, St., of donfert, 399 ;— lifi
of, 340. ~ Pilgrimage, 382. — tb
Navigation of, (Tale of), 289,-
Story of [App. 633.
Brestiwf, Ard-, 268
Brethibh Neiinhedh, 46, (201), 219.-
Tract on (in B. of Lccain\ 240
Brettan, Town of, 349 (Loam Birfiop
Breusa, Philip de, 432
Brian Boraimhe, 76, 218,214,281,658
4.— At the Battle of Saichcid, 40!
Bnan, K. of Connacht ; Genealogy
[App. 499
INDEX.
673
Brian na Murtha CRuairc^ 194
Brian of the Battle of Nenagh, 212
Brian, son of Feabhall ; Tale of the
Adventures of, 318
Bricin, St., 48, 50, 418;— "Prophe-
cies" attributed to, 418
Bricrinn's Feast, l93, 846 [App. 637-8
Bri ElU, CruacAain,— Battle of, 396
Brigh Atnbui (daughter of Senchadh,
46
Brigid, St., of Kildare, 369.— (goes
to DowDpatrick 17th March, a.d.
493; dies, a.d. 625;) 416.— buried
at Down, 410.— Lives of, 839 et
seq., 342, SiS,— Conlaedh, the arti-
ficer of, 338. — Poem by [App.
616.— Visit of the Seven Bishops
(of Cabinteely) to, 882.— Figure
of, 823.
Brigobhann, 197.— St. Finnchuoi, 340
422
BrisUachMhdrMhaigh^Afhuirthemhne
^Battle of). [App. 687 n.
Britain ; Christianity in, before St.
Patrick, 398
Brittany (Letavia) [App. 602
British Museum, MSS.in, 26.— Visit
to, in 1849; 346
Britons; "anger** of the, 224 [App.
681
Britons of Fotharta (Forth, Co. Wex-
ford); poisoned weapons of the,
460
•* Britons of Letha*"; the [App. 603
Briuinj Ui-y 414
Broc; Ro8 (Badger Wood), 302, 392
Brody, 141, 148.— Mac, 401 (sec Mac
Bruaideadha)
Brogany St. Patrick's scribe, 308
Bronaigh ; Cluain^ [App. 638
Bronze, golden ; rods of, 310
Brooch of Maine Mac Durthacht acci-
dentally found in presence of, and
claimed by, Aithim^ihe poet, 268
Broom out of Fanait; the, 420, 421,
428, 426, 428 [App. 632, 634
Bronze; vat of ale, 3 11, — bed-rods of
golden, 310
Bruaideadha y Mac-] (MacBrody),401
[App. 625, etc.
Brughaidh, 83
Brugh na Boinn€ [App. 505].—" The
teeming Brugh'' [App. 597
Brushy Uie fairy mansion of, 308
Bruighean Da Choga (sec Da Choga)^
260
Bruighean Da Derga , 1 4, 1 85. [ App.
618.— referred to by F/an«, 242
Brussels, Burgundian Library, 26, —
MSS., in, 232
Buadhachy Laeghair^y 276
Buan (see [Tale of] BaiU Mac
Buain), 464, 472
Buan, the wife of Mesgedhra, death
of, 270
Buanlamh, 222
Bucket (Dun Buichei) [App. 588 n.
Buckingham, Duke of ; shnne in pos-
session of, 336
Buffoons, 248 ( Tauhhinni, App. 618)
Buidhe Chonnaill, 425, 428 [App. 630
Builders, the principal ancient, 222,
[App. 677
Builder; the first in Erinn, 221
Buildings of stone in Erinn, Mac
Firbison, 223
Buiraheis Umhaill, 178, [App. 661.
Buiihe, 20, 23, 43, 68, 66 (and see
Flann of Monasterboice)
Bunratty Castle, built by De Clare,
236
Burachy 38 [App. 691 n.
Burgheis Umhadl (Borrisoole) ; Mo-
nastery of, 178, [App. 661.
Burkes, the, wrote in GaedhiUc, 6 ; —
the, of Clann William, 422
Burren, 2X2,— O'Lochlainn of, 236
Bursting of Lakes {Tomadhma);
Historic Tales of the, 294
Butlers, the, wrote in Gaedhilic, 6 —
Mac Richard Butler, 19.
C ; (of the sound of the letter c in
Gaedhetic), 48n.
Caah (see Cathach\ 321, 827
Cabinteely; Tulach na n-Espuc, near,
882
Cacham, the poet, etc. 217
Cahur, stone-builder of Tara, 222
Caech {Rudhraighe), 109 [App. 539
Caeilt^ Mac Ronain, Poems ascribed
to, 301 et seq. (see Cailti)
Caehin ; Cluain-, 374
Caelbad (ancestor of Aengus CciU
D€\ a Rudrician, 363 [App. 610
Cael=Caol, 177.
Gael WXeamhain, 308, — and the
lady Credhi [App. 594
Cad, the Strand of {Traigh Caeif),
311
Caehtisg^ (Tadhg), 212
Caeluisg^, *' Narrow Water", 235
Caemh (Aedh), 210, 213
Caemhafiiny St. (Kevin), of GUann da
Locha ; Life of, 340
Caenraighe, 189
Caherass (C'aMair^sm) [App. 486
Cahir (Co. Tipixjrary): Uadamar,
near, 305
Caicher, the Druid, 217
Cailitin { the sons of [App. 608,— nc-
674
INDEX.
cromantic arts of the children
of [App. 687 n.
CaiUiriy St., of Fidhnacha (Co. Lei-
trim); Life of, 31, 340, 398.—
" Prophecies*' of, 398.— Shrine of.
337 [App. 626
Cai7/<r Mi
Mac Ronain, 301, ei seq. ; — in
a foot race, [App. 687 n.— his
poems, 311 [App. 694
Cainiocht 209.
Cairbr^, 217,— (see O'Karbri), 828
Cairbr€ Cinn-Cait, 198, 230, 262, 264
[App. 590 n.
Cairbr€ Lifeachair, 48, 72;— killed
at Battle of Gabhra, 304.— King
of Ciaraighe Luachra (Kerry), 309
[App. 697.— Fi/in slain, (a J). 283),
in reign of, 304
Cairbri Nia/ear, 49 [App, 483 n.,
607 n., 618
Cairbr€ Biada (ancestor of Dalria-
dans), 516
Cairbr^t son of Cormac Mac Airt, 386
Cairbr€^ the satirist, son of the poet-
ess Etan^ 248
Cairbrech (Donnchadhj 0*Brian), 212
Cairell (Tuan, son of), 171
Cairin (t/i); O'Meachair in, 147,
Cairnech of TuiUn, St., 336 [App.600
CairprffNiafer, 49, [App.483,607,613
Cairpri Cinn C<it>,198, 230,262,264
[App. 590 n.
Cairpri Niadh [App. 516
Cair them Finn, 210, 213
Cais^, (the river), 389
Caisel=& Stone fortress, [App. 677 ;
654
Caisin, 209
Calbhach, 95, 407, 562
Calbkach Ruadh 0'Donnell,179, 407,
etc. [App. 562
Calendar {dar't) [App. 699
" Calf" ; " to every cow her*', 328 ;—
" courting over a living" [App. 503
Callaghan (see Ceallachan\ 200, 238
Caiphunin, father of St. Patrick, 396
Calwell, Castle- ; near Caeluisg^, 235
Cambray, MS. at, 28
*' Cambrensis E versus", by Lynch, 443
Cambrensis, rOiraldus), 431,432, — as
to the Bachall Isu [App. 602, 603.
— Passages from, concerning pre-
tended "Prophecies*',432, [App.634
Caw, St. Finan; of Cenn Eitigh;
(King's County), 340
Camm ; Conchobhar, [App. 548
Campion's History, (tlie Bachall Isu
referred to in) ; [App. 603
Candlish (O'Cuindlis), 192
Can (^escra), of ale, [App. 621
Canons, 857,^of St. Patrick, tiie, 3
[App. 612. — as to absence frc
Mass on Sunday, 372 — *« Canoi
of Fothadh na CawSiiU, 364, 4
[App. 610
Cano, the, 243
Cantire, Ceann Tir€; Cuchulavm h
280.— Battle of, [App. 622
Cao^dach [App. 494
CaoUtfy [and see CaUt€']y 200;-
cousin of Finn Mac CumhailL, 291
Caoiuy Oirear, 287
Caol=cael, 177
Capa^ the first doctor in Erinn, 22
CaphOf son of Cinga [App. 466
Caradniadh Texscih^, 46
Carbry ; Granard in Uie territory o
349
Carew, Sir George ; false use of pre
tended " prophecy" by, 434 [Apj
636
Carlingford (JCwin Snantka Aigk
neck), 287
Carlsruhe, MSS. at, 27, 28
Carmogal, 311
Cam, of the daughter of Brian, 126
Cam Glas [App. 477 n.
Cam of Traigh EothaiU, the, 246
Cam Oilltriallaiph, 100
Cam Tighemaigh (moontain, nea:
Rathcormac, Co. Cork,) 267
Cam UiNeid (Co. Cork), 422
Carpenters, 349
Carraig Locha C^, 96
Carraip Mhic Diarmada, 96
Carraig O'^-Conai// (Co. Limerick)
212
Carraig Phatraic (the "Rock o
Cashel'O [App. 623
Carrignavar, 196
Cartait (the only Pictish word ▼'
have), 20
Carthach, 214;— (called Mochuda]
the Rule of St., 374
Carthainn, 209
Carthainn, Mac, Saint, 324, 325
Carved silver lintel of the Ladj
CredhCs door, 310
Cas, 209, 213 ;— (a box), 327
Cashel; 5a//otr of, 19 ;— first discover
of the site of [App. 485 n.--th
Rock of (called Carraig Phatraic]
[App. 623,— =" Matt»ria'\ 654
Casruba, stone-builder of AUinn, 22:
Cassidy, [see O^Caisid^^, 85, 86
Castle Conor, 223
Castlefore, (Baili CoilU Foghair]
166, 170
Castle Kelly, Co. Galway, HI. [S©
Errata]
INDEX.
675
Cathach, the, 321, 327
Cathair Boirchi^ Slaughter of; Tale
of the, 261
Cathair Conroi (in Kerry), [see Curoi
Mac Dair^'} ; [App. 631 n., etc.
■Cathair M6r, 68, 167, 208.— Race of
in LeinBter, 208
Cathairs ; Baths, Forts, and, 449
Cathaf, 26
Cathal Crobh - Dearg Ua Concho-
bhair, [App. 547
Cathal Mac Finghuin^^ King of Mun-
ster, Ca.d. 720), 238, 353
Cathal MacGoire, 84 ; his death, 84.
[App. 633
Ca/Aa/ O'Conor, 114
Catha, The (TJattles); ("Historic
Tales**, No. 1), 243
Cathhadh, 46
Caihhharr 0*Donnell, 179, 214, 831
[App.599.— the firstO'Donnell,214
Cath Chnuic an Air, 312
" Cat-head'\ Cairhr^, 230, 262, 264
Cathair Mor, 68, 107, 208
Catherine, figure of Saint, 824
Catliollcs persecuted in Ireland, 355
Cathrach Boirch€^ Araain, 261
Cathreun Chonqhail Cnlairingnigh, 261
Cathreim Dat/ii, the; referred to by
Flann, 242
Cathreim ThoirdheaWhaigh, ("The
Wars of Thomond"), 195, 234
Cavalry fighting at Battle of Gahhra
304
Caves, of the Tales of ( Uathd), [His-
toric Talcs, No. 9], 283
CV, Loch, Annals of, 97. [App. 534
CV, Raith ofBeinn-, [App. 591 n.
Cmcht ; Mac, 447
Ceallach, St., (son of Eoghan Bel) ;
[App. 532.— Life of, 340, [App. 647
Ceallach Mac Curtin, 82
Ceal/achan of Cashel, K. of Munstcr,
[a.d. 934], 200, 238
Ceann Berraidh^, servant of Conor
Mac Ncssa. [App. 642. — ** Ceann
BerraidhiTs sovereignty over Ul-
ster'*. [App. 642
Ceann (or Crom) Cruach, 103. [App.
538
Ceannfaelad, 47, 48, 49, 418
Ceann Feahhrat, Battle of; 396, 416
Ceann Fnait, Battle of (915), 421
Ceann Mara {see Kinvara), Unttle of,
30a ;— Cliurch of, 292
Ceann Sle.ibh^; Tale of the Feast of
Conans House of, 313
Ceann Tir^, Land's End (" Cantirc'*).
in Scotland, 280;— Battle of [App.
584 n., 622
Cearbhall, 132
Cearmna, Dun-, 427, 429
Cearna, the Hill of; 259
Ceamachf 14
Cearra (Co. Sligo); Clann Firbis
historians of, 219
Ceasair, the lady, 13, 171, 225.— her
female physician, 221
Ceasnaidhean Uladhy Tale of the, 37
[App. 637-8
Cecht, Mac-; one of St. Patrick's
smiths, 337
Ceileachair MacConn na mBochtflSB,
182, 1S5 i-^Maelmhuir^ Mac, 182.
[App. 670
Cetl€D€, 12,17, 26,53,76,111,186,358
Ceinnselach, 5
Ceinnsealach, Enna; {Eochaidh, son
of), 454
Ceis Corann, Tale of the Court of, 81 3
Ceisneamh Jnghin^ Ghuill [App. 623
Ceithlenn; Lugh Mac-, 888
Cein, Tadhg Mac ; Tale of the Ad-
ventures of, 318
Cellach, 48
Cellar, son of Oengus, 363 [App. 610
Cellrais, 108, 109
Celtic Society, Miscellany of, 207
Cenannus (Kells), 331
Cenel Chonaill, 183, 327,— the his-
torians of the, 219, [App. 670, 600
Cenel Eoghain, the, 407; — the histo-
rians of the, 219
Cenel Fhiachach, (in Westmeath),163
Cennabrat, 187
Cennfaeladh "the Learned", of; 47,
48, 50.— cured at Tuaim Drecain,
418.— hi8Tablets("Charta-Book"),
[App. 472
Cenntire' (bqq Ceann-tir^), 280, — Bat-
tle of, [App. 584 n., 622
Censeiach [App. 482 n. — Enna Ceinn-
selach, 5 n. 454, 482 and n.
Ceolach, 42
Cerbheoill {Diarmaid Mac Ferghusa),
55, 111
Ccrds (gold, silver, and brass worker?),
249
Cennna Milbh€oil (the three sons of),
447
Cerrbheoil, (Diamiaid Mac Far gh usa),
55, 111
Cesair, the lady, 13, 171, 221, 225, etc.
Cesarn, the poet, 388 [App. 620
Cet Mac Magach, 276
Cethach, Flann-, 398,401,402,421,426
Cethur, (or Mac Ceacht), 447
Chacrthainn, Bntighean-, 313
" Chain-verse'* ( C'omicA/<f«w), 365
Chains of Silver, 426
G76
INDEX.
\\
}
ChBLiT o( Credhi, 310
Chair of the chief poet, the, 383
Chairn^, Domhnach- ; (qu. Donajcar-
ney?)382
Chaldeans, the, 369,— tract on the
KingB of, 83
Champion*8 Eztasj, the {Bail^ an
Scdif). 385. 419
ChampioiiB of the Rojal Branch,. 270,
274, 279 Champions, Order of;
or of Knightliood [App. 607
Champions, professional, 279
Characteristics of the races in Erinn,
223
Charioteer of Cuchulainn ; Laeghy 278
Chariot of C(>mnV«rJ/o>, 259.— of Cm-
chuhinn, 281 of St. Patrick and
St. Fiacc [App. 606
Charlemagne, the Conquests of (tract
in the Book of Lismore), 25, 200.—
The Triumphs of [App. 531
Charms, (Druidical or Medicinal), 28.
'* Charta-book** of Cenj^/cie/ae/A, the,
[App. 472
Cliarter of Land ; Oengus O^DomhnaU
lain witness to a, 335
Charter; the oldest, of the land of
A7a//, 423
Chtirthl, {Magh an\ [in Scotland] ;
287, 288
Chasuble (" perforated garment''),397
Chess-playing [App. 565
Cliildren; dedication of, to the
Church, 872
Chivahry, a vow in, 280.— Vows of,
314. — Custom of (hidies calling on
a hero of the opposite army to
show himself to them), 276
Chonaill, Tir-, 329
Chnnaiil Gabhra, Ui-^ (Co. Limerick),
316
Chonchobhair, Aideadh-^ 274
Chonnailif Buid/ic- ; (and Crom Chon-
nai/l) ; 425, 428 [App. 630
Chosgatr; Teahicn an (Hill of the
Victory), 451
Christ ; JMrth of (Synchronisms of)
[App. 609.—" CK." contraction for
the name of, 366. — Conchobar Mac
Neasa accounted the first martyr
in Erinn for, 277. — Mystical Inter-
pretation of the ancestry of, 379. —
Keprescntation of, in alto relievo,
323
Christ-Church, Dublin, the " White
Book'* of [App. 603.— The " Book
of Obits.", etc., of [App. 602.—
•* Black Book" of [App. 603
Christian Period; Of the remains of
the early, 320
Christianity in Erinn before St. Ft-
trick, 397
Chronioon Batisbonenae, the, 346
**Chroniciim Scotomm**, the, 120,
126, 128 [App. 542
ChBOMOLOOISTS and HuTOlIASt,
EARLT ; Of the, 52, 53, etc.
Chronological Poem of GUla Caewt-
kairiy 65.— of Eochaidh O'FUnn, 69
Chronology of Annals of Loch €4,
101.— of the Four Masters, 151
Church ; altar at the east end of a,
397.— and State, 344. — Canon on
dedication of children to the, 372.
— the early, in Erinn, 320
Cwin, son of OiVio// O/uim, 209 [App.
593
Cian^ the son of Diancechty 249
Cianachta Glmn€ Geunhin, 147
Ciaraighe Luachra (Kerry), 809
[App. 597, 630
Ciaran, St.; 8, 41, 59, 197.— his
Hand ; Tale of the Man who swore
by [App. 532.— of Belach Dum,
350 [App. 608. — of Clonmacnoise;
Life of, 340, 342.— referred to ia
** prophecy" of St. Berchan, 417.—
the Rule of; 374.— of Doleek, 64,
^f Saighir (King's Co.) ; Life oC
340, 342.— (Story of) [App. 581
Ciarraighe, 309, 597, 630
Cidom, (or Cidoim), stone-builder of
Curoi Mac Dair€j 222
CiVr/i, Coium- [App. 608
CW Ausaili^, 344,— (KUlossy), 421,-
(CitlAuxiir) [App. 606
an ChaMe, 151
an Chluaine (Co. Galway); St.
Grenan of, 340
anDara{Druun Crto^A) [App.487
an Eochain ; Battle of; 395
an Finch^m Magh Baighn^, 302
an Gabhra, 17
an Garad, IS.
an Mnnchin [App. 630
an Mic atidU (near Imstimon),
App. 630
an Monach, 344 [App. 606
an Mosom6g^ 134
cm Ronain, 22
ambaoth, 63,— (Dr. Todd on the pas-
sage in Tighernach% [App. 518
Cinaeth O'Hartigan, 42, 49 (n. 28),
53, [App. 613, 643.
an Droma Snechia, 13, 1$, 41, 53
[App. 601
Cinel ChonaiU, (O'Donnells), the;
[and see O'Dornhnailt] ; 183, 219,
327 [App. 670. 600;— the Cathach
of i\^ lApp. 699
INDEX.
677
Ctnel Eoghain (CNeiU of Tyrone);
Historians of the, 219
Cinel Fiachaidh [App. 693
Cimja, son of Ros [App. 466
Cingris; Pharaoh, 447
Cinn-Cait, Cairhr^, 230,262, 264
Cinnathrach (Aengus), 209
Cinnnitin (Aengus), 209
Cinutidinh, 211, 213
Cinn [or Cenn] Eitigh (King's Co.);
St. Finnn Cam of, 340
Ciothach; Flann, 398, 401, 402, 421,
42G
Ctr, 217,— stone-builder of Rome, 222
Cw, 217
Cithrufulh, 200
Civilization of our pagan ancestors, 4
Clachan Mucadha, 101
Claen, ford of the LifffoX, 270, 275
CUnr€; Battle of, [App. 586 n.
Clairine ; Battle of, [App. 621
Clanna-Ntiinheidh, the, 217
Chun (.'hilfmtihiy the, 413
Clann ChonaiU, the, 406
Clann Chuilviiu (in Clare), the, 234
Clann f./iMhaei/chonainf, the, 148
Clann William ; Burkes of, the, 422
Clanchy (Mac Flanchadha), 210
CYar (Calendar?), 599
Chirc, De, 234, 236
Clare, the chieftains and clanns of,
237.— Fenian Tales current in, 299.
—Topography of [App. 630
Clams (Sanctus Magonus) [App. 608
Classical Teacher, the(Fer-iei<//(iiw«),
2 n.. 9 n., 56 [App. 495
Classiflcation of the people in ancient
Erinn ; a fixed legal, 4
Chthruy or Clara, 87
Clear; Cape, 449
Cleitech, the enchanted house of, 808
Cleitech ; palace of Muircheartach
Mac Erc^ on the Boyne, [App. 600
CleUh (see C/i), 9 n.
Clery, Book of Bally-, 22
Clergy tlie, released from military
service, 363
C/i, or Cleith (column, or tree of a
house), 9 n.
C/i, the, 241,243
CHahhyhlas (Aedh); [Aedli, "the
grav-bodied"J, 401
Ctiach ; Eochaidh,chiefof{_A'pp.5S5n,
Cliach, harper of Smirdubh Mac
Smdiij 426
Clutch ; Loch Croita- ; (Lake of C/i-
ach's Harp), 427
Cliath, Lhibhlinn A (ha, 269
Ciiodhna, the Wave (Tonn) of, 306,
807
C/tii Mail [App. 480
Clochar, 826
Cloch na Coi7/<^(Clonakilty), 306
Clochar (Co. Tyrone), 326.— Bishop
Ermedach, of [App. 608
Clochair, Oenach-; (Manister, Co.
Limerick), 305
Cloc Phatraic (Bell of St. Patrick),
336, 337
Clog=cloc, 177
Clogher (C/orAor), 290
Clog na high (Bell of the Kings), 834
Clonakilty (Cloch na Coillt€), 306
Clonard, St. Finnenof, 291, 340
Clones, Monastery of; (The Domh-
nach\ 325
Clonfert (Cluain Ferta Brenainn)
[App. 477.— St. Brendan of, 399;
—Life of, 340
Clongowes Wood College; Crozier
at, 338
Clonmacnoise, 352. — History of the
Foundation of, 58 [App. 617. —
St. Ciaran's bed (imda) at, 27. —
Annals of, 130, — Authorities used
for, 137.— Crozier of, 338.— Z>onn-
chadh 0*Braoin, Abbot of, 419. —
Prayer of Colga Ua Duinechda of,
879. — ^Turgesius' wife, superior of,
400
Clonsost (Cluain Sasta), 352
Clontarf, Battle of; *' foretold", 400
Clofhar (Clogher), 290
Clothrann(lnis'\ 112
Cloyne (Cluain Uamha) "of the
Caves", Q(\
Cluada ; Srath-, [App. 591 n.
Cluain Bronaigh [App. 638
Cluain Caelain, 374
Cluain Eidhneach, 21,26,864
Cluain Ferta (Clonfert), 899
Cluain Fraoich, 110 [App. 589
Cluain 11 i Bhroin, 94
Cluain Mic Ndisy (Clonmacnoise^ ; 8,
21, 69, 138, 185
Cluain^ (ece Cill Chluain^, 840
Cluain Soifla (Clonsost), 852, 853
Cluain lorard (Clonard), 170
Cluain Uamha (Cloyne; literally,
" Cloyne of the Caves"), 66
Clyde ; Strath-, [App. 591 n.
Cnamhchoill (in Tipperary), 886, 403
Cnamh^hoille ; the Coirth^-, (Rock of),
885, 402
Cnoc Ain^, (Knockany), 816, 817,
486 n.
Cnoc an Air, Battle of (the Hill of
Slaughter^ 312
Cnoc na n-Aspal ; Abbot of, 861
Cnoc Grein^, 422
678
INDEX.
Cnoc Lwng€ (" Knocklong'') ; Drom
Datnhghairtf, 198,200, 271
Cnoc Samhnu, Battle of, 312
Cnucka, Battle of; Cufnhali, killed at
the, 302
Coast Guards, Finn% 315
Cobai; Eochaidh, 363 [App. 610
Cobhthach Cad Breagh, 63, 208, 461.
—killed in Dinn Rtgh, 253
Coblai; Druim-, [App. 607
Cochlan {Mac\ 163,— [Pedigree of,
App. 550
Codan Corinch'isnech, physician, 221
Cod/ad=cot/ad, 111
Cotlbad, 363 [App. 610
Coerabar Doethy daughter of Etal
AubuaUj42G
Coemrjh'm's [S. Kevin's], Church at
Gleaun da Locha^ 367, 370
Coga (see Da Choga), 260, [App.
584 n.
" Cogadh Gall re Gaedhealaibh'\ the,
232
CoicU O'Coicl/, 102
Coigedh Shreinq [App. 563
CoUl Eassa, 102
Coillefoghair, (Baik), 166, 170
Coir^ lircacain, 257, [App. 587 n.
Coirth€ Cnanihvhoille, the, 385, 402
Coirth€ Dearg (the Red Pillar Stone),
ofZ>aM»,288
Cokely, (OCoicU), 102
Colamna fearb, 32
Colgan, Father John, 26, 143, [App.
645 ^Defended against Lanigun,
341, 345 On the ancient Lives
of St. Patrick, 348
Colgu; Aedh, the son of, 420
Colgu Ua Duinechda ; Player of, 370
[App. 615
W/a Ma
Colla Mac Mahon of Oriell [App. 557
Colfa Uais, 55, 72, 167— Race of;
Clann Ferhis historians, 219
Co//flw, the Three: Colla Uais, Colla
Meann, and Colla Fochri^ the de-
stroyers of Emania, 72
CoUattf CruinUhir ; from Druim Roil-
gech, [App. 608
CoUDuana ("the Hazel of BuatC%
270
College of St Columba ; the Miosach
at, 336
College, Trinity; MSS. copied for,
370
Colman (see Clann Cholmatn), 413
Co/wan 3/tfr, 414
Colman, St., of Arann Island, 203, 350
Colman, St., of Cruachan AigU, 423
Colman CSeasnan, 53
Colman Uamhach [App. 608
Coloured thatch, 310
Colpa, 447 {Inbhear Colpa)
Cotptha, 200.— Bath Colptha [App.
603
Colton*8 Visitation, Primate; Dr.
Reeves' edition of L-App. 613
Columba, St., (^Colum CuU); forged
"prophecy" of, 432
Columbanus, MS. Commentary oa
the Psahna, by (at MUan), 27
Colum CilU, Samt, 17, 18, 41, 77,
170, 218, 339 et seq., 342, 369, 399,
407;— caUed ColumCildi [App.608;
the son of FeidhUmidh [App. 608,
— first compiled the miracles of St
Patrick [App. 501, 608.— Prayer
of, 329 [App. 598. — " JZ/nj"
of, 77.— Rule of; 374 [App. 612.
— CuUefadh of, 332, 334 [App.
599.— Crozier of, 338.— his Amhrn
218.— Copy of the Psalms by, 321,
327.— Figure of, 323. — his burial
and exhumation, 410.— Judgment
of K. Diarmaid against, 328.—
Lives of, 389 et seq., 342.— OT>on-
nell's Life of, 407 [App. 540.— Pre-
tended " Prophecies" of, 399, 432,
[App. 625 et seq., 634-5,— Co/w"
CuliT, and the Saints of ScotUmd,
369.— pedigree of. 360.— acquainted
with Beg Mac D€, 399.— his Poem
on Eochaidh Mac Eire, and on the
Battle of Magh Tuireadh, 242.-
the Cathach of, 330 [App. 598, 599
Colony, Immigration of a ( Tochomk-
ladh) ; " Historic Tales" of, 294
Coman of Ceann Mara, Saint, 292
Comar, Battle of, 307
Comgally (son of Domangort), 55,—
Saint, 170
Comhad, 212
Comharba (successor), 58, 325
Comhghall; the Rule of St., 374
Commandments, the Ten {Deich m-
Breiihir) ; [a name for the Penta-
teuch,] 9, 31, [App. 495
Commons, Committee a£ the House
of (1849), 345
Comyn, John; grant by John Earl
of Moreton to [App. 604
Conachmil; Battle of, 101
Conachlatm, or " Chain-Ver8e^ 865
ConaUl,Cinei{aee Cinel Chomull),\SS,
219, 827 [App. 599, 600
Connill, Clann; heir loom of the,
183, 327, 219 [App. 699, 600
Conaill, Bmdhe; the, 425 [App. 630
Conaillf Crom; the (ib.)
Conainifs Tower, 244 [App. 690 n.
Conair€ M6r Mac Lderscedil (Mo-
INDEX.
679
narch a.m. 6091), 14, 45, 64, 258,
463, [App. 618.— Date of the reign
of [App. 509,— Cit-yias, Maater of
the Hounds to [App. 686 n.
Conairi O'CUrigh, 148
Conair€, the Rath of [App. 615
Conall Cearmich, 14, 49, 226, 270,
275, 279 [App. 614;— and B^khu
(App. 690 n. — At Ross na Riffh
App. 689 n.— Death of [App. 483,
687 n.— The " Red Route*' of, 319
Conall Dearg Ua Corra, 289
Conali Eachluniih, 209
Comill Guil)dn,2SS, — (Adventures of),
319, 328, 330.— Burial of,(A.D. 404),
398
Conall (" of the Swifl Steeds^, 213
Conall " Sciath-Bhacluiir\ 331
Conall f son of Amhalgaidh^ 330
Conall^ son of Coelmuin^y at Rome;
662-3
Conally son of Niall " Xaoi'ghiallach'\
3G0
Conamhailj son of Gilla-Arri^ 403
Conan Mac Morna^ 317
Conan's House of Ceann Shibhl;
Tale of the Feast gf, 313
Conception ; the Immaculate, 380
Conchobhary oi; St. Ultan, sou of
[App. 608
'onchol '
Conchobhar, 54, 96
Conchohhar O/^nm [App. 648
Conchohhar Mac I\essa ; (J9, etc. [sec
Conor],— the Vision of [App. 592n.
—Tragedy of, 274, 276, 453 [App.
693, 636.— On the place of death of
[App. 593
Conchohhar ua Siuhhdain^y 236
Conchohhar y son of Mae Isechla inn fM6
Cond&ff, 17 [on, 372
Confession and Absolution; Canon
Confey, near Lucan (^CeannfuaU) ;
Battle of, 421
Confessors, assembly of 3000 Father-,
881
Conga (Cong) ; the Cross of, 338—
Aiagh Tuireadh, near, 246
Congal Claen, 50 [App. 686 n.
Conqhal Clariuanrarh (Caithreim) ;
(the Battles of. Tale of), 261.— the
Triumphs of [App. 591 n.
Conghbhail, Ua ; Book of the, 18
[App. 496
Conglinn€, Mac ; the Poet, 853
Conlaedh, artificer of St. Brigid, 388
Conla Huadh^ Tale of the Adventures
of, 318
Conloingtas, ( Cormac), 36, etc.
Conmarhy successor of St. Patrick, 363
Conmaicn^f 101
Conmaicn^MaigheRein; O^Duigenans,
the historians of the, 219
Conn " Ced. Cathach'' ; (« of the Hun-
dred Battles"), the birth of [App.
631. — poems on. 300. — his reign,
453 (and see Bail^ Chuinn, and
BaiU an Scdil) [App. 618, 620.—
" Prophecies'* ascribed to, 'SSo
" Conn's half" (see ''Leatk Chuimr),
400, etc.
Conns, the three ; 407, 607, — the sou
of; [App 479,507
Con^ Loch ; Paten of St. Tighernan
found at, 338
Conn-na viBocht, 138, 182, 184, 185,
[App. 570, 571
Connacht, Annals of, 104, 113
Connacht, Fenians of; Goll Mac
Morna, chief of the, 302
Connellan's edition of the Annals of
the Four Masters, 150, 159
Connery ; the Abb<?, QQ
Connla Mac Kchagan^ 130
Conor ; Castle, 223 — diocese of, 76
Conor Mac Nessa, 69, etc. [and see
Conchobhar] — Adhna, poet of, 383.
— Comiac ConlotngeaSy son of, 260,
276. — tract on the Death of [App.
633.— the History of, 453
Conor O'Beaghan, 82
Conroy, Florence {(yMaelchonair^),
[App. 644
Connti; Axdeadh-, 273
Conry, John, 98
Consecrating touch of the crozier,
the, 413
Consecration of a church; ancient
ritual for, 357, 378
Constantinople; Oilcn^ stone-builder
of, 222
Constantine the Great; Story of
[App. 532
Consul ; Altus, a Roman,277,[App. 642
*' Contention of the Bards", the, 141
Continental expeditions of Ugainif
Mor, 451
Continuation of Tighemngh, by Mac
Gradoigh, 74 [App. 629
Contractions appended to 0*Clery's
Glossary, 178 [App. 660
Copephagen, no firagments of Irish
MSS. found in, 5
Cooke, Mr., of Birr, 887
Coolavin, {Cuil 0 bh-Finn), 146,
[App. 646, 648
*' Copy ; to every book its", 328
Cora/m, 101.— Battle of [App. 686 n.
Corb, the Poet. 209, 888. [App. 620
Core, 210
Core of CaueL [App. 49 1
680
INDEX.
CorCf the 8on of Lughaidhj Tale of.
[App. 469 ;— his city, [ App. 623
Corca Laoij 190
Conx)mroe Abbey, 212, 284, 346
[App. 630.— Founded by Conor
O'Brien, 234
Corcomroe, the 0' Troighthighs of, 346
Cork, woe to the people of, (" Pro-
phecy'' of); 420, 421, 426, 428
CoRMAC Mac Airt ; History of King,
42, 43,— A righteous Judge, 10 n.
— Description of, 44 [App. 510.
— Learning and legislation of, 46-
47. — At JJrom Dnmhghair^ [App.
589 n. —Courtship of - If/ftA^^jDaugh-
tcr of, 283.— Tale of the Adven-
tures of, 318.— /Sa//atr, 9, 41, 402,
4G4, 656
Cormac MacChuiUennain^ 12, 63, 41 7;
— K. of Munstcr (a.d. 885), 238.—
KUled (a.d. 903), 420 [App. 467.
—Killed on a Tuesday, 405.— The
Rule of, 375,— his Glossary, 17, 19.
—on ''TenthraT and " Tuigheiir, 384
Cormac Conhingeas^ 36, etc.
Cormac (see Rath Cfiormnic\ 402
Cormac. Cas^ Death of, 312. — Race of
in Thomond, 208
Cormac MacLaghteghi^ 68
Cormac J successor of Cohm CilU^ 338
Connate^ Mainister ua g-^ 352
Cormaic (and see Un Cormaic\ 70
[App. 526
Cormaic Ua ; Abban, son of, 882
[App. 616
Comutan, 381 [App. 616
Con-Gy Ua ; Tale of the Imramh (Ex-
pedition) of the, 289
" Corrig a Gunnell" (see Carraig 0
. g-ConaUl)y 212
Cosgrach, 211
Costelloe, Mac-, [App. 648
Cothirthiacus (Patricius), [App. 608
Cothraigh€^ another name for St. Pa-
trick; [App. 623
Couches, 310
Courcy, John De ; (a.d. 1260), 236. —
forged ** prophecies" in £&your of,
431
" Courting a living calf" ; [App. 608
Courtships [see Tochmarca^y " Histo-
ric Tales" of; 278
Cow, Book of the Dun, 182
Cow- Spoils [see 7a«a], *' Historic
Tales" of; 277
" Cow, to every, her calf", 328
Craobh-Ogham [App. 470
Craebh-Ruadh, 14
Craftin€y the first harper named in
history, 252
Crann'tahhaill (sling), the, 276
Cratloe, (Creatalach), 812, 401
** Craunagh" (Battle of ), 69
" Creas"; V^dlancey's inYention of
word, 866 •
Crtatalach (CraUoe), 812, 401
Cr^dhiy daughter of Cairbr€, K. d
Keny, 808, etc. [App. 594
Credibility of our earlier history, 67.
— of the ancient genealogiea, 205
Crtdni, the mound of [App. 514
Credo, 412, [App. 627
Crcich^y Mac; Life of Saint [App. 630
Crexdn€y worker in metals to Elii^
Nuada, 247 ^
Cremhfhainn, Ua, territory of^ 825
Criaigh, Druim(CiUlMra), Battle f4;
[App. 487, 508.
Crtmlhann Sciath-bel, 450 [App. 589 n.
Crici/y son of Duhhchruit, builder of
the Rath of Aili/m, 222
CrimaN, 48
Crimhthainn, (Aodh J[/ac-),186, [App.
571
CrinUhainiu, Feildhimidh Mac; K. of
Munster (a.d. 824), 238, 362 [App.
628
Crimthatij 5 n., 54
Crimhthann Mor, 189. — granduDcIe
of King Daihi, 285
Crimhthann Nia Natr in Britain,
[^App. 589 n.
Cnmhhann Sciath-hel [App. 589 n.
CrimhtJiann^s daughter Eithn^ " Ua-
thach'', or "the Hateful" [App.
483, 586 n.
Crinna, 200; Battle of [App. 593 n.
Crithinbely 221
Crobh'Dear^, Cathal, 101 [App. 547
Crochan, King's County {Cruachaui
Bri Eik\ 395
Crtfton; Duald MacFirbis unfortu-
nately slain by a, 122
Crogh Patrick {Cruach Pkatrak\
423, etc.
Cr6in€; Loch-^ 312
Cram ChonnaiU, 425, 428 [App. 680
Crom Cruachy 103;— the site of it, 103,
[App. 538.— '» The Bloody Maggot"
[App. 631-2
Cromlechs, graves vulgariy bo called,
247,316 [App. 597
Cromwell's barbux>ua rule in Erinn,
127
Cronins, the (^CCnSnin); descended
from the Druid Mogh Ruiihy 272
Cronan of Roscrea, Saint, 335
Crone hUf son of Rdnan, (father of
Caeih€\ 307
" Crook-headed staff", (crozier), 897
INDEX.
681
Croom, Co. Limerick, 305
Cro ; Rfith', 416
Cros-Doir^'Chaoin^ 101
Crosses in Museum of R.I. A., etc.,
321, 336.— of Conga, ^38
Crotta Ciiachf Loch ; (Lake of Ctiach's
Harps), 427
Crott, SUabh' (the Mountain of
Harps), 427
Crozier (" crookheaded staff"), 397.
— of St. Patrick (and particularly,
see Bachall Isu\ 603 n. — ^the con-
secrating touch of the, 413
Croziers in Museum of KI.A., etc.,
321, 336
" Crozier shield'' ; Conall of the, 331
Cruack (Croin), 103 [App. 538.—
"The BkKxly Maggot", [App. 63 1-2
Cruacfuiin, 179.— Bok^ rath-builder
of, 222.— Palace of, 2S5, —linitJi-y
33.— King />«///!, buried at, 288.
—Tale of the Cave of, 283— Tale
of Memlhhh and the Cave of [App.
632.— The Cave of [App. 586 n.
587 n.
Cruachain Aigl^ {Crunch Phatraic)^
423 [App. 629
Cruachain ISri Eil^, Battle of, 395
Cruachn^, 88
Cntaighy or Cruaidh, (not Ct-uaich),
the word in O'Locliain's Poem on
Tara; 10 n.
Crucifixion, death of Conor Mac
Nessa on the day of the, 277 [App.
642
Cntimthir CoUait, from Dntim Roil-
gech [App. 608
Cruit, a harp, 427
Cruithneans, the (Picts) ; 460, [App.
586, 592 n.
Cm, Magh- ; ("bloody plam**), 263
Crunn, and liis wife, Mocha; [App.
686 n.
Crunnbadrai, son of Eochaidh Cobai
863 [App. 610
Crystal cups, 310
Crystal ornaments, 323
Cu. — [the son of the three Cws, or
Co;w].— [App. 479, 507
Cuaiign^y 8 n.,— Battle of [App. 621,
(and see Tdin Bo Chuaitgtii)
Cualann, Slight, (The Great Road
of Cualnnn), 259, 453
Cuan O'Lochain, 9, 42, 53. — His Poem
on Tara, 9, 10 [App. 496
Cuan SnanJia Aighnech (Carlingford),
287
Cuana, Book of, 19
Cuanay King of Fermoy [App. 690 n.
Cuanach (O'Briens oQ, 311
Cuar; Z)wn-, 363
Cuchonnachty 103
Cuchorb ; {SUabh Suidh^ Chonchorb)^
[App. 478, 480, — poem on the
Death of [App. 480, 482
Cuchulainn, 14, 69, 274, 275, 278,
279, 280,— death of, by magical
arts [App. 319, 483, 507, 5t*7.—
Adventures of [App. 589 n. — and
Blathnait [App. 690 n at the
sie|:e of Falga [App. 688 n. — the
SeirgUgh€ Chonchulainn, [App.
637-8.
Cuckoo sings for Credhi, 310
Cucoiffrich^ O'Clery, 22 [App. 78, 79
Cucoujrich^ O^Dubhgennain, 145
Cm^Ais, Prince ; (from whom Btlar.h
Co/j^/<iw,=Baltinglas), 283 [App.
686 n.
Cuii^eadh Sreing, the, {Sreng*s Pro-
vince, Connacht), 246
Cuii Bennchair, in Ui FaiJgh^y 365
Cuileanndiny Cormac J/ac, [and 563
Cormac]y King of Munst^r, (a.d.
885), 238
Cuilcfadh, the (of St. Colum CilU\
332, 334 [App. 699.— the, (of St.
Eimhin), 335, [App. 599.— the, (of
St. Patrick), 338
Cuil Drcimn^y 329
Cuikin, Clann- ; in Clare. 234
Cuil GanJuuiy FJann of, 42 1
Cuilinn, Fidh^ 420
CuiU; Mac-yHl
*' Cuilmenn", the, 1, 8, 29, 31, 32.—
great antiquity of, 41 ; [App. 494,
604
Cuil ObhFinn{CQQ\ay\ii)y 145, [App.
646, 648
Cuinnir€y 76
Cui/rech LijV, (the "Curragh of Kil-
dare"), 305
Cuirr na h-EilU^y 178 [App. 561
Cuisiti ; David, son of Hickard, [App.
457
Culamiy Bearnan- ; (the gapped Bell
of St. CWr/w/i), 337
Culdecs {CcikD^)y HI, 185, 353.—
Rule of the, 375
Cullcn, {C Cuikamhain)y Most Rev.
Paul; Archbishop of Dubliu; fa-
mily of [App. 488
Culy the Fvara- ; (of Tenbhtha), 286
Cumairy Ath-; Battle of [App. 691 n.
Cumdachy 326
Cumhaill (see Raith Chumhailf), 403
Cumhally father of Finn, 302, 304
Cunga (see Cong), 82, 93, etc. [App.
686 n.
Cup-bearers, 249, 309
44
682
INDEX.
Curach, the making of a, 292.— Trad-
ing between Erinn and Scotland,
267
Curoi Mac Dair€, 185 [App. 687 n.,
689 n., 690 n., 631 n.— Tale of the
Tragedy of, 273.— his Grave [App.
679.— Stone-builder, Cidomy 222
Curragh of Kildare (^Cuirrech Liff\
305
Curry, {0' Comhraidh^), race of, 210
Curtains of bed, 310
Custom (see Chivahry), 276
Cycle of the Epact (calculation as to
St. John*8 Day), 426, 427
Da Chogn, Tale of the Destruction
of the Bnii(jhean,2G0 [App. 584 n.
Da Dtrga^ Destruction of the Bntu/-
heart, 14, 185, 242, 268 [App. 684,
(and see 618)
Dachr^ca, Dillj son of, 806
''Dael Uladh'\ Dvbhthach, 275
Daqhda, Aengus, son of the, 45
Daahda M&r, the, 249.— the Hall of
the [App. 505
Daidhi, Temple- ; [App. 693
DaiU, Beat atha. Battle of, 407
Dairbr^j or Dairair^, Island; (now
called Valentia Island), 272
Dair^, eS.—Cerba [App. i9l.—Dair^
Dd Bhaeih, the ford of (where
Conor Mac Nessa fell); [App.642—
Dair^ Dornmhar, ** Emperor of the
whole world*", 316
Dairin€y daughter of Tuathal Ttacht-
mar, 230, 303
Dairt, daughter of Eochaidh [App.
686 n.
Ddla, Slight, the, 463
Dalcassians, Pedigrees of the, 209,
213. — the; called the House of
2a/, [App. 479. — Kings of this
race, 213
Dal Cuirb [App. 474
X)a/Fki/acA,171, 226
Dalian Forgaill, 29, 171
Dal m-Buain [App. 474
Dal Monach [App. 474
/>o// (the blind), Guair^ 806
Dalriada, 88;— of the race of, 412,414,
416 — Progress of the, into Scot-
land [App. 698
Damghhair^y Drom (Knocklong), 198,
271, 200 [App. 689 n.
Damh'Inish rDevenish), 330, 340
Danes and the Gaedhil; History of
the Wars of the, 232.— Copy in
volume' among the O'Clery MSS.
in Brussels, 173
Danes, — or ZocAfaniw, 226,226.— ene-
mies of letters in Ennn, 6.— bat-
tle with the; (a-d. 917), 387.-
Gluttcmy of the, 224, [App. 581.-
Commerce of the, 224 [Aro. 58L»
Blathmac killed by, as a Cimstian,
862.— of the Hebrides, 404.— 5^nc,
King of the, of DubI'm, 414.— ia
Munster defeated at Scdckoid (kj^
941), 403
Daniel, 369
Danish Invasion, 5, 416. — ^^ Prophe-
tic" allusions to, 899^ — Fleet oo
the Upper Shannon, (a.d. 840),
400,405
Daraire, Oilean- ; (" Valentia Is-
land"); 272
Dar/j 35
Dathi, King, 125 [App. 592 n.— the
Cathreim, [App. 591 n. — Death
of (a^d. 428), 284.— the Histofj
of, 464. — Tale of the Expedition
of, to the Alps, 284.— Duald Kac-
Firbis descended firom, 125. — an-
cestor of (yRiain and CCvUtam-
hain, (Cullen), [App. 488
Datho ; Mac-, QMesroeda) [App. 486
David, 369
DeacauTf Imiheacht an Ghilla^ 813,
816
DealbaetJiy 209
Dean, Druitn ; house of Finn at, 808
Dearc /♦eriirt,(now Cave of Donmoce)
[App. 587 n., 589 n.
Dearg, (Ath-), 103
DearmaU, DuU ; the Exile of the
sons of, 319, 468
Deasy {Deis€\ 60, 193 [App. 631
693
Debility of the Ultonians, the [App.
686 n.
Decollation of St. John Bi^tist, Fes-
tival of, 425, etc.
Deciee, 193 (see X)et$0
Decision of King Diarmaid as to
St. Colum CilU, 328
Declan, St., of Ardmore ; Life o^ 340
De Clare, 234, 236
De Courcy, John, 285 — Foiged
** prophecies** in fikvour of^ 461
Dectir^ [App. 508
Dedication of Annals of the Four
Masters [App. 548
Dedication of 0*Clery'i Leabknr
Gabhdla [App. 552
Dedication to 0*Clery'B Reim Biogh-
raidh€ [App. 550
D€ Domnand, Indechj Km of ; a Fo-
morian, 249
Deer hunted by the king's guards,
d3S.—Tadhg, son of Ouin, kiUed
by a deer [App. 588 n.
INDEX.
683
Defence of Erinn; PCnn*i arrange-
ments for the, 8 1 5
Beich m'Breithir,9, 31
Uetrdr^^ 9G, 14. — and the eons of
Uimeach, Tale of, 294 [App. 589 n.
Deirbshiur don Eagna an Eigsif^ 177
Dtis^, 50, 193 [App. 582, 593
Deluge foretold, a, 885
Delvin, the {AUbhm€) ; Ford on the,
282
Delvin (Co. Weatmeath) ; Mac Cogh-
lan,Lordo^ 180
Denmark, Congal Claringneach in,
262
Den Mdr; {Art's attendant), 891
Deavir, Right Rev. Dr., Bishop of
Down ; Shrine belonging to, 337
Derbhjhorgaill [App. 483
Dercedan ; Drom-j 882
Derq, Bodhbh; — (the fairy), 426.—
Jiiuim, the daughter of, 308
Derg-dheirc, Loch; origin of the
name, 267
Dennod Mac Murroch, 187, 421
[App. 571
D^TOot (see Diarmaid)
Deny, the Book of, 20
Desgibaly (Disciple), [App. 495
Descriptions (personal) of the Ulster
Chiefs, in an ancient Tale, 88
Desmond, Eail of, 895.— James, Earl
of, 422
Destruction of literature by the
Danes and Anglo-Normans, 5, 6. —
of the Pakcc of Emania by the
Three Co/ias, 72
Devenish {Dunih.IniH), 880, 840
Devil, a vow to the, 290.--Tale of
Tadg O'Briain and the [App. 532
Dialects ; the inventors of the [App.
501
'* Dialogue of the Ancient Men", 807
"Dialogue of the Two Sages";
f * Prophecy" in), 883
Dianceachtj physician, 28, 46, 221.—
the surgeon of King Nuada, 247
Diarmaid, 55 — and Grainn€, 813< —
"Beds of* [App. 697.— at Beam
Edair, (Howth), 288
Difinnaid Mac Ferghusa Cerrbheoil,
the Monarch, 398 ; — judgment of,
828. — his courtship of the BtgJ'o-
lady 283.—/% Mac ZV, Poet of,
899 [App. 517
Diarmaid Mac Murchadha^ 187, 421
[App. 571
Diarmaid; murder of King, (a.D.
11G9), 887
IMarmaidf son of Cucogry O'Clery
[App. 561
Diannaid, son of Mael na m-btf, 421
Diarmaid^ the sons of, 415
Diarmada (the Sliocht), 110. — The
genealogy of the t/a-, 18
Diarmuity son of Ainmirh, 363 [App.
610
Dichedal do chennaihh, 240
Dictionary; want of a Gaedhelic, 457.
— Conmiittee formed to prepare a,
457
Dill, son of Dachreca, 805
Diman, 70 [App. 527
Dimma ; Es-, [App. 489, 490
Dimma'a Book (T.C.D.), 28, 885 ; 652
Dinn Righ, ^b\y^(Tuaim Tenba
[App. 482,— the Destruction of,
252
Dinnsenchasy 9, 63, 49 (n. 28), 188,
193, 449,— the, about Brecdin, 257.
—Finian Poems fh>m the, 802
Dioma's Book (T.C.D.), 28, 885
Directors, Spiritual, 868
Disert Aenavsa, 864
Disert Bethech, 864
Diaert 0*Dea, 286
Discipline; Monastic Rules of, 357,
873
Distribution of Food, 811
Dil/io.'ba, 70 [App. 527.— The three
sons of, 283
Divination by Druidism (Finn Mac
Cw/n^aiV/), 894
Dobharchon {Muinter), 210
Dobru, 222
Doctor; the first, in Erinn, 221
Dodder ; the Bruighean Da Derga on
the, 259, 209
Doel of Neimihenn, the judgments of,
46
Dog, Breacan'Sf 257
Doqhra, the chief Druid of King
bat/ii, 284
Doighr€; Leabhar mdr Duna (com-
monly called Leabhar Brear ;
R.I.A.), 31,190,852, etc.
Doir^, 20
Doir^daBhaeth,27S
Doiri Lurain, 50
Doirin Cranncha, 102
Domangort, 55
Domhnachj the name (to what ap-
plied), 835
Domhnach Airgid, the, 821, 822
[App. 598
DomhnaCi
hnach Chairn€ (qu. Doneycar-
ney?)882
Domhnach Sechnaill (DunJhaughlin),
844, [App. 606
Domhnally 50. — Military School of
the Scottish champion, 279 — Son
44 b
684
INDEX.
of Flannacariy his poem, 222 [App.
577
DomhnallBdn, K. of Scotland (1098),
4U, 417
Domhnall Mdr O'BrieD, last King of
Munstcr, 234
Domhnallj son of Aedh Mac Ainmir/f
883
DomhnairM, Inbher- ; (Malahide Baj),
885, 402
" Domiciliary visits** in Ireland, 355
Domhnainn, Maeil (" Moll Downey")
[App. 486
Domhnann multitudes ; the, [App.486.
—the Fir-, [App. 580
Donaghadce (probahly Oirear Caom\
287
Donaldbane {Domhnall ZJrfn), 414,417
Donegall, Martyrology of, 353
Donlevy, 148
2)o«M,(the ^^Donn Chuailf/n^^*), 35, —
Donn ; the eldest son of Milesius,
21 7, 447, 448,— Lordof Z?rc//ia,414,
— Off Mac Oireachtaigh, 102
Dotmany St., martyrdom of [App.
591 n.
Donnchadh, brother of K. Fiacha,
833.— K. of Leinster, 364
Donnchadh O'BtaoinyTdXQoi, [App.
532
Donnchadhy son of Domhnallj 333
Donnchadhy son of Donn, 414
Donnchuariy 211
Donn Chuailgni, 85
Donndesa [App. 586 n. — the sons
of, foster brothers of the Monarch
Conair^ Mdr, 258
Donochmore, Munca, Bishop of, 349
Donnsleibh^ Ua Gadhra, [App. 546
Donovan (Rev. J.) ; his publication
without acknowledgment of cata-
logue of the St. Isidore MSS., drawn
up by Mr. O'Curry for the late Very
Rbv. Dean Lyons, 157, [App. 646
Donnycarney(qu.Z>o/«/inacA Chairnd),
882
Doorkeepers, 309
Doorposts of green (bronze), 310
Door, (lintel of carved Silver), 310
Dommhar, Dair€-j 315
Dothor, the (Dodder river), 259, 269
Dove, representation of the Holy
Ghost as a, 323
" Downey, Moll*' j {Maeil Domhnainxi)
[App. 485
Downpatrick, Battle of, (a.d. 1260),
235, [App. 547.— Burial there of
St. Colum CilU, St. Patrick, and
St. Brighid, 410.— (Dun dd Leth
glas), 20, 413.— The Book of, 20
Dragain ; Loch Bel, 427
Dragon, the Fiery, 426, 427
Drecairit Tuaim ; St. Bricin of, (aj>.
637), 418
Drtch-Mhagh^ paved by Conn [App.
621
Dremain, Glas Mac^ 315
Dremn^, Cuil, 329
Dresses and accoutrements of an an-
cient chief, 38
Drignend, Drom-, [App. 477
Drimnagh {Drununaitiech), 270
Driseg, the, 241
Dro^heda,(/w6Aer Colpa), 448
Droichit; Bel-an-, (near Sligo),B3ttle
of [App. 548
Drom Aurchaill^, 382
Drom Ceata, the Book of, 21
Dromm Coblat, [App. 607
Droma Deirg, Raith, 308
Droma Snechta^ the Ciw, 13, 41,
206, [App. 464, 497 ; 656
Dromcliff(CMi7Z>reiwn<f, near), 329
Drom Damhghair€, 198, 200, 271
Drom Finn, Saint Flnnen of, 328
Drom Sneachta,(The Cin of), 206, 656.
"Drowning of books**, etc., by the
Danes, 5
Druid, Finnckaemh, the (of Datht),
2S5, — Bacrachy Conor's, 277,—
Z>057Ara,the,-284,
Druidical arts, 284.— Spells, 271.—
Verse, 240
Druidism of Finn (his Thumb of
Knowledge), 396, 394 of the
Tuatha D€ Danann [App. 505
Druids, 249, 309 ; their learning, 4 ;—
as heralds, 287. — Of Conn ; the
three, 388 [App. 620.— of King
Laeghairi'j •* prophecy" of St. Fa-
trick by, 397 [App. 617.— of tiie Mi-
lesians,448. — Mound of th.e{Duuiha
na n-Druadh\ 284. — ^the mound of
the, at Tara, [App. 514
Drttim Cain^ the ancient name of
Tara, 244
Druimcfi, 2 n. 9, [App. 495
Druim Coblai [App. 607
Dndm Criaidh, the Battle of [A^.
508
Druim Dean, house of Finn at, 303
Druim Tibrait, 59
Drummainech (Drimnagh), 270
Dniry, Sir WilUam, 395, 396
Duachy son of Bnan^ K. of Connacht,
14, 15, [App. 498-9
hmchDaltaF
Duach Dalta Z)ea</A^Aa,(Monarch),68
Duach Galachy 15 and note, 206,226,
[App. 497
Diach Ladhrachf [App. 526
INDEX.
685
Duach Tengumha^ 16,andnotei[App.
498
Duaibhsech^ the wife of Muircheartach
Mac Ercdf neglected for Sin the
Beansidhe ; [App. 000
Ditanair^, 12
Dunrcan O' h-Eaghra {Cathalj son
of \ 102
DiM, the ladj ; (from whom " Dub-
Un"), 269
Duhhaltach, 83
DubhaUach Mar Firbhisigh, 9, 120,129
[App 641, 642
Duhhchruit, the Builder, 222
Duhhda Dubhlosachj physician, 221
Dubh da hith^, Book of, 19
Uubhdeadach^ 44
Dubhgenn O'Duigenan, 83
Dubhlacha and Mougan [App. 692 n.
Dubhlinn (Dublin), 88, 403, [App. 590
n. 627.— Origin of the name of, 269
Dubh Mac Turth, (?), 198
Z>M/yAM«c/<, 6, 82, 94, 170
Dubhthach Dael Uladh, 275
Jbubhthach Ua Lugair, or O'Lugair,
349.— Lands granted to [App. 489.
—Poems by [App. 482
Dublin, 88, 269-403, [App. 690 n.,
627. — the orator of (ConawAaiY),
403. — {iJubhl'mn), origin of the
name of, 269
Du Cange, cited, [App. 602 n.
Dufferin, in Wexford, 211
Uufthakr (Norse for Dubthach), 6
Dugdalc's Monasticon referred to
[App. 603 n.
Duggan, (O'Duggans of Fermoy),
descended from Mogh liuitfi^ 272
DuibhVmn [App. 627
Duigenan, 113 [and see Mitintir
Duihhghenainn^ 22 ; and O'Duibh-
gtuaiuii'].
Dnignan, David, 91 [App. 534
Dull iJearmaity the Exile of the Sons
of, 319 [App. 468
iJuil Droina CVa^f , 21
Duinechda ; Cvlgu Ua-, 879-80 [App.
615
Dulane (near Kells, CJounty Meath),
(Tuiien), 336
•' Dumb Book" of James Mac Firbis,
the, 125
Dumha na n-Druadh (the Druid's
Mound), 284
Dumha Si'lga (hunting mound), 391
Dun Auhirn€(s>u the llill of llowth),
269
Duncan, 211
Dun Cearmna, (Old Head of Eiosale),
427, 429
Dun Guar, 363
Dun dd LeathghlaSf (Downpatrick),
13, 20, 413, [App. 627
Dun Leth-glassi [App. 606
Z>wnnan-Ga//, 62,148
Dun na n-Gedh, 191
/>»/;i, the, of Credhi, 809 [App. 697
Dunbolg [App. 688 n.
Dunchadh (Donnchadh\ son of Donn^
414
Dundealgan (Dundalk), 287
Dun Do\ghr€, 31, 180, 190, 862
Dundrum Bay, (CJo, Down), {Lock
RudhraidU\ i29.—Congal Ciar-
ingneach lands at, 262
Duiiflinn, Co. SHgo ; murder of Du-
ald Mac Firbis at, 122
Dungeimhmy(DvLng\yen, Co.Derry ),20
DunghuSf Bishop of Dublin, 404
Dunlang, 44
Dunlaing, son of Enna [App. 466
Dunmore, Cave of {Dearc Fema;
County Kilkenny), [App. 687 n.,
689 n.
Dunraven, Earl of, 210
Dun Riga, 63
Dunshaughlin {Domhnach SecJinaill),
344 [App. 606
Dun 7n-ii'a(/ (Duntrileague),812
Duntrileagne, Co. Limerick {Dun Tri
Liag), 312
Durlas (Thurles), 421
Durlus, in Connacht (Palace of K.
6'Mair^at), 80
Durrow, the Book of (T.C.D.), 23.—
The Crozier of, 338
Durrthacht, 46
Durthacht ; Eoqhan Mac, 275
Durthacht; S/aimf Mac, finding of
the brooch of, 268
E written for A, 180
Eaba, the female physician of Ceasair,
221
Eachtgha, 125. — Clann Firbis histo-
rians, 219
Eaghra{Ui), 147 [App. 646
Edlta {see Magh n-Ealta), 407
Eamhain Mhacha, (Emania), 96
Earc, 65
Eas Mac n-Eirc, 81, 111
EasRua'uih (near Ballyshannon), 71,
284, 400 [App. 628
Eassa {Coili-), 102
East end of a church, the altar at
the, 397
Eatharlagh (Athcrlow, O'Briens of),
211
Eber (or Eibir), Finn, 147, 167,— and
Eremon, the genealogical lines of,
194,207,447-8
686
INDEX.
Eccleaiastical MSS., unaXjma of the,
839,857
Ecclesiastical Histoiyymaterials of,355
Echach (senitiTe caae of the name
Eochatdh; as App. 610)
Echach ; Loch n- (Loch Neagh) [App.
691 n.
Echaidh Salbutdhe, father of Nessa,
262 [App. 636-7
Echbhedil, Eachaidh, 383
EchUgeniy 211
Echtgh€; Sliabh', 812
EcHTRAi, of the; (** Adyentures**) ;
[" Historic Tales", No. 10], 288
Eclipse of the sun on the day of the
Crucifixion, 277
Elegy of 8t Colum CUlk, [see^aiAra],
406, etc.
Ekran (see AiUran}, 860, 878, etc^
Edail (Italy), [App. 604
"" i; Tale of • '^
. 585 n
Edain ; Tile of ~ the Courtship of,
[App. i '
EdatTy Uath Bemn€; (Tale of the
Cave of Btann Edair), 2^
Edair, Beitm-; (HiU of Howth), 269
269.— Poem by Finn at, 894, 895
Edinburgh, Advocates' Library, 26
Edlenn, son of TighenvnaSf (Lug^ son
of), [App. 621
Education, and duties of an OUamh^
239.— Education for thePriesthood,
Canon on, 872
Ep In the Hebrides [App. 591 n.
Eglais beg^ (Clonmacnoise), 59
Egypt, 222, 447
Eibir Mac MUeadh, [and see Ebtr\
147, 157, etc.
Etbhinj [see Emhm\ 132
Eidersgel, father of Condire Mdr^ [and
see EterageQ 258, — Skilled, [App.
608
Eidhneach ; Cluain-, 864
EUe, Cruachain Bri; Battle of, 896
EiU€, Cur na A-, 178 [App. 562
Eiiti; Alt nah', 102
Eimhin, St.; Life of St. Patrick by,
347, 848, 851. — the CuU^adhoi,
385, 361 [App. 599.— 3fatats<«r-,
(Monasterevan), 132
Eimhir^j Tochmarci (Tale of the
Courtship of Eimer)^ [see Emer\
278
Eire; [see Ere; and Eos Mac n-JEirc],
111
Eir^ 6g inis na naomh, 163
Eiri, Queen, 448
Eim^, Loch [App. 692 n.
Eithlenny daughter of Balor, 250
E{thn€ " UathacK\ ("the HatefuT*)
[App. 483. 586 n.
Euigh (see Cinn EiHgK), 340
Elatha^ King of the Fomorians, fa-
ther of Breofy 249
[.^ip. 608, 614
Ugga (Erinn) [A _
EU, Battle of [App.~62I
Efgga (Erinn) [App. 484
Blias,869
EUtnMac Canrach^ 54,230, 264
Elizabethan and other modfim set-
tlers in Erinn, 422
Elizabeth, confederacy against
Queen, 422
Elizabeth's reign, Wan c£, 396
Elopements (AiUtidke); Historic Taks
of, 294
Elphln, (^t//&in), 176
Eltan, 804
Ely, O'CarroU of; 209, 219
Emania, 63, 64, 67, 70w— ^arndbK",
rath-builder of, 222. — ^Foundation
of, Historic Era of the, 67, 68, 70
[App. 618, 626. — FoundatioD of
the Palace of, description of; 283.
Battle of, •« faretold^ 418. — De-
struction of ChJD. 83li 72
Embroide^ (the lady Eimery, 279
Enter, the Lady: 279, [App. 616, 585ii.
Emer Mac Ir, [and see jSfter], 207
Emhain Macho, [and see Emania],
70.— Foundation of |^App. 526
Emhin, St. [see Evnhm], 347, etc.
Emin€, grandson of Ninut^ 8, 30
Emly (Imliucfi), 874 [App. 630
Emir [App. 688.— TWAmorc Emire
[App. 637-8
Emruisy Tuath- ; [App. 621
English defeated in several battles,
895.— settlers; Tales, etc., before
the time of, 299— Use of forged
^'prophedes" by the, 431
Enchanted Goblets; Aedh Oirdmdkk
and the, [App. 532
Enchanted house of Cleiteck, the, 808
Engach (the Valiant) ; Aedh, 419
Enna Cdnnsealach ) 6, — Eochaidhy
son of, 454
Enna Nia, 44
EnmskiUen, {Ima CethlumnX 169,
[App. 563
Enoch^ 369
Eochatdh Ahkradh'THoidk^ 312
Eochaidh Aireamh^ murder of, (a.m.
6084) [App. 691 n.
Eochaidh Aircamh^ Monarch (b.c
100), 286, 286.— Killed, [App. 508.
— and Etcany [App. 686 n.
Eochaidh Aincheann, or Ard-Cheanny
King of Leinster, — and the daugh-
ters of Tuathal Ttachtmar, 230,
303. [App. 586 n.
INDEX.
687
Eothaidh Biy Deirg^ Bruiyhtan^ 313
Eochaidh Buadhach, 67 [App. 62G
Kochaidh Cobai, 363 [App. CIO
Eochaidh Domhlen, 72
Eochaidh Echbh€od^ school of^ in
Scotland, 383
£^orAaiV/A/'Vi<f/6c^^contemporarywith
Julius Caesar), King; 33, 54, 224
[App. 523. — Father of Queen
Medhbh [App. 637.— Slaughter of
his sous hy [App. 591 n.
Eochaidh Garbh [App. 513
Eochaidh Gunnat, 44
Eochaidh Mac UairS, 68
Eochaidh Mac Eire ; Colum Cilie^s
Poem on, 242. — when king, 244.
—TailU, the Spanish wife of, 287
Eochaidh Mac Luchta, King of Mid
Erinn, 46, 267
Eochaidh Mac Maireda, K. of Fer-
moy, 294
Eochaidh Muighmhedhoin^ 14,208,386,
389.— Story of the Sons of, [App.
531, 593. — the descendants of,
[App. 498
Eochaidh O'Flannayain, 20, 138
Eochaidh 0 Flinriy [and see O'Fioinn,']
53 [App. 521.— his Chronological
Poem, 69
Eo< haidh Salbhuidhe, 202 [App.636-7
Eochaidh, son of Enna Ceinimtalachy
454
Eochaidh, the first name of Ollamh
Fodhf a, 21S
Eochaidh, the Lake of, (Loch n-
Echach, or Neagh), 294
E'fchaidh Tirmcharna, K. of Con-
nacht, 329
Eochain, CiU; Battle of, 395
Eoyarnirhty (of Loch Lffin), 76, 77
Eoyhan Bel, King of Connacht ; St.
i.'eallach^ son of, 340
Eoqhaiii, Cinel; (see Cifiei Eoyhaini),
219
Eot/han, from whom Tir Eoyhain,
( Tyrouc), [App. 587 n., 590 n.
Eoyhan Mac Durthacht, 275
Eoyhan Mor, 44, 208 Son of OUtoU
Oluim, 351. — race of in South
Munster, 208 O'Duinins histo-
rians of tlic race of, 219
Eoyhan O' Conor, 184 [App. 570
Eoyhan liuadh Mac an lihaird,
(Ward;, 330
Eoyhan, son of Ailill Flann Beg, 351
Eoyhan^ son of Murchadh, ancestor of
St. Einthi'n, 351
Eoyhan Srem, 15
Eoyhain, Tir, 329 [App. 587 n., 590 n.
'' £!oteream civitatem** [App. 501
Eo-mutn, 71 [App. 528
Edin Btc^ai/^fApp. 478
Edir (the river Kore, n-Eoir), 864
EoihaiU, Traigh ; (near Ballysadare),
246
" Eothena", 15 [App. 501
Epact for 1096 ; (as to St. John's Day,
that year), 425, 427
Episcopacy, duties of the, 372
Equerries, 309
Era of foundation of Emania, why
preferred or selected by Tighemacn,
68 [App. 518, 526
Erail, .i. itge, (request) [App. 633
Ere (see Eochaidh Mac Eire), 88, 242
[see also Eire, and Ecu mac n- Eire"]
Ere (the lady), 39 [;App. 506, 4»I5
Ere, son of Cairpn, or Cairbr€, 49,
[App. 483, 507,— Mound of, [App.
513
Erea, 171
Eremon, 447,— the grave of, 449, —
and £ber,the genealogical lines of,
207
Erenach, an {Airchinntch), 290, 844,
408
Eric, 49
Erinn ; " Banba'* (q. v.), 656.— desti-
nies of (StBerchan's "Prophecies") »
417.— Sovereignty of [App. 621.—
Noble Saints of, 369. — Learning in
ancient, 3
" Erlonde ; the great relicke oP [App.
604
Ermedach of Clochar, Bishop [App.
608
Erne; Loch, 418,— Cae/ww^^ on, 236.
— Deyenish in, 330, 340.— Ldand of
Senait {Mae Maghnusa^ in, 84
£mc, the river ; Eas Ruaidh on, 284
Ernin, son of Duach ; writer of the
Cin Droma Snechta, 14
Escra, or can, of ale [App. 621
Esmonde, Sir T.; note concerning
the estate of [App. 490
Espousals, or courtslilps (TWAmarca);
llistoric Tales of, 278
Espuc, Tulach na n-; (near Cabin-
teely), 3»2
Essa [App. 515 ;—Caihair', 486
Etain, Tale of the Courtsliip of, 319,
[App. 585 n.
Etair, Beinn ; (or Edair), 283
Etal Anbuail, Coeraber 6oeM, daugh-
ter of, 426
Etan, the Poetess, mother of Cairbr€
the Satirist, 248
EOiain, the poet, 388 [App. 620
Etheor, 104
Ediur,(*x Mac Cuili), 447
688
INDEX.
KterttceU 268,— killed [App. 508
Etymologies of namee, part of the
lore of an OUamh, 240
Eucharist, the Holy ; ancient Expo-
sition of Doctrine of, 867, 376
Eugene, son of Sdran^ 874
Engenians (the), 218, — and Dalcas-
sians, altemative rights of, 2 18
Eusebius referred to by Aengus, 868
" Euaebian Numbers", the, 660
Eustace ; Captain, 896
Evangelistorium, the, of Saint MoUny^
(T.C.D.), 23
Eve, November, a pagan festival,
284, 280
Exile on the sea of the Men of Ross ;
of the, 338
Expeditions by Sea; of the, (/m-
ramha ; Historic Tales, No. 12), 288
Expeditions, Military {Sluaujheadha;
Historic Tales, No 1 i), 284
Exjx^dition to Italy of Ugalne Mar,i5 1
Eyebrows, colouring of the, 309
Fiuhtna Finny chid poet of Ulster,
Ca.m. 4024), 261
Fachtna, 35, 46, 96— Father of Con-
chohhar Mac Nessa^ 274 [App.
636-7
Fmdheachy Finn, the; (*' sweet sound-
ing" bell), 337
Fail, Ath Finn; [App. 480
Fail, Inis, (the Island of Fdl), 167,
388 [App. 620
Failyhe, Ui, (Ofifaly), 302, 365, 395
Faitsin^j Btrchanna; 412
Faind [App. 615
Fair of Tailltin. the, 287.--of the
X(/^(Liffey),305
Fairies, and Fairy Mythology [App.
504.— Tale of Mac Cois^f, the Poet,
and the Fairy Woman [App. 632
Faithlennj Inis-, (Inisfallen), 75
Fal, "the stone of Destiny", 388
[App. 62a— rematV of [App. 479,
620
Falga, the Isle of Man [App. 688 n.
Falman, the Druid, 217
Fanaity the Broom out of, 420,421,
423, 426, 428 [App. 632, 634
Farney, 69, 72
Faro [see Pharaoh], 369
Farsnidh {Fenius), 15, 127, 163,217,
226 [App. 601
Fiis, USy--(Glenn Faisi), 448
Fast, general (in 1096), 404.— three
days ; (vow to the Devil of), 290,
Fafhach, 217
Fathan Mura (a.d. 800), 419
Fawn, a little (meaning of '* OwiV'),304
Fcf Cormac on the word ; [App. 468
Feabkaill, Loch : (Foyle), [App. 4
Feabhally Tale of the AdyeDtures
JSruin, son of, 318
Feabhrat, Ceann; Battle of, 895.4
Feadha (" woods"), letters ancient
called, [App. A7Q,—GUann, (tl
Woody Glen, in Scotland), 287
Fearadhachj 64
Feara Cul Breagh [Bregia], (or,
Teabhtha), 286
Fearfeasa 0*MaeIchonair/f 145
Fearmuight {Air an da% [and s
Fermoyl 198
Fearna Mhor (Ferns, Co. Wexford
St. Maodhdg of, 340
Fearnmhaioh, (Farney), 72
Feasa, of the ; (Historic Tales
Banquets), 294
Feast of TailUin, (TeUtown, C
Meath), 287.— Feast of the Li
(Liffey), 306
Feathers ; gown of a poet omament<
with, 883
Fedhlim, Mac Cathail Crobhdev
{Ua Conchobhair), 101
Feenagh, Book of (as to Leiha) [Ap
503
Feidelm Nochrothaxgh, or Nuachn
ihach (" the ever-blooming''), Z
49 [App. 512, 614
Feidlimidh, fether of St. Colum Oil
360
Feidlimidh Mac Crimhthavm, K. <
Munster (a j). 824), 238, 362 [Ap]
623
/Vt7<<, the ; (the river Feale), 306
Fein€; Tulach na-, 308
Feinioh, storytellers, 220
Feis (Assembly) of Tara ; the first, b
Ollamh Fodhla, 218
Feis Tighe Chondin Chinn tSleM>
Tale of the, 813
Felisdine (qu. Palestine?), 222
Felir^ Aengusa, the; 17, 26, 174, 36!
Notes on, 349, 351 [App. 601, 61
et seq. ; 660.
Felmac ; Feil^; etc. 667.
Femhen^ the fairy palace of, 426
Fentchas, 49, 121.— The Book of, (
Fddhla, 220
Fcn€ men, 10
Fenian Poems, etc.. Of the ; 299, 80
Fenian (Prose) Tales, of the, 313
Fenians of Connacht; Goll Ma
Morna, chief of the, 302
Fenius Farsaidh, 16, 127, 163-4, 211
226 [App. 601
Fera Bouis, the [App. 641
Feradach. 44 ; 2G4 [sec Errata] ;— H
of Scotland [App. 469
INDEX.
689
Feramorz, 278
Fcrb^ daughter of Gerg [App. 585 n.,
r)92 n.
FerceirtM, 45, 218. — Poet and philo-
sopher, 262 [App. 658
Fercorh, 209
Fer Leifjhinn, (a Classical Teacher),
2 n, 9 n., 61 n., 6G [App. 496
Fer-morca (in West Munster) ; Sco-
nVxM, Kingofthe, 253
Fera lioLsj Fiacha^ King of the, 883
Fer-sidhe ; of the, [App. 604
Ferdiadh, 39
Feredach Finn, King of Scotland,
287
Ferqhal mac Maoiliduin (contempo-
rary with Leo. 111.), 64, 389, 420
Fenjna, 38, [App. 606 the physi-
siclan, 221
FenjHs Fairt/^f K. of South Leinster,
263 [App. 465, 474
Fenjits Finnbheoil (Fergus " the Elo-
quent", son of Finn Mac Cumhailt),
Poems ascribed to; 299, 301, et
scq. [App. 593
Feryhus Fogha, 69, 72, 73
Ff.ryus Mac Leid^, K. of North Ul-
ster (a.m. 4024), 261
Fergus Mac Roigh, 30, 36 [App. 483.
— married toNessa, 274, [App.
636-7.— and FUdais [App. 685 n.
—Exile of, from Ulster [App. 693
Ferga/Mac UiUiam, 32 [App. 504
Fergus Mor, son of AVc, 65
Ferffus^ son of Conn It, grandfather of
«t. Colum CilUj 360
Ferli; the King of, 222 [App. 677
Fermenting ale, vessels of, 309
Fermoy ; Book of, 26 and 26 n. 294, —
iTale of Fraech Mac Fidhaiuh)
App. 503. — Eochaidh Mac Mai-
r^da, King of, 294. -Families de-
scended from Mogh Ruith in, 272
Ferns (Co. Wexford); (see Fearna
Mhor\ 23, 340
Fert Scotn, 448
Fessa, {Feasa), the, 294
Festivals, pagan; BeUtain^, 286;
Samhain, 284, 286
Festologies, 339, 357, 360, etc.
Festology of Cathal Macguire, 26
Fethur (or Mac Grein^)y 447
Fiaral Phadraig, the; (Tooth of St.
Patrick), 338
Fiticc, of Slettv, 4, 342.— ^ccAna//,
and St. Patrick, 344, [App. 606.—
his Poem on St. Patrick, 6, 343,849
[App. 606 Gloss on his Hymn
(as to Letha), [App. 503.— as to
the desertion of Tara, 343 [App.
605-6.— his Bore 1^, 344, [App.
607
Fiacha, 54, 209
Fiacha Finnolaidh, Monarch, 230. —
Murder of, 263 [and see Errata,
as to his name at p. 264, where
it should be that of his son FerO'
dach.']
Fiacha Foltleathan, King of Ulster,
316
Fiacha, King of the Fera Rois^ 333
Fiacha Muilleathanj 44, 208, 306
Race of, in Munster, 208.— Ances-
tor of St. ^imMn, 851
Fiacha Sraibhten€, 72, 886
Fiacha Suidhe, 60 (n. 29)
Fiachaidh, Cinel, 163, [App. 693
Fiachna, son of Baedan [App. 692, n.
— mac Reataichf Story of, 198
Fiachra, 189
Fiachra Eahach, 126
Fiachra, father of King Dathi, 284.—
Grenealogy of [App. 499
Fiachrach (ibh); Clann Firbis, his-
torians, 219
Fiachrach, Tir, 120, 125, 418
Fianna Eireann, the, 300, 316
Fiatach,H.— Dal-, 171,226
Fidhaigh, Fraech Mac (Tale ot),
[App. 503
Fidh Cuilinn, 420
Fidhgha [App. 689 n.
Fidhnacha (Co. Leitrim) : St. Cail-
Un of, 34a—" Prophecies'' of, 898
Fidru, son of Diarmuit, 863 [App.610
Fiech (see Fiacc), 5, 342, etc
*• Field, the, of the Pillar Stone" ;
(Gort an Chairth^; in Scotland),
288
Fiery Plague on festival of St. John
Baptist, the, 386, 402, 404, 423
Figma, 217.
/W, or poet, 2, 8, 16, 29, 46, 70 [App.
461, 464.— Degree of, 240, 243
Fijedecht, 2, 18, 29 [App. 461, 464
Finan, St. of ^ rd-Finain ; Life of, 340
Finan Cam, Saint; of Cinn Eitigh
(King's Co.) ; Life of, 340
Finan Lobhar, 76
Finbarr, ('M/ac Ilui Barden€"), 91,—
(of Termonbarry), 338,— (of Cork),
340
Finch€; Cill-, (the church of Finch^),
302
Finchadh Mac Baicheda, 68
Findruin€; the " white metal", [App.
493.— a rooftreo of, [App. 621
" Fingal" of MacPhcrson, the, 300
Fingin Fisiocdha, 221 — Physician of
Conor Mac Nessa [App. 641
690
IKDEX.
Finffuuvi; Cathal Mac ; King of Mon-
ster (A.D. 720) ; 194, 238, 863
Finnabhatrf (" the Fair-browed"), 36,
585 n.
KmnahhairoiMagh InisJO, [App.627
Finnachta the Festive (▲.D. 680), 281
/Villi (Aedh\ 102
Finn FaidheacK, the (^* sweet-toond-
ing'' beU), 837, TApp. 631 n.
Finn Mac CumhaQl, 66, 194,200,283,
299, et seq.— a historical person-
age, 803, 304.— hia courtship of
AUbh^, 283, [App. 586 n.— in the
Cave of Dunmore, [App. 689 n. —
Poems ascribed to, 301 et seq., 395,
[App. 694, 624.— "Prophecies" as-
cribed to, 392, [App. 422, 624.—
the mound of [App. 514. — hii
" Thumb of Knowledge", 395, 396
Finn Tulach, 308
Finnbharr, St, of Cork, 91.— Life of,
340 of Termonbarry ; Crosier of,
338
Finnbarr's, the Abbot of Saint (Tale
of), 353
Finnbheannach, (the groat Connmcht
Bull), 34, 39,— the noble land of
the [App. 664
Finnchaemh, the Druid of Dathi, 286
Finnchuy 197. — St., of Bri Gobhann,
422.— Life of, 340
Finncona^ 38
Finnen, of Clonard ; Saint, 170, 291 .—
—Life of, 340, 342.— of Drom Finn,
328
Fiiinfaii: Ntiada, (a.m. 4238), 83.
Finnliath {Aedh), 183
Finnbhedil {Fergus), 299,300 [App. 698
Finntan (sixth century), 11, 171. —
Poem by, quoted as authority, 241,
—(father of Ci>nbaoth\ 68
Finntragha ; Catk-j (Battle of Ventry
Harbour), 308, 313, 316 [App. 697
Fintan, 11,67,171,241 [460
Fiodhay Tuatha, the, (Forest Tribes),
Fiodhnacha, S. CaUim of, 31
Fiontain Mac Bochra, 171
Fior comhlainn, the, 37
Firbhisitjhy {Dubhaltach Mac\ 120
[App. 641. — the Clann, (historians
of Lower Connacht), 219
Firbolgs, 226.— Colony (a.m. 8266),
244. — the first physicians of the,
221.— referred to by Finntan, 241
Fire heart [App. 668
Firdiadh ; Ath-, (Ardee), 39.
Fir Domhnann, 223
Fires of TaiUtin, the, 287
Fis (Visions); (« Historic Tales" oO,
296
Fisher, Sir Edward [App. 490
Fisherman, the fint in Erinn, 221
Fishing by the Fenians, 315
Fithir, Daughter of Tuaikal TtackL-
mar, 230, 803
Fltzg^uld, John, Earl of Detmood,
422.— Maurice Dubh, 423
ilve proTincea, the, of Erinn, 896
Flag of Battles, the (^Brat Bagkach\
401
Flag, Patrick coming to Erinn on a,
893
Flagstone, Finn slipping on a, 893
Flainn, Aengus Ua, 399
FUiiih, 8, 202
Flaiihbhtartach G'flannctqain [App.
547
Flannacan; Donnell, son of, 222,
[App. 677
Fiann Bea, AilUl, 361
Fiann, BlathmaCf son of; Monarch,
362
Flann Cethach, 398, 401, 402, 421, 428
Flann of CuU Gamhna, 421
Flann Mac Aedhagain^ 161
Flann Maitustrechf or Flann of Mo-
nasterboice; 5S et seq.; — not an
ecclesiastic, 56, — Synchronisms o(^
54 [App. 609. — Entries of the
death of [App. 516. ~ Compared
with Bede, Gildas, and Nennius, 57.
— quotes from poems of earlier date,
242.— Verse identifying, with the
Synchronisms, [App. 623 Foem
on the kings, etc, 242. — Befers to
the BaiUan ScdU, 889, 390 [App.
621
Flann Mac Lonan^ 58; poem bj
[App. 467
Flat '"
Flimn Sionna, 132
FUasc FU€, the ; (Wand of the Poet) ;
[App. 464
FUdh Bricrinn, Tale of the, 346 [App.
637-8
Fleming's OollecU Sacra, 879
Fleming (Thomas), Archbishop of
Dublin, 151
Flidais [App. 586 n.— TiImi Bo, 185
[App. 531
Flynn {ste Ui Ffdoinn) [App. 648
Florence Mac Carthy, 198
Foal, the Island of (frtun which the
Fal was brought to Tara) [App. 620
Fochlog, the, 241
Fochril Colla, 72
ForfA/a=Erinn, 220
Fogarfach, King of Fotla (Erinn)
[App. 516
Foglaintibh [App. 495
INDEX.
691
Foirceadhtidhi [App. 496
Foircetal (knowledge) [App. 461
Foltleathan ; Fiachuy King of Ulster,
31G
Fomorians, 225, 226.— in the Qerman
Ocean, 249.— £fo/or *<of the stiff
blows*', one of the, 247.— Tribute
of women to the, 280
Footrace, by Caill^ [App. 687 n.
Forbaixf a siege by regular invest -
ment, 264
FoRBJLSA (Sieges), Tales o£— ("His-
toric Tales^ No. 6), 264
Forbes, (Mac Firbis), 192
Forhuis hroma Damhghoire^ 198, 271
Forchairthinn (near Kathcoole) [and
see as to the "Bowing Wheel*^,
403
Fords, combats generally at, 281
Fordntim [App. 489, 490
Foreign £ccle8iastics in ancient
Erinn, 381
Forest Tribes (Tuatha / wctta), the,
450
Foryall Monavhy father of the lady
^/;ncr, 278, 279
Forgery of " Prophecy", by O'Neach-
Miw (1716), 418
Forgery of »* Prophecies" of St. Co-
him Ci7/f^, 407, etc.
Fonts Fi>cuxl\ the Glossary called
the, 177
Forraid/i, 189, [App. 588 n.
Forth, in Wexford (Fothorta), 460
Fosxud, (Battle of) [App. 481
Fothudh Cananriy and the wife of
Aiieif; of [App. 690 n.
Fotkadk na Candine^ 368, 419. — the
Canon of [App. 610
Fotharta (Forth, in Wexford), 450
Foundation of Emania; of the His-
torical Era of the, 70
Four Masters, Annals of the, 140,
165 [App. 648 et seq.— ** Martyro-
logy of Donegal", 363
Foyle, Loch {Sruibh Brain), 429
Fraech [App. 686 n. — Mac Fidhaigh,
Talc of [App. 608
France, assistance to Erinn from,418.
— Labraidh Maen flies to the King
of, 266
Fratricidal King, the, 887
Fraoich {Cluain), 110 [App. 689
Freamhmnn (now Frewin in West-
meath), 286
French, the; in Scottish army (6th
century), 288.—" Responsive" (ro-
vengcful), "covetous", 224 [App.
681 — Eifpedition to Erinn with
Lnbhraidh yfntn^ 266
Frewin, Hill of, in Westmeath
{Freamhainn\ 286
Friday, a journey on, 300.— Plague
on festival of St. John on a, 402,404
Fuaid, Sliabh; [App. 476, 642
Fuidhir, 664
Fuinedh [App. 492
Fursa^ Saint, 427.— The Vision of
[App. 692 n.
Oabhaioy Ltabhar-^ (O'Clerys), 168
[App. 652
Gabhlan^ son of Ua Gairbh^ stone-
builder oi Aileach^ 222
Gabhra; CUI, 17.— Battle of, (aj).
284), 72. — Oscar, son of Oisin,
killed there; 304, 807, 386,—
(Magh i70, 146 [App. 646,— £/•
Chonatil-y (Co. Limerick), 316
Gabhrdin, Aedan Mac, K. of Scot-
land (a.d. 670), 414, 417
Gabratij son of Domangort, 65
Gabuaidech, Atngus, 48
GaedJiely son of Ethiur [App. 601
Gaedhil, 3, 13, 164.— Beauty and
amorousness of the, 224 [App. 681
Gaedhil, Gaedhilicj etc., 8, 29, 188,
etc
Gaetdelg, 8
GaileriQ, 147
GaUeotriy the, or Gailiuns, 223 [App.
580
Gai//^(Qaltee) Mountains, 141 [App.
485
Gairbh, Ua-, 222
Gairech, the Hill of, 39
Galach, 16
Galarnh (Milesius), the eight sons of,
447
" Galar breach the, 84
Gall, St (in Switzerland), MSS. at,
27, 379
Gall, the son of FiachaFoUleathanfiXQ
GalUearla, 412 [App. 627
Gal way, prophecy of sufferings of, 418
6'<ii/iAna,ZocA-; (Longford), 109, 113,
418
Gara, Loch'; (Loch Techet) [App.647
Garad, Magh, 17, — Diserty 17, —
CiVV, 18
Gnrbh (Ntall), 188 [App. 670
Geait, Glean na n-, 316
Geantraighe, the (laughing music),
265
Gearr (Leabhar), 188
Gedh (pun na n-), 191
Geimhm, 147
GeisUl (Cteshill), Battle of, 896, 449
Gelasius (Gilla Mac LUig), 361
Gem, crystal, sot between bedposts,
311
692
INDEX.
Genealogical Tables {Xiall naoi ghi-
a//rtcA) [App. 499
Genealogies and Pedigrees, the Books
of, 203.— Mac Firbis* great Book
of, 121, 216 [App. 672.-- Official
records kept of all, 204
Genealogies of the Irish Saints, 867,
368
Genealogy, a, distinguished from a
Pedigree, 2 14 - -Example of, in that
of the O'Briens, 208
Georgius and the Innoceilts at Beth-
lehem, 369
Geraldines, the, G
Gertj^ of Glenng€irg [App. 685 n.,
6*92 n.
German, St.; in Lttha [App. 603,
601
Germany, shrine discovered by Mr.
Grace in, 336.— MSS. in (described
by Zeuss), 27
Gesliill (GeisUr), Battle of, 395
Oheuti, Magh dd; (Plain of the Two
Swans), 302
Ghobhan^ Aengus Mac an (see Mac an
Ghobhan), 163,219 f App. 610
Ghuahnn, Tuaim dd; (Tuam) 290
Gilba (Gilboa\ Mount, 369
Gilla an Chomdedh Ua Cormaicy
Poem by, 70 [App. 626
(7t//a.^m,403
Gilla Caemhghxn^ 414.— Chronolo-
gical Poem by, 66
Gilla ha Mdr Mac Firbhisighy 82, 121
Gilla Mac Liag (Gelasius), 361
Gilla na Naomh O'lluidhrin (O'Hee-
rin),83 [App. 581
Gilla na Naemh O'Taidhg, 102
Gillaruadh QGadhra [App. 647
GillausaxlU^ son of Gillacaemhghinf
414
Gildas* (a Saxon Saint) ; his *• Lori-
ca", 363
Ginach; FUinn-, 898, 401, 402, 421,
426
Giolla, [see Gilla^
Giolla-Patrick, 84.— O'ZmiVh'w, 169.—
— DonnellMac, 421
Giraldus Cambrensis, 431, 432 [App.
6.02, 003, 634
Glas Charraig (the Skellig Rocks),
816
Glaiss^ Cricks [App. 481-2
Glais in Ascaill [App. 489, 490
Glas Mac Dremain, 315
Glnnn^ son of Carbad [App. 614
Gkann an Chatha (Battle Glen), in
Scotland, 288
Gkann dd Locha (Glendaloch), 21.—
St. Caemhghin (Kevin) of, 340
Gltann Falsi (Valley of F<u\ 448
GUann Feadha (the Woody Glen), in
Scotland, 287
GUann-na^nCrtaUy 816
GUann Scoiihin, 448
Glenn dd Locha, (Glendaloch^, 21
Glonn-Ath (Ford of Great Deeds),
£82
Glossary, Connac's, 19, — (Battle of
Magh Tuireadh), 250. — Brecon,
257
GlossaiT, of Michael O'Clery, 175.
847 [App. 557. — of Mac Firi)i«,
123.— of O'Davoren, 123
Gloucester, Earl of; Thomas De Chre,
son of the, 236
Glun^ubhABee Niair], 133
Glun-gealy [see ^meryui], 217
Goblets, 309
Godfrey, the son of the Sea King,
401. — Mearanachf Lord of the
Danes, 404
Qo\d, Alpine, 310.— Cups of red« 31 0.
— yellow, 810, — necklace of red,
426
Goisten, (or Gostin), 217, 449
Goliath, 309
GolU the Grumbling of the Daughter
of; {Ceisneamh Inghini GhuUf)^
[App. 623
GoU Mac Moma, (chief of the Fe-
nians of Connacht,) Poem on, by
Finn, 802
Goll, stone-builder of Clochar, 222
Goliraighey the (lamenting mujsic),255
6rorw, William {0'Ruairc\ 398
Gormacan ; Abbey, (Jdaifuster ua g-
Cormaic), 352
Gorman, Mac, 237
Gorman, Marianus ; Martyrology of,
353, 361 [App. 609
Gormain, Maelmuir€ Ua, 353, 361
[App. 609
Gormlaithy Queen, 132 [App. 467,
592 n.
Gort an Chairthi (the PiUarstone
Field), in Scotland, 288
Gort na Tibrad, Battle at, 895
Gostin, or Goisten^ 217, 449
Gospels, ancient copies of the, 321
Gothic, or black letter, inscription,324
Gown of a poet ; the official ( Tuighen),
383
Grace, Mr. ; shrine discovered in Ger-
many by, 336
Gradha, (Degrees), 220
Grammar and Prosody; ancient tracts
on, 190; 659.— O'Donovan's, 467
Granard; GuasactUB, son of Milco,
Bishop at, 349
INDEX.
693
Grainn€and Diarmaid, 313 [App.
587 n., 690 n.— *»Beds of " [App.
597.— at Beinn Edair, 283
Grainn^f the elopemcDt of [App. 467
Gratianus Lucius, (Father John
Lynch), 63, 262, 442-3
Graves; called "cromlechs", 247
[App. 597.— of Eremon, the, 449.
— of Goll Mac Morna, the, 302.
— of Heroes killed hj Leioster-
men. Poem on [App. 687 n. — of
Oscar y Ogham inscription on, 304.
— of St. Tighernain at Loch Conn,
338
Graves, Very Rev. Dean, F.T.C.D,
175, 190, [App. 647
Greece, 222
Greeks, ** acute, cunning, and valor-
ous", 224 [App. 580
Green, the, of the king's palace, 328
Gregory, " Abbot of Itome of Lef ha''
[App. 504. — the great, Pope, 400
Gregory ()*Mulconry, 83
Gretlach Eillti, (in VVcstmeath), 59
Grel/an, St., of Cill Chluain€ (Co.
Galway), Life of, 340
Greintf; Cnoc^ 422. — J/czc, 447
Grcssachf 221
Griandn, (sunny chambcr),310, [App.
A7o.—Aili(/h, 400.— /wi/cacA-, 272.
—Lachtna, 210
Griffin (O'Griffy), 237.— Gerald, 291
Gt uibn^, the poet [App. 409
Guair^, '* the Hospitable**, 30
GuairelMU, {Oisin, so called), 305
Guarantees, to confirm an agree-
ment, 70, etc.
Guasachty Bishop [App. 538
Guasactus, son of Milco, Bishop at
Granard, 349
Gulban; (Conall), 167
Gunning, 211
Guthard, the water named [App. 639
*" Hag's beds" (Beds of Diarmaid and
Grainn^), 315
Hair, twisted, 310
Haliday, Mr. Cliarles, (shrine of St.
Molai8€\ 336
Hand ; Cathal of the Red [App. 647
Hamo de Valoignes, 432
Hardiman, James; MSS. o^ 847
Hare (O'Z/eAiV), 237
Harpers, 24H. — CVq/?iW, one of the
first named in history, 262.— Swir-
dubh Mac Smdil; Cliachy the son
of, 426
Harps; Cliach played upon two, 427
Harris Tin ed. of Ware) on Cathai
Magmre, 85.~Remarks on Mac
Firbis, 123
Hostings, or Military Expeditions;
(^Siuaifjheadha), 284
Hazel of JSuan, the ; ( Coil Buana\21Q
Head of Mesyedhra taken away as a
trophy, 270, 275
Hebrew account of descendants of
Japhet, 205
Hebrew women (exiles op, in Erinn
at the coming of Milesius ; 15-10
Hebrides ; Danes of the, 404. — in-
habited by Fomorians, 249. — He-
bridean Islanders, 288. — Eg in the
[App. 591 n.
Heir, royal, of Tara (Roen), 413
Henry VIII. ; thfe reign of the EngUsh
King, 355
Herald, a Druid sent as, 287
Herbert, Captain, 396.— The late Rev.
Algernon, on the Ficts, 450
Herbs, the Pkin of; (Lus Mhagh), 250.
— healing; Bath medicated with,250
Hermon, Mount ; St. Patrick on [App.
002
" Ilibemia Sacra*', 320
'^ Hibernis ipsis Hiberuiores'*, etc., 6
Hides, a curach made of, 292
Hill of the Victory, the; {Tealach an
Chosnair)y 451
Hill, ^ew Milk- ; {Ard Leamlinach-
ta) ; Battle of, 450
Historians, 2, 3. — and Ohronologists,
early, 53. — of Erinn, famihes of,
219.— the Judges of Erinn, 219
Historic period; Tighemach's com-
mencement of the, 67 [App. 518
Historic Tajles, 229, 238, 243.— of
the historic truth of the relations
in the, 239, 241. — introduction of
legendary or mythical inventions
in, 38, 39, 242, 250, etc.— use to bo
made of the, 454. — List of in the
Book of Leinster, 243 [App. 583,
684. — Example of nature of de-
tailed information preserved in, 40 ;
[and see also, 445-455]
History, anciently written in verse,
12. — the Annals as materials of^
119. — detailed pieces of, in the
Gaedhelic, 229. — of the Boromean
Tbibdte, 230. — of the Wabb of
THE Danes and Gaedhils, 232.
—of the Wars of Tuomond, 233.
— Book of Mumbter, 237. ~ of
Ireland, wars and persecutions, 366.
— in Erinn, commencement of, 4.
— of Erinn ; how it is to be writ-
ten, 443, 444.— John O'Connell's
Poem on (1650), 360.— of the Wri-
ters on, of the xil, xiu., and xiv.
centuries, 82. — of the various wri-
694
INDEX.
ten on the, 441.— of Erinn yet un-
written, 437
H(dy Qhost, representation of the,
828
Holy Land, pilgrimage to the, 882
Homilies and Sermons, ancient, 867
Honorati, 369
Horse of Conan Mac Moma^ 817
Horseman, spear cast by a, 888. —
cavalry in bs ttle (Battle of Gabhra),
304
Horses of an Oflamh, 3
Horscracing, (tempore Finn Mac Cum-
kaiil), 305
Homid of Mac Daiho, the [App. 487
Hounds ; an OUatnh's, 8. — Master of
the, to Conair€ M6r [App. 686 n.
House, dimensions of CiedhiSf 310;
— dimensions of Lugs [App. 621
Household of the lady Credhi, 809
House of Commons Committee (1849),
346
" Host of the books of Erinn, the",
870, 368
Howth, Hill of; Bonn Edair, 269
Hudson, the Uto William Elliott, 467
Hugh of Deny, 396
Hugh Roe {Aedh Ruadh) O'Donnell,
396,406
Hugh (see Aedh\ 331, etc.
Hui Bardtni, 91
Hunting, royal privilege of, 333
Hurling, the game of, 328
Uv, the Island of, (lona) ; 330, 861
^ Diarmada^ 13
fiv Imek [App. 616
Hy 3/aw^ (sec Ibh Maini), 219
Hymn to the Holy Trinity ; St. Colum
CUU'8, 329
Hymns, ancient, 367
I, the Island of, (£fy, or lona,) 330, 3G1
lavy son of Nema ("App. 601
larrdonn ; Lughaidh, (a,m. 4320), 83
/6ar, Bishop, 381; — assembly in
Munster under, [App. 616
Ibh Mam^(9ee O'KeUy), 219
Iceland, Irish Christian remains found
in, 332
Ichtj the Muir n-; 464 [App. 692 n.,
606
Ictian Sea, the {Muir n-Icht), 464
[App. 692 n., 606
Idol of Magh Slecht, the [App. 639,
631-2
Idol, the priest of the ; St Martin
saved from, 370
Idols at Rat/i Archaill; Druidical, 284
Idrona, barony of, 342
Ignorance of writers on Irish history,
etc., 430, 441
Illuminated books of Erinn; ''the
countless hosts of the", 368
Illuminating poems (laedha laidMhk\
240
Imas Forosnadh^ the, 240
Imaginatiyb Talks and Poems, 29ti
ImeU, Hi (see Ui Mele) ; 380, [K^.
616
Imghain, Raiih (Bathangan) [App.4«7
Imdoy 28
ImUach Grianan, (Co. Limerick), 27i
Imliuch rEmly), 374 [App. 630
Immacmate Conception, the, 380
Immigration of a c<dony {Tochom-
ladh), Historic Tales of, 294
Improvisation, part of the duty of sn
OUamh, 240 [262, 289
Imram^ a voluntary expedition by tes,
Imramha (*' Expeiitions by sea*').—
[" Historic Tales", No. 12]. 288
Imlheachtan GhUla Deacair,^lZ^\^
— na Trom Dditnh^, 30
Inauguration ceremony of the O'Dow-
da, 126 [App. 642
Inbhear Colpa, (now Drogheda), 448
Inbher Dea, (Wicklow;, [App. 485
Inbher Doudinainn, (Bilalahide Bsy),
385, 402
Incantations {laedlta laidAibJi)^ 240
Indai, Neit, son of, [App. 690 n.
Indechy son of D^ Donuiand, a Fomo-
rian, 249
Independence, war of, in Erinn, 355
Ingcely the pirate ; (see Bt uighean Da
ptrga\ [App. 618
Inis Aingin, 68
Inis an thtin^ 20
Iniis Bo Finn€y 418
Inis Bolg on Loch Techtt (Lodi
9'Gara) [App. 647
Inis Caein^ 84
Inis Cathciph (Scattery Island), 389
Inis Cethfwnn; (Ennisklllen), 169,
[Apn. 553
Ints Clothrann^ 82
Inis FdU, 388
Inis Faithlmn (Innisfallen), 76
Inis Mac Nerinn, 98
Inia Madoc (in Lake Tetupleport,
Co. Leitrim), 27
Inistimon; Cifl Mic Crekhi. netr
[App. 630
Innes, Mr., as to Tigkemach the An-
nalist, 66, 80, 81
Innocents at Bethlehem, under Geor-
gius, 369
Inscription on Shrine of the Cathack,
331.— ontheEcllsCrozier, 338 —
on the Shrine of the Domhnach
^iVy^, 323,324
INDEX.
695
Intoxication, (see MescaX 406
Insignia of battle, (see Miosach and
Cathach), 836
Insult to St. Colum CilU, 329
Invasions, Book of; Plan of erery
ancient, 172 n.— of the O'Clerys,
21, 168 [App. 552 et seq.
Invasion ; Filings army of Defence
against, 300,315. — ^the Anglo-Nor-
man, 414 [329
Invisible ; St. Colum CilU becomes,
Invocations to Qod and the Saints,
ancient, 357.— from the Felir^f 365,
[App. 610.— of St. Aireran, 378-9
[App. 614,-666
lobathy son of Bealhach, ancestor of
the Tuatha De Danann, 244
Iona,330, 361.— "Cold", 400.— Death
of Amlaff the Dane at, 403
/r, 207— the race of, 207, 226, 363
Ifial Glunmar, record of the death of^
[App. 517
Irian genealogical line, the, 207, 263,
363
Irish letters, 324
Irmptions of the sea, etc. (^Tomadh'
ma), of the, 294
Isaac, 369
Isidah, and the prophets, 368
liseal Chiaraifiy (Clonmacnoise), 58
Isidore*s (Saint) College in Bome,
MSS. in, 166, 353, [App. 644
Island of SenaU, or Baliymacmanns,
in Loch Erne, 84, 85, etc [and see
J til's.'}
Islands, uninhabited (legend), 333
Isu, Bachafl; the, 101, 330, 338 [App.
639, 600, 624
Italy ; {Lethoy q.v.^ [App. 603, 604,
— expedition of ifqain^Mor to, 461
Itg/y request ; (erai)), [App. 633
/M, 163, 207
Ithian genealogical line, the, 207
Ivbhar Chmntrachta (now Newiy),
73, 287
Jacob or James (St.), 369
James or Jacob (St.), and the Bishops
of Jerusalem, 369
Japhet, ancient Irish account of de-
scendants of, 205, 238
Jaundice; the Butdke Chotmaillj a
kind of, [App. 632
Jerico; Barnab, builder of, 222
Jerome, St., referred to by Aenffus,
368.- Ordination of, date of the
[App. 618,-quoted (MS. a-d. 690;)
668
Jerusalem ; Arond, stone-buUder of,
222. — Story of the Destruction of,
25,— the Bishops of, 369
JssDB, the Staff of, 101, 330, 838
[App. 689, 600
Jewels, 810
Jews, the; "noUe", "envious", 224
[App. 680
ob,r "
Job, 369
Jocelyn, as to Saint Eimhin , 348. —
Life of StPatrick, 330, 391.— Lives
of SS. Patrick, Brighid, and Colum
am, 340
John the Baptist, St.; festival of,
plague on, 884, 402, 404, 428
Jonas, 369
Joseph, 369
Judges must have been first Ollatnhgy
239.— the, of i5an!>Aa(Erinn), 219
Judgment of King Diarmaidy 328
Juggler8,482, — ( Taulckinn^,the [App.
618)
Julius Caesar contcmp. with Eochaidh
Feidhlech, 53 fApp. 623
Justinus, or Justm; ^* Saerbhreathach"*
Latinized, 293
Karbri,John 0*,323
Keating, Dr.Geofirey, 21,140,441 ,442.
— on the Cin Drama Snechta, 14
[App. 497.— Books referred to by,
21.— History, 12,21.— Works, 140.
— Account of Curoi Mac Dair€,
273.— on the Fiana Eireann, 300.
—on the Saltair of Tara, 12.— De-
fended against ignorant critics, 341
Eeatings, Butlers, Burkes, etc., the ;
spoke in Gacdhilic, 6
Eellcher, 211
Kells; Donnell 0*BafFerty, Abbot of,
331.— present barony of, granted
to the Feara Cul, 286. — Crozier of
(in possession of Cardinal Wise-
man), 338.— Book of, 23
Kelly, Denia H., Esq., Ill
KeUy, the Ute Bev. Professor Ma-
thew, 862, 377, 443
Kennedy, 211. — James Marinus,
76 n., 98, 340.— MSS. of [App. 631
Kenry ICaenrai^he], 189
Kerry, {Ciarratghe Luachra,) topo-
graphy of the county, [App. 680
Kevin (see Coemghitm and Caemh"
ghm% 340, 367, etc, 370
KU [see Ci// and Coi//]
Kilciillen Bridge; Ath Seanaigh, near,
420.— Old fApp. 492
Kildare (Drutm Criaigh), [App. 487.
—the Church of SUBrigul at, 367.
— " Prophecy" of great destruction
of Saxons at, 418
Kilfinan (Co. Limerick) ; Ceann /ea-
6Ara/,ncar, 395, 416
KilkeUy, [sec Mac GiUi Kelly], 219
696
INDEX.
Eillarney, {Loch Lein\ 76. — Bairnech
hill near, Finn at, 305
Killossy , near Naas ( Cdl A usaiil/),42 1
Kilmallock, arrest of Desmond at, 422
Kilronan, 52, 93. — Annals improperly
called of, 93
King, the, as a Judge ; 43
Kings, the Succession of the ; Book
of, 162, et seq.
King's Inns Lib., Dubl. ; MSS. in, 660
Kinsale, Battle of, 396.— Old liead
of (Dun Cearmna), 427, 429
Kinvara, Galway, {Ceann Mard);
Church of, 292.— Battle of, 303
Kisses of Aengus of Brwjh na Boinn^;
the Four [App. 478
Knights of the Koyal Branch, 14,
270, 274, 279 [App. 687.- -Order
of Champions, or of [App. 607
Knockany (Cnoc ^iV), 316, 317,
486 n.
Knocklong (Cnoc Luing^, or Drom
Damhghair^), 198, 200 [App. 589
n— Siege of, 200, 271
Knox family, the (Co. Mayo) ; relic in
possession of, 338
Labhraidh Loingseach, 63, 68, 191.—
Tale of, 251, [App. 687 n., 590 n.
''Labhraidh MaenT' Q'Maen speaks! "),
253
Labhraidh J son of Bresal Belach
[App. 494
Lachlain, St., 211, — Shrine of the
arm of, 211,337
Lachtnaj son of CorCy 210
Ladies, accomplishments of, in ancient
Erinn, 279
Laedha laidhibh (incantations), 240
Laegh^thQ charioteerof Cuchuluinn^27S
Laeghair^Mac xVeiY/, 5, 15, 16, 55, 57,
106, 170, 242,— "of the many con-
flicts", 389. — his Druids ; " prophe-
cy** of Patrick by, 397.— Brother
of Conall Ceamachy 270, — Bua-
dachy 276 [App. 641.— Lore, Mon-
arch (B.C. 593), 208, 262, 461
Laghra, (a.q. Ard Laghrann)^ 666.
Laidh, (Uy), 30
Laidhibh; laedha- y 240
Laighen; Sliabh Suidh^j ("Mount
Leinster"), [App. 476-8
Laifjhis Beta Mar [App. 481, 482 n.
Laighn^, the first Fisherman in Erinn,
221
Lairg^, Port-; (Waterford), 50
LatnA Lachtain, 337
Lamhraidh^; the wood of, 277, [App.
643
Lammas Eve, 346
Lances Arabian Nights, 298
Lanigan, Rev. Dr., [-cVpp. 647, etc
to the Seanchus Mor^ 17. — hi
persions on Colgan, 34 1
Lainfranc^s correspoiidence with 1
(Book of Lismore), 200
Language, necesaty for the stm
the Gaedhelic, 457 its n^
modern times, 6. — oi the Flri
and Tuatha De Danarm, 245
the poets ; obscure ancient, 3t^
Laoi, 30, — Corca-, 100
Larcom, Maj.-General Sir T. A ,
457 n.
Larkin {O'Lorcdin), 211
Latin (language of the Chmch),
Latium, i. e., Lctha^ [App. 504
Law ; regulariy defined system c
Erinn, 4. — as to succession toe
tainship, 227. — of Affiliation
Patrick's, 225. — of preferenc
seniority ; ancient, 261. — Rule
primc^oiturc, 227, — of the
flWtr, 655
Laws, the great compilation of tb
—MSS. of the " Brehon Laws-
Lay impropriators of Church
perty, 344
" Le aach bain a boimn^y 328
Leabnar Arda Macha, 20
Leabhar BreaCj (Jt. M6r Dina Lk
rO, 31, 180, 190, 352
Leabhar Breac tnhic AedhagatM,
Leabhar Buidhe Lecnin, 125, 190,
Leabhar Buidhe Mhic Murchadhi
Leabhar Buidhe Moling^ 20
Leabhar Buidhe Slalne\ 20
Leabhar Chiuana Sosf, 21
Leabhar Dubh Molaga^ 20
Leabhar Fada Leithghiinn^^ 21
Leabhar Feara-Maighe, 25
Leabhar Gabhdf a, 21, 86,168 [App
Leabhar Ghlinne'da- Locha^ 22
Leabhar Lecain, 191
Leabhar MorDuna Doighr^. [/.ire
31, 180, 190, 362, 663
Leabhar na h-Uidhr€, 14, 15,21,
172,182 [App. 670
Leabhar na h-tfa Chonabhahy 22
Leabhar Ruadh Mhic Aedhagai*,
Leabthacha Dhiarmadais Graiim^,
Leacaoin. in Lower Crmond, 352
Leacain Mic Fhirbisigh, 22
Leac Bladhma (Meath), Battk
(1027), 414
Leac Phatraic (the Rock ol Gas
[App. 623
Leaf given by fairy bird to the pr*
(CuUdadh), 334
Leary Mac Neill (see Laeghat
91, etc.
INDEX.
697
Zeamnachta; Ard-y (New Milk Hill),
450
lieamokeTOgef Co. Tipperary (Liath
M&r Mochaemhdff) [App. 486 n.
Lear ; (see Liry, [App. 584 n. — Tale
of the Tragical Fate of the Chil-
dren of, 319. [See Errata.]
I^earning in Erinn before St. Patrick,
4, [App. 463
Leath Chuinn (Conn's Half), 400
Lee Da Bhearg [App. 477
«* Leca Lugdach Lis"^ [App. 478,
Leca Meic Nemedh, 246
Lecain {Ltahhar Buidhe), 125, 190,
191
Lecain Mhac Fhirhhisigh, 120, 192
Lecain; the Book of, 126.— The Yel-
low Book of, 125, 190, 191
Legendary, or Mythical, inventions
introduced into Historic Tales, 31,
83, 39, 242
Leigkinn, the Fear; (Professor of
Clawics), 2 n, 9 n, 61 n, 56, [App.
495.
Leiny Loch (Lake of Killarney) ; This-
Faithlenn (Inisfkllen) in, 75
Leinster; Book of, 186 [App. 571.—
List of Historic Tales in, 243 [App.
683, 584.— Kings of; entry in Tigh-
emnch as to the, [App. 526. —
Mount (Sliabh Suxdh^ Laigheii)
[App. 475-8
Leinstcrmen, poem on the graves of
heroes killed by, [App. 587 n.
Leiter Afaelain, 151, — L. Lamhrcugh^,
(death of Conor Mac Nessa dt),277,
[App. 643.
LeUhglinriy 45 1 .—The Long Book of,2 1
Leo IIL, the Emp. ; contcmporarv
with King Ferghal, son of MaeU
duiriy 54
Leper, the, coming to Erinn on a flag-
stone, 393 [App. 623
Letavia (see Letha) [App. 502
Letha^ the ancient name for Italy,
29 [App. 502, 616
Lethglass^y Dun ; [App. 606.—" Dun
da LeathghkuT f App. 627
Ltth Mogha Nuadhat, 186
Letters before St. Patrick, 4 [App. 463
Letters in ancient Erinn ; O Flahertv
on [App. 469. — Uncial, 324 .—Irish
letters, 324
Leyney, 158.— (XMi>An^), [App. 546
Liadain, the poetess, 194
Liag.Dun Tii-; (Duntrileague), 312
Liamkain (Dunlavin) Battle of. [App.
492
Lia Milidh (Warrior's Stone), the ; 894
Liath Manchnin (Westmeath), 337
Liath M&r Mochaemhdg (Leamokcv-
oge, Co. Tipp.) [App. 485, (647)
Liber Hymnorura, in course of publi-
cation, 406 n
Library, ancient; (of S. Longarad^
6th century), 17.
Liccus [App. 618
Lifi {the Liffey), 2C9.— (Liffey) the,
put for Leinster, 389. — Cuirrech
(Curragh of Kildare), fair at, 305
Lifeachatr, 48, 72
Life of Aedh Ruadh O'Donnell, 22
Liffey [see Zi/^l ; Fair of the, 305
Lime, mixed with the brain of a con-
quered warrior, 276. — the colour
of, 310
Limerick, 312. — Cathedral of, site of
Palace of Murtoch O'Brien, 401.—
Retreat of the Danes into, (a.d.
941); 403
Liii€y Magh- ; [App. 622
Lintel of carved silver, 310
Liosy 223.— Lios Maighn^, 163
Lips, a cross made on the, 413
Lit [see Lear], 319, [App. 684 n.
Lisle, Irish MSS. written at, 356
Lis Mdr (Lismore), 374
Lismore; (Book of ), 196. — account
of fragment of it, stolen in 1815,
lately in Cork ; [Note. This frag-
ment has been restored to the ori-
ginal book, at Lismore, since the
delivery of theseLectures]; 196,199.
— fac-simile copy, by Mr. O'Curry,
in R.I.A., 190.— 5/. Mochuda of
Raithin and, 340
Lismoyne (Co. Westmeath); Connhi
MacEchegan of, 130
Litany of Irish Saints, by Aengua
CeU^D^y 853,380 [App. 615
Litany of the Blessed Virgin, ancient,
357, 380 [App. 615
Lives of the Irish Saints ; O'Clery's,
1 73,— copies taken ( 1 856^,[App.64 7
Llwyd, as to the Annals of'^ Ulster, 86
Loamy Bishop of Brcttan, 349. — K.
of Scotland [App. 590 n
Loch Bel Seady 426
Loch C^y 52, 81. [See " Annals of ",1
Loch Derg (Upper Shannon), 267
Loch E\rn€y 22
Loch Lein (Killamey), 76, 76
Loch Rihh (Loch Ree), 22, 74.—
Ships upon, 400, 405
Loch Rudhraidh^y 428
Locha n-Echachy Tomhaidhm ; Tale of
the, 294
Lochany eldest son of Ua Corray 290
Lochlainn {Fear fesay Bon of )y 148
Lochlanns, or Danes, 225, 226,
45
698
INDEX.
Lochra, Druid of K. Laeghair^, 897
Loingseach, Lahhraidh ; Tale of, 261
Loisgenn (eon of Cos), 209
LomWdfl, Hifitory of the (Book of
Lismore), 26, 200
Lonergan, 211
Long, a ship) 262
Longaradj (verse of F«/«r^ about), 17,
[App. 601.— hifl Library (6th cen-
tury), 17
Longargan, 211
LoNOABA, or " Voyages" (Historic
Tales, No. 2), 262
Lore of Llmenck [App. 492
Lor can, 210, 213
Lorg, Tabhali- ; (Tablet Staff), [App.
471
" Lorica", the, of GUdas, 353
Loss of the earlier writings ; causes
of, 6
Lost Books; of the, 2, 20
Lot, 869
Lothra, Bronze bell found at, 337
Louis of France, King ; (assistance
of), 418
Louvain, MSS., 26.— the Irish Fran-
ciscan CoUege at, 366, [App. 644.
Love Stories (Serca\ of the ; (" His-
toric Tales'^, 294
Luackair [App. 479
Luachra (Rushes); Ciarrdighe-, (Ker-
ry), 809. — Teamkair', 186, 266
[App. 637-8
Luaidet, 189. [See Errata]
Luain, Ath-, (Athlone),40
Luasad, the first BuUder in Erinn,
221
Lucan ; Confey, near,( Ceannfuait\A2 1
Luchai Mael, Druid of K Latgnair^,
897
Luchta, 46, 267.
Luq ; the founder of the Fair of Tain-
tin, 287.— the son of Ciau, 249.—
Mac Ceithlenn, or Mac EithUnn,
or Edlenn, 388, [App. 478, n. ; 621
Lugha, Sliabh-; {Ua Gadhra, Lord
of,) [Aft). 647
LughaM, 22, 25.'^Firtri, 44
Lughaidh's grave [App. 479
Lughaidh larrdon, 83
Lughaidh Luaighn^, Monarch (a.m.
4024), 261
Lughaidh Meann, 209
Lughaidh O'Clery, 141 ~
Lughaidh Riabh-nderg, 64, [App. 483,
483 n., 608
Lughaidh ; son of Fergus Fairg^ [App.
465. — son of Ith, 107, 226. -the
blind poet, 267
Lugdach Lis, Leca [App. 478
Lugh Mac Eithlenn {Mac Cdtki
388 [App. 478, 621
Luiphn€ Chonnacht, 147, [App. [
Lutphneach (Brian) O'Conor, 95-4
Lumgiy Cnoc; (see CnocZ..), 271
Luiphn^j 48, 101 [App. 646
Luirg, 96
Lullaby, Fairy; in Petrie*s An
Music [App. 505
Luman's Life of St. Patrick, 349
Lumlain€ [App. 477
Lunatics, Glen of the; {Gleam
n-GealO,Sie
Lusk, 259.— Court of Forgall .
ach at, 278
i««- J/Aa^A,"Plain of Herbs** ; (1
County)> 250
Lynch, Rev. John ; *^ Gratianui
cius**, (CambrenaiB Eversus),
442, 443— puzzled by the i
"Attacots", 262
Lynegar, 86
Lyons, the late V. Rer., 156, [Ap|
Mac Atdhagain (Mac Aegan,or
Egan), 141, 352 ;^the Bed Boc
2\,—{Flann), 151
Mac Aedha, 194, — Sitric, son of
Mac an Bhaird {Aedh), [Ward],
— Eoghan Huadh, 330
" Mac" and "O", 214
MacAnally, (see Mac-an-Legka)
Mac an Ghobhan, historian of
O'Kennedys, 219
Mac-an-Legha, the scribe; MS
Aj>. 1473, 659-€0
Mac Aonghusa (Bfagennis), 226
Macbeth ; parallel to passage in Sh
speare's, 285
Mac Bruaideadha (Mac Brody),
148, 401 [App. 625, 628.— I
of, 22.— Donnell, 422 [App. (
— Historians in Thomond, 319
Mac Carthainn, Saint, 324, 32
Presentation of the jJomki
Airgid to [App. 598
Mac Carthy, D. F. (Pbem on
Brendan), 289
Mac Carthys, the, 168, 209, 211, :
226. — junior to the O'SqUIt
826.-^ Corwac and Tadkg),n
O'Duinins historians of the, 2U
Mac Casac, W.; Bp. of Ardagfa,
Mac Cecht,smiih of St.Patrick,837,
Mac Cochlain, 210. — Turkwh, I
of Delvin, 130, 164, 210 [App.
Mac Cois€ the Poet ; Tale <tf , and
Fairy Woman [App. 582
Mac Con, 43, 90, 187, 386
Mac Conglinn^, the Poet, 353
Mac Conmidhe, 100
INDEX.
699
Mac Conn -na-m Bocht ; GUla - na -
naemh, 138
Mac Conrach ; Eiim, 230, 264
Mac Ck)rinack, 210
M«c Ck>stelloe [App. 548
Mac Craith, John, the son of Rory ;
author of the History of the Wars
ofThomond, 233
Maccreen (see Inis Mac Nerinn), 98
<« Maccuboin Magus'* ; MUiuCj [App.
608
Mac Creichi, S. ; Life, [App. 630, 647
Mac Cuilly 447
Mac Curtin (Andrew), 196, 234, 339
Mac Curtins, historians in Thomond,
219
Mac Dermot's rock, in Loch C^, 96
Mac Diarmata ; Brian, 96 [App. 534,
— of the clann Maolruanaiih^ 219,
—Ga// [App. 548
Mac Donnchaidh (Mac Donagh),
(of the clann Maolruanaidh\ 219
[App, 647
Mac Donnells of Antrim, 194. — race
of (^oUa Uais; clann Firbis, histo-
rians, 219.---the, of Scotland, 125
Mac Echagaiuy 130
Mac Egan (see Mac Aedhagain^ 21
MacEnery, 211
Mac Ere, 88
^^ Mncena^=Cais€al, (i. «,, the city
of), 654
Mac Firbis (see Ftrbisigk, Forbes), 219
Mac Firbis; Duald, 120, 121 his
death, 122.— his family, 125.— his
descent from the last pagan King,
Dathi, 125.— on stone buildings in
Erinn, 223.— on the Red Pillar
Stone of Dathi, 288 Tablets in
possession of [App. 470. — James;
the "Dumb Book" of, 125.— his
works, 123, 215
Mac Flanchadha ^^Clanchy), 210
Mac Gabhrdin^ Atdan ; K. of Scot-
land (a.d. 570) ; 414, 417
Mac Geoghegan ; the Abbe, 441, 422
Mac aula Duibh, 103
Mac GiUi Kelly, historian of OTU-
herty, 219
Mac Gilla Patrick, Donnell, 421
Mac Gorman, 237 ; — Finn (Bishop of
Kildare, ob. a.d. 1160; wrote the
"BookofLeinster''), 186
Mac Grady, 74 [App. 629
Mac Graths, the (in Clare), 233,—
Miler Mac Grath, 233
Mac Greini^ 447
Mac Quire (see Mac Uidhir), 419. —
Cathal; Death of [App. 533.—
Martyrology of, 853
Macha, Battle of [App. 622
Machay imfhen Aedha Ruaidh; Tale
of the t)chtra, 283 [App. 589 n.
Macka Mongruadh, 71, [App. 62 1 , 528
—Wife of Crunn [App. 586 n.
Machair€ Chonnacht [App. 564
Machair^, Mac Costelloe [App. 648
Mac Hugh {Mac Aedha), 194
Mac Iniry, 211
Mac Kennedy, 77
Mackintosh(Sir James) on the Annals
of the Four Masters, 153
Mac Lkig, death of, 361, — his poem
on the Firbolg colonies, 2A\.— Gilla
(Gelasius), Primate of Armagh, 361
Mac Lonain, Flann; poem by, [App.
467
Mac Maghmisa, Annals of Senait ;
(called Annals of Ulster), 83, [App.
633
Mac Mahon, 73,— Colla [App. 657.
— the, of Clare, 211. — senior to the
O'Briens, 226
Mac MaUin (Claras) 109
Mac Maonaighy 102
Mac Murachy 141— the first named,
214
Mac Murchadha, Diarmaidy (Derniot
MacMurroch),187,214,421 [App.
571. — "the dark demon", 395.-
the YeUow Book of, 20
Mac Namaras, 210, 214, 236.— of
Ranna ; Tadhg, hne of, 234
Mac Niadhy 96
Mac Nitty son of Oenna ; ancient
Poem by [App. 506
Mac Niss^y 17
Mac Oirexichtaighy (Flann), 102
Mac Pherson's Ossian, 300, 304
Mac Rannail, the race of, 208
Mac Renalds, 194
Mac Roth ySA
" Mack Shayne", Sir Gerald ; sworn
on the Bachall Isu, (a.d. 1529),
App. 604
Mactenus, 88
Mac Uidhiry Tanaidhe ; (Maguire), 4 1 9
Mac Uilliamy Fergal, 32 [App. 604
Macutenius on propliecy of St. Pa-
trick's coming, 390, 397
Madden, Sir Frederic, 345
Madocy Inis; Lake of Templeport,
Co. Lei trim, 27
Maedhiig {St,), 107.- Shrine of, 387
Maen Ollamhy son of Ail'dl Ain€y 252
Maeil Domhnainn (" Moll Downey")
[Ajpp. 485
Maeiny Magh [App. 481
Maeny 452
J/ae/, the Druid, 388.
45 b
700
INDEX.
I
I fr
Mael, Luchaty 397
Maelchonair^, 145
Maeldithrty 423
MaMuin, \9\,^Fergal, son of, 420.
^Fergusj 8on of, 889.— Tale of the
Navigation of, 289
Maelisa Mac Afaelcoluim, 82
Maelfathartaigh Mac Ronain ; Tale of
the Tragedy of, 277 [App. 688 n.
Madmair€ Ua Germain, 353, 861,
[App. 609
MneJmdr, King Of the Feara Cul, 286
Maelmuray verse of, quoted by Tigh-
emach, 64 [App. 624.— of Othna,
42,63
Maelmuir€, 188,182.— -IfacCrai^A, 238
Mael na mb6 ; Diarmait, son of, 461
Maelpatrick, 78
Mnelruain (St.) of TamhJachU 364,
375; [ana see Maol, Maolruainy
Maolruainaighj etc]
MaeUeachlainn M6r^ 10, 22, 56, 57,
130.— of Corcomroe, 346. — son of
Dornhnall, 403.— O'Mulvany, 82.
Maelsuthainn O'Cearbhuiil, 76 [App.
629, 631 ;— 653-4
Madtamhlachtay 423.— "Prophecy" of
[App. 628
Magachy 36.— Cc/ Mac-, 275, [App.
641,— the sons of [App. 691 n.
Magenis {Mac Aonghusd), 82, 226.—
of Down, of the' Ulidian or Irian
race, 207
MaGeoghegan, Connla, 130, 164
" Maggot,the Bloody"; ( Crom CruacK),
[App. 631-2 (and see 103, 638)
Magh Ai, 35, 58
Magh Adhaify 401
Magh Ailbhif; Cormac Mac CuUinan,
kiUed at Battle of, 420
Magh an Chatrthi (in Scotland), 287
Magh J5i7^(MoviUo), 287
Magh Bolg^ murder of Fiacha at,
(A.D. 56), 264
Magh Breagain (inTip^nry) [App.
593
Magh Breagh (Bregia), 49, 308
Magh Cm, (the " bloody plain"), 263
Magh dd Gheis€ (Plain of the Two
SwansJ), 302
Magh Drech (see Drech-Mhagh)
[App. 621
3fagh-Eo, (Mayo), 101
Magh Garad, 17
Magh /nw, 70 [App. 627
Magh Tuaiscetri (see Baith Muigh€)
[App. 631 n.
Magh Leana, Battle of, 243, 282
Magh Lin€ [App. 621
Magh Luirg, 96 [App. 534
Magh Maein, (Co. Wexford), [A
481-2
Magh Mucntimh^, 43, 90
Magh n-Eaka (near Dublin), 407
Magh Nia, now Magh Tuireadh,i
Magh Rath, 48, 50, 191, 243, 41&
O^Donovan's Edition of Battle
50, 243
Maoh Rein (Co. Ldtrim), 244.
Fidknacha, 398
Magh Slecht, 101 [App. 536
Magh Tuathat, 17
Magh Tuireadh (Moytura), 125, 24
— OTlinn's Poeni on the fli
Battle of, 241.— Co/ttm CUU't Poe
concerning, 242.<— Second Battkc
247
Magh Uladh [App. 631 n.
Magical waves of the Tuatha L
Sanann, 447
Magical skill of the Ttiaiha L
Danann, 250
Magog, son of Japhet; the Gaedli
descended fh}m, 14, 205
Magonns, Sanctus [App. 608
Ma Gradoigh, Aogustin ; the coot
nuator of Tighemach^ 74 [App. oi
Maguire, 73.— Festolo^^of Cathai^
—(Brian Roe), 169 [App. 552
Magus ; Simon, 272, 402, 403,
Magus; Miliuc Maccuboin, [App. 60
Mahon, 211 — son of Kennedy {Math
ghamhain Mac Cinneidigh), 403
Maidens killed at Tara by Dunlaijt
[App. 466
Mai^h€, Eas [App. 486
Maiphen, Ferta [App. 477, 478
Matgh Rein ; (see Conmaicn^y, 210
Matahnd.Lis, 163
Matn^, Ibh, (see CKeUy), 219.— J/<*
Durthacht; finding of the brood
of, 268.— son of Gressach, phva
cian, 221. — son of Niali Naot-ghia
lack, 257.— Niail; Brecon, son o
[App. 587 n.— the Ui, 312
Maimster Eimhin (Monasterevan), 13S
335, 361, 363,
Mainistrech, 13, 63, 75
Mair€da, Eochaidh Mac; ton of th(
K. of Fermoy, 294
Maisten, MuUach [App. 486
Mdl; {Cliu Mail) [App. 480 n.
Malachy {Maehhtachlainn\ 17;— S«
Bernard's Life of, cited [App. 602
Malahide Bay, (Inbher DonJmamn]
385, 402
Malt, vat of juice of (Ale), 311
Man, the Isle of (Falga) [App.588i]
Manchan, St [App. 607, 63a-
Shrine of, 337
INDEX.
701
Mandar^ the Dane, 410 [App. 62&
HooiBtery Co. Limerick (Otnaoh Clo'
chair), 305
Mantles of blue, 810
Mantan, 217
Manuscript ; nobles ransomed for a, 6.
Manuscripts; necessity to the histo-
rian of study of our, 441.— (Irish),
written in Belgium, 26, 356.-- at St.
Isidore's, Rome, 26, 353, [App. 644.
— in British Museum, 25. — ^Visit to,
in 1849, 345. — Miscellaneous, in Li-
brary of R.I.A,, 24, 200.— in Li-
brary of Trin. Coll. Dublin, 23.— in
King's Inns, Dubl., 660.— in Bel-
gium, 26, [App. 644. — in Germany
(described by Zeuss), 27.— Of the
early Ecclesiastical, 339, 357
Manuscbipts Quoted : —
R.I.A; Leabhar na h'Uidhr€, 14,
15, 30, 138, 182, 183, 184, 260,
282, 391, 670, 571, 584 n., 585 n.,
587 n., 618
B.I A. ; Ltahhar M6r Duna D<nghr€
(or "Leabhar Breac'% 17, 31,
32 n., 190, 339, 352, 863, 365,
866, 368, 370, 372, 880, 881, 408,
424, 426, 429, 501, 504, 610, 611,
. 615,630,632,634
R.LA.; Book of Ballymote, 9, 11,
13, 44, 49 n., 55, 188, 212, 215,
306, 359, 492 n., 494 n., 496, 497,
499, 500, 501, 502, 503, 505, 509,
510, 513, 520-1, 522, 594
RI.A. ; Book ofLecain, 23, 54, 55,
69, 125, 126, 130, 192, 212, 215,
240, 241, 242, 302, 306, 359, 462,
488 n., 497, 501, 622, 642, 587 n.,
589 n., 691 n., 694
RI.A. (CI. 23. 5),0*Clery'sZ«a6Aar
Gabhahy 67, 168, 169, 173, 516
RI.A. (CI. 23. 6), Annals of Loch
C<r, 111 [Connacht, 106
B.I.A. (CI. 26. 4; 26. 5), Annals of
RI.A (CI. 33. 4), Cucoigchrice
0'Clery*s copy ol Lhabhar Gab^
hala, 173
RLA. (CI. 40. 4), O'Clery's R€im
Rioghraidhcy 163, 164, 165, 648,
560, 651
RI.A. (CL 43. 6), 335, 600
RI.A. (H. & S. 1. 1), 587 n., 591 n.
RLA. (H. & S. 1. 57), 423, 629
RI.A. (H. & S. 1. 76), 409
R.I.A. (H. & S. 1. 176), 406,407,626.
RLA. (H. & S. 2. 11), 417, 628
RI.A. (H. & S. 2. 62), O'DonneU's
Life of St. Colum CilU, 112, 330
339, 410, 540
MSS. Quotsd, (continued) :
RLA. (H. & S. 8. 54), 898-9, 626
RLA. (H. & S. 3. 59), 413, 414,
416, 417, 627, 628
RIJV. (H. & S. No. 74), Ancient
Glossary, 32 n., 504
RIJL (H. & S. No. 149), 307
RLA. (H. & S. No. 206), 262, 591 n.
RLA., Copy of Mac Firbis' Book
of Genealogies, etc, 121, 215, 216,
359, 541, 572
RI.A. (Copy of), Book of Lismore,
196, 307, 308, 339, 340, 589 n.,
593 n., 694
R.I.A. Cttcot^^cAru:^ O'Clery's MSS.
in; 110, 178;— his Wm (MS. 34.
4), 178, 560; [and see 179, 562]
RLA., Fragment of Wars of Tho-
mond, 237
R.I.A., Vellum MS. (Life of St.
CaUlin, etc.), 340
RLA., Paper MS. of the Sluaghed
Dathi, 288
RLA., Paper MS. (Life of St.
Brigit\ 339
T.C.D., Various MSS. in (E. 8. 5 j
H. 2. 7; H. 2. 16; H. 2. 17; H. 3.
8;H.3. 17; H. 3. 18; H. 4, 22),
192
T.C.D., Book of Armagh, 843, 344,
372, 373, 397. 607, 608, 612
T.C.D. (CL E., 3, 6), Book of Acaill.
47, 49 n, 511, 512
T.C.D. (CL E., 3, 20), Annals of
Ulster, 84, 633
T.C D. (CL E., 4, 2), Liber Hym-
norum, 343, 406 n., 603, 606
T.C.D. (CL P., 3, 19), (Trans, of),
Annals of Clonmacnoise. 130,
135
T.C.D. rCl. H. 1. 1 ; H. 1. 2), An-
nals of Connacht. 104, 116, 639,
640
T.C.D. (CL H., 1, 8), Annals of
Ulster. 84, 86, 90; (^Tiyhemachy
607) (617); 633,684
T.C.D. (CL n. 1. 10), 400, 409,
410, 423, 625, 626, 627, 629
T.C.D. (CLH.l. 11), 394, 624
T.C.D. (CL H. 1. 12), Odery's
Leabhar Gahhala, 168, 169, 173,
652, 6r.4
T.C.D. (CL H. 1. 15), 422. 629
T.C.D. (CL H. 1. 18), Chronicum
Scotorum. 58, 120, 125, 128-9,
507, 517; {Tighernach, 619, 699) ;
642, 643.
T.C.D. (CL H. 1. 19), Annals of
Loch C€, 94, 95, 101, 115, 684,
636,604
702
INDEX.
MSS. Quoted, (continued):
T.C.D. (CI. H. 2. 16), Mac Fir-
bis Glossaries. 128, 462
T.C.D. (CL H. 2. 16), Leahhar
Buidhe Lecaitu 11, 18, 58, 126,
126, 190, 260, 286, 329, 334, 336.
378-9, 380, 881, 420, 428, 462,
461, 469, 496, 603, 617, 684 n.,
586 n., 686 n,, 687 n., 699, 600,
614, 629
T.C.D. (CI. H. 2. 17), 587 [n.
(161)] 690 [n. (209)]
r.C.D.(a..H.2. 18.),BookofLein-
ster. 9, 18, 14, 16, r i 30, 29, 81,
69, 70, 186, 187, 2,>:\. 243, 271,
274, 277, 283, 294, Mn. 302, 303,
334, 869, 381,888, n^K 399, 400,
406, 412, 462,467, h\± 476, 480,
482, 486 n. 494, VM, 601, 626.
583, 684, 585 n, :^S1 n, 588 n,
589 n, 590 n, 592 n, 694, 616, 622,
625, 627, 636.
T.C.D. (CL H. 8. 8) IDinnsean-
cA»«], 10.
T.C.D. (CI. H. 8. 17), 892, 486 n.,
502, 503, 607, 585 o, 587 n.,
688 n., 622
T.C.D. (CL H. a 18), 32 n., 51,
260, 264, 347, 397, 461, 467, 468,
472, 478, 504, 512 n.,513, 584 n.,
590 n., 615, 617
T.CD. (CL H. 4. 22), 462, 495,
504, 586 n.
T.C.D. (CL H. 5. 30), Mac Firbis
Law Glossary. 9, 494
T CD. (CL H. 1. 18.), Mac Curtin^s
Copy of the Wars of Thomond,234
T.C.D. (Copy of) O^Clery's Rtfim
Hiughraidh^y 167
Annals of Innisfallen, 58, 60
Annals of the Four Masters, 16 n.,
82, 96, 138, 146, 147, 157, 178,
183, 184, 335, 401, 403, 404, 413,
414, 417, 451, 452, 4,53, 454, 477-
8 n.,482 n.,484 n.,487 n., 509 n.,
535, 543, 644, 646, 570, 571, 605,
628
Annals of Tighemach, 66, 67, 64,
65, 67, 68, 74, 90, 834, 507, 516,
617, 524, 526, 529, 604, 636
Book of Fermoy, 293, 294, 503, 593
Brussels (Burg. Lib.), MSS. in:
173, 232, 340, 361-2, 362, 374,
423, 693, 609, 618, 616, 629
Keating's History: 12, 13, 14, 16,
21, 487 n., 497, 498, 501, 642-5.
King's Inns Lib. (DubL); MSS. in,
660
"Liber Flarus Fergueiorum" : 76,
840, 531
MSS. Quoted, (continued):
" "pn (Brit. Mub.), MSS. there,
Lo^n
London (Brit.Mufl.); (A7aooiigh,49
—4795), Annate of Ulster. 64, 89
London (Brit. Mus.); (daimdoo.
86) : Annals of Ulster, 83, 89
London (Brit.MuB.) ; (Egerton, 88),
886, 684 n., 587 n^ 617
London (Brit. Mus.); (EgatM,
93): Tripartite Life. 104 n.,325,
839, 344, 346-6, 347, 350, 3?<5,
386, 397, 488 n, 505, 538, 598, 6Ul,
606, 608, 609, 617, 625
London (Brit. Mus,); (Egerton,
186;. 360, 609
London (Brit. Mus.) ; (Hari. S28U).
271, 387, 399, 419, 467, 479 n,
486 n., 586 n., 588 n., 618
London (Brit. Mus.) ; M& by GU-
lariabhach O'Clerv. 282
London (Brit. Mus.), Fnigmait of
Annals of Loch C<<; 96, 534, 535
London (Lambeth Lib.); (Carew
MS. No. 607). 434, 635
Mason, Mr. Monck; rdlum MS. ol
479 n., [App. 648.
O'Clery's Glossary; (Copy, 1728),
175, 176, 657, 658
O'Clery ; (Copy of) Poems of Cn-
coigchric^, 179
0*Conor Donn; MS. in possesBioQ
of the. 668 n.
Oxford (BodL Lib.); Auoals of
Inisfalien. 80
Oxford (BodL Lib.); (Cotton, A.
XXV.). 81, 105, 106, 108, J09,
111,639,540
Oxford (BodL Lib.;; (Laud, 488),
524
Oxford (Bodl.Lib.) ; (Laud, 610). 20
Oxford (Bodl. Lib.) ; (RawL, 487>
807, 316
Oxford (Bodl. Lib.); (Bawl., 489),
Annals of Ulster. 88, SO
Rome; MSS. at St. Isidore's in,
166, 238, 807, [App. 644.
6toweM8S.,No.8.114,541
'' Wars of the Danes'*, Poem io.
479 n.
MaodhiSg, Saint, of Feama Mhor
(Ferns); Life of, 340
Maoilchaiha, Rath ; stone work in, 223
MaoUin 6g Mac Bruaideadha, (Mac
Brody); 22, 148, 401
Maolf druid of Conn; [App. 620
Maolchonair€ (see BaUe Ui M,\ 21,
— Clann [App. 663
Maolmura, 103 (and see Maeimair^)
INDKX.
703
yfaolruanaidhy [Mulroony], 96, 97.
— Clann, [the Mac Dermots, Mac
DoDOghs, etc.], O'Duigenans his-
torians of, 21 9
Afaotiy (father of 3/oraiin), 218
Maranach ; Godfrey, 404 [see Mear.^
Marbhan, 31
Marco Polo, Travels of (Book of Lis-
more), 25, 200
Marianus Gorman; Martyrology of,
174, 853, 361 [App. 609
Mark, and the Bishops of Alexan-
dria, 807
Martin, John ; (donation to the Dic-
tionary Committee), 458
Martin, St., 869, 370
Martyr, Conchobhar Mac Nessa ac-
comited the first in Erinn, 277
Martyrologies; 839 et seq., 353, 367,
860 et seq.—of Done^^ (Skele-
ton),173; (Perfect), [0*CleryMS.],
174.— of Tamklacht, 174
Mary's Abbey, St., Dublin (Crosder
oO, 338
Mary, the Blessed Virgin, 869.—
Ancient Litany of the B.V., 357,
380 [App. 615.— age of the B.V.
[App. 509. — Burning of miracu-
lous image of [App. 604
Mason; Collection of Mr. Monck, 26
Mass, form of the ; temp. St. Patrick,
377 [App. 613. — ^Ancient tract on
the Ceremonies of the, 357, 876
[App. 613. — Canon as to absence
from Mass on Sunday, 872
Masses for the Saints, 361
Masttn [App. 486
Masters, Annals of the Four, 140,
156 [App. 543 et seq.
Materials of Irish History, miscel-
laneous, 456
MtUhyhamhain (Mahon), 210. — Mac
Ciit n(fUiif/h , 403. — 0* Conchobhair^
[App. 5'47
Maurice, a Danish chief, 403
Maximus Tyrius [App. 463
May Day, festival of {BelUain^t2S6
Mr Err, 88
Meadhbh, or Medhbh ; (Meave, or
Mab) ; 33, [App. 515, etc.— Tale of
the Courtship of Queen, 282.—
Married to Conchobhar Mac Nessa,
[App. 636.- and tlM Cave of
Cruachain, Tale of [Ajpp. 582.—
Daughter of Conan; Poem by,
[App. 480.
Mranrif 72
Mearanach, [see Maranach'], 404.
Medcfl; Tract on the Kings of the,
88.
Medical Arts of the Tuatha D€ Da-
nawiy 250
Mediterranean, the, 402, 426, 427.—
Ugain€ M^r'a rule, as far as to the,
451
Meisneich [App. 489, 490
MeVs Life of St. Patrick, 849
MelaghUn O'Mulvany, 82
Melbourne ; St. Patrick's Society of,
458
MeU, Ui-; Boman pilgrims settled in,
380, (see ImeU), [App. 616
Mell [App. 488
Menn; Aedh, ^20
Mesca (Intoxication), of St. Colum
Cill€, 406
Mesca Uladh ; Historic Tale of the,
185 [App. 637
Meschoin Muaid [App. 478
Mesdeadadf brother of Conall Cear-
nachy 270
Mesgedhra, Eling of Leinster; Au
thirn^'s visit to, 268, 276. — his
brain (^Conall Cearnach's trophy),
275 [App. 598, 640
Mesroeda ; {Mac Datho\ [App. 486
Metals, worker in; Cretdn€, King
Nuada\ 247 [366
Metre of Chain- Verse (ConacA/ann),
Meyler, 432,— Mac Grath, 238
J/w/cA, physician, 221
Mias Tighernain, the ; (Paten of St.
Tighernan), 838
Miaihlachy the river; (Co. Cork), 434
[App. 635
Michael the Archangel ; Church de-
dicated to, 364
Midhluachra, Slighi-, the, 458
Mid-Erinn ; the kingdom of, 266
Midhchuarta, (the Teach), 187
Midir [App. 608
Milan ; the Bobbie MS. in the Am-
brosian Library at, 27
Milbhedil, Cearmna-, 447
Milchu, [App. 588.— St. Patrick,
swineherd of, 894
Milco ; Bishop Guasactus, son of, 349
Milidh, Mil€, or Mileadh, orMilesius,
147,[App.692 n.— Genealogy of,216
Milesian Colony ; History of the, 440
Milesian Genealogies, the, 206
Miler MacGrath, 283
Miley, Rev. J., translation of ancient
Irish Sermon, published by, 28 n.
Military Expeditions (Sluaigheadha) ;
[" Historic Tales'' of,] 284
Military Schools in Scotland, 279
Miiitic (Maccuboin Magus) [App. 608
Milk Hill, New-, {ArdLeamhnachta),
460
704
IKDBX.
I
J/iorA, son of Diancechtj phyBician, (se
250. [See Miach.] 76
Miosach ; Of the, 886, [App. 699 Mom
Miracles of St. Patrick [App. 609 87J
VwrtcA, or Miosach ; the, 836 [App. Mom
599 ani
Miflcellaneous materialfl of Irish His- Mom
tory, 456 Monl
Mis, SlMhy (in Keny),'448.— (in Mom
Antrim), 894 in^
Mochaemhdff, St. [App. 485, 647 Mom
Mocholmdg (St.); poem on the Ua {D
Corras, 298 [App 598 Mooi
Mochua, St , of Balla (Co. Mayo), 197. tio
— Life of, 840 on
Mochta, Saint, 18, 88, [App. 606.— coi
Book of, (6th century) 19.— Her- More
mitage of, 844. More
Mochuda (^Carthach\ the Rule of St. on
874. — St., of Raiihin and Lismore, 60^
Life of, 840 Mon
Mocteus (5th century), 88 Mi
Mogh Curb, 207 Man
Mogh Nuadhat, 186 Mon
Mogh Ruith, 200.— Archdruid of Mon
Erinn, 272, 402 [see Duggan ; and Moss
Cronin]. Most
Mogue, St. (see Maodhog, St.) 840 Mott
Moinin (see Baik an Mhoimn\ 846 Moui
[App. 607 gh
Moira {Magh Rath) ; Battle of, Tale Movi
of the, 243, 418 Moy,
Molaaa ; the Black Book of Saint, 20 41)
Mohis^, Saint, 330.— Life of, 340 — Moy<
Shrine of, 336 MoyI
Moling, St ; Bishop of Ferns, 23. - Mua\
of Teach Moling, (St. Mullins, 41;
Co. Carlow), 302, 33G. — Church CL
founded at Ros Broc by, 892. — Mua
Evangelistarium of, 23. — Inter- of,
cession as to Boromean Tribute, Mugi
231.— "Prophecies" of, 412 [App. Mwg
628. — Poem on St. John's festival, ma
427 [App. 633.— Life of, 340, [App. Muig
647.— the Yellow Book of, 20.— the etc
BaUif Mholing, 420 [App. 627 Muir^
Moling^ Teach-; (now St. Mullins), Muu
302 ^ J/uiVi
" Moll Downey*', (JMaeil Domhnainn\ Muir<
[App. 485 Muin
Molyneaux; the Cathach found in Muir
Belgium by Mrs., 331 Muir
Mom&a; TocAmarc, T Historic Tale of [A
the), 243, 282 ' Muir
Monach; Cill-, 344 [App. 606 41;
Monasterboice, 53 Muir
Monasterevan, from Saint Eimhin, 40<
335, 351. — Camp of ^eciA Oirnidh€ Muir
near, 364, Muir
Monastery of Clonmacnoise, 68, etc Muir
INDEX.
705
Muiredhach, son of Diarmaid, bxicob-
tor of St. Eimhin, 351
Mmredachy son of Fiacha, 886
Mmreadhaigh, the Siol-; (Murray),
67, 83, 219
Mmrgttij son of Senchan^ 8
Muir n-Ichty the; (Ictian Sea), 454
[App. 592 n. 605
Jftftrmn, the daughter of Derg^ 308
[App. 597
Muirtheunn^ [App. 475, — Briskach
Mh6r Mhaighi', [Ap^. 587.— Tale
of the Battle of, 319
Mulconry; Bookof BaUy, 21
MuUach Moisten; [App. 486
Mullach Ruaidhty the palace of King
Dath^s Queen, 284
Mullens, Saint; {Tigh Moling; Ca
Carlow), 281
Mulroony, (Maolruanaidh) ; 96, 219.
Mulvany; Melachlln 0', 82
Mumham, (Munster), 209.— Assem-
bly under Bishop Ibar in, [App.
616.— the Book of, 237
MuncOy Bishop at Donochmore, 349
Munchin*B, St.; {GUI Manchin; Li-
merick), App. 630
Munster, the Book of, 237 [and see
Mumhain']
MurOf Fatnan', {Fothadh na Ca-
noin€, of; A.D. 800), 419
Murchadh Finn O'Ferghaiil, 102
Murchadh O'Conor, 395
Murchadh, son of Muiredhach, ances-
tor of St Eimhin, 351
Muiredhach Muinderg, 171
Murray, John (1728); MS. of O'Cle-
ry's Glossary by [App. 557
Murray (the Siol Mtnreadhaigh), 57,
83, 219
Muscrigians, the; progress of into
Magh Breaain [App. 593
Museum of the Royal Irish Academy,
321, etc
Music, the Ollamhs of ; qualifications
of, 255
Museum ; visit to the British, in 1849,
345
Musicians, 2, 255
Music ; Petrie's Ancient (Fairy Lul-
laby in), [App. 505.— of women, 334
Mytliical, or legendary, inventions in
ancient Historic Talcs, 38, 39, 242
Mythology ; Fairy, [App. 604
Naas, founded by Lugh Mac Eith-
Unn [App. 478.-Killossy {Cill Au-
saUU) near, 421.— Palace of, 231.
— ^residence of Mesgtdhra, K. of all
Leinster, 268, 270
Noiffraech's stone-builder, Goll, 222
JVae, the son of Cos, 209
Naemhany 650
Naenbalj son of Fenias Farsaidh, 226
Nagle, Sir Richard; the late, 131
Names, family ; first introduced bv
Brian Bormmhe, 214. — the Ol-
lamhs bound to Imow the etymolo-
gies of, 240
Naomhsheanchus Naomh Ins€ FaU,
163
Narrow Water (jCaeluisg€), 236
Naoisi, 276
Natfraechy AenguSy son of [App. 483,
586
National Independence, loss of, 6. —
Literature encouraged by the na-
tive chiefs even after it, 6-7
Natsluaghy son of CaelbadySGS [App.
610
Navan (the Book of the Ua Chongh-
bhaily or of), 20
Neagh, Loch (Loch n-Echach) [App.
691 n.— Historic Tale of the Burst-
ing forth of, 294
Neamnainn ; Cad Ua-, 308 [App. 694
Necklace of red gold, 426
Nechtain ; Dun, [App. 584 n.
Necromancy of children of Cailitin
[App. 587 n.
Needlework ; (the lady Eimer)^ 279
Neglect of antiquarian inquiry in
Ireland, 1-2
Neidh^y son of Adhna, 45, 176, 218,
383 [App. 616
Neidy Ui-; Caniy (Co. Cork), 422
NeillyClanna; the, 336
Neimthenny the judgments of Doet of,
46
Neity son of Indai [App, 590 n.
Nemhidhy 171, 226,— his physicians,
221, 225.— Sons of, at first battle of
Magh Tuireadhy 246.— Tale of the
Immigration of, 295. — his Colony,
referred to by Finntan, 241
Nemedians, ancestors of the Tuatha
D^Dananjiy 244
Nemsenchaidhy 381 [App. 615
Nennius, 53. — Irish Version of [Ed.
Ir. ArchaBol. Soc.), 450 [App 590
n. — Letha named by, [App. 502. —
Translation of, 190
Nennta, Sidh-; (the fairy mansion),
[App. 591 n.
A era [App. 589 n.
jVenn, Inis MaCy (in Loch C^), 93
Nero, conduct of the village, in Ire-
land, 355
**Ne8"; Cormac's Glossary on the
word, 250
Nessa, mother of Conor, 274 [App.
706
INDKX.
1 I
636; [and see ConchMar il/ac
Nessa]
New-Milk Eill, (Ard Leamhnachtd),
460
Newiy Water, (Glenn Righi), 72.—
(lubhar Chinntragha), 287
Nia M6r, 44
Niall, [and see Nigellus, App. 602],
— the oldest charter of the land of,
423
Niall Frasach, Tale of [App. 631
Niall Garbh O'Donnell, 407
NinU Glun-dubh, 387
Niall ''Naoi-ghiallacir (" of the Nine
Hoetage8"),284,328, 360, 386, 464.
—the race of, 208.— Genealogy of
[App. 499. — his death, 464. — ^hig
sons [App. 631. — his expedition to
the Ictian Sea [App. 692 n.
Niaghj Magh; now ilagh Tuirtadh^
246
Nicholson on the Annals of Loch C€,
96
Nigellus (xVia//), intruding prelate at
Armagh (a.d. 1134) [App. 602
Nineveh, 369, 424
Nimn€, 8
Niuly son of Fenias Farsaidhj 226
Noah ; all Genealogies made to begin
from, 216.— and the elders, 368
Noble Saints of Erinn, the, 369
^^ Nochrothaigh'\ FedUm ; (daughter of
K. Conchobhar Mac Nessa)j 49
[App. 614
Nore, the river ; (n-Eoir), 364
Normau invasion, the, 414
Normans, 226, 226. — in Erinn, 422. —
Anglo-, (called Saxons), 387. —
adoption of Irish language, etc.,
by the, 6.— Settlers ; Tales before
the time of the Norman, 299
Nos ; (Cluan Mic Noit), 8
Notaly 381, [App. 615
November Eve, a pagan festival
(Samhuin), 284, 286
Nuadha Airgead-iamh, 246, 247, 249,
Ntiadha FimifdU, (a.m. 4238)^ 83
Nuadha Necltj (Monarch a.m. 6090;
or B.C. 110), 304, [App. 474, 483
*' O" and " Mac", 214
0'Aingidy,211
Oak from Cratloe for the roof of
Aileach, 401
Oar Wheel (see Rowing Wheel), 427,
etc.
O'Barrdan, Johannes, 323
O'Bibsaigh, 103
06/rtn, son of Fidruf 363 [App. 610
O'Boland. 211
QDraoin {Tightrnach), [O'Breen],
67. — Donnchadh^ Abb. of Clon
noise, 419.— Bight Rer. J., Bi
of Cloyne, B^^—Donnchadh^ tt(
[App. 6S2f--Tiprait^, [App. 6
aBnain, 168, 209, 226.--the
named,2l4. — of Eatharlagh [A
low], 211.— of Cuanack, 2
Tadhg, and the Devil, [App. 62
Brian Ruadh, son of Cooor, 234
—Domhnall Mar, 2l2,^Tadk^
of Conor, 234. 235, 236.—
loch, son of Tadhg, 236.— «n
of the house of, 896.- Con<v, 1
der of Corcumioe, 234, 2i
Domhnall Mdr, last King of ]
ster, 234.— Z>onncAa<tt Cairh
234. — Mitircheartach ; Aileaek
stroyed by, 400, 405.— Donodi
of Tadhg, 236.— Muircheartac
1119), 414
0*Briens, the; junior to the
Mahons, 826,— of Ara,tlie,S12,
—of Dufferin, Wezfofd, 21L-
nealogy of the race of the, 2C
Submission of Murchadk to Hi
Vni., 237.— The, in 1194;
236.— Turloch, King of Man
336
0'CaeUaidh€; Aedh, Bishop of .
ghiall, (OrieU), 361
0'Caisid€; Euatdhridhe,(RaryO'i
sidy), 85
O'CaUaghan, 209
O'Cane; O'Mulvany, Chief Poet
82
0*Cannan and O'Clory, historian
the Cinel Conaill (in Donegal),
O'CaomhatHj 126
O'CarroU, 209.— of Ely; O'Riorc
historian of, 219; [and see 0T<
bhuill]
0'Casey,211
O'Cearbhuill, MaeUuthain, 76,' [i^
629, 631
Ocha, or Och€, 66, 88-9, [App. i
488.
Ochtriuilf daughter of the phyak
IMancechtf 260
OX'leirrein ; (Eochaidh), 168. —
historians of the Cinel Eoghain^
O'Clerighj 146. — and 0*Cannan,
torians of the Cinel Conaill (in :
negal), 219. — Conaire, the w
of, \l^—Cucoigchric^j the lait
of, 178 [App. 660.— the works
178, 179.— Two Poems by [i
662.— /cr/cwa, poet of O'Doni
417.- Gilla^jSabhach, M.S.
(1460), 250,-'GillaBiabhach,Vi
Tuathaf, (died 1612), 282.—
INDEX.
707
ghaidh, 142. — his Life of Aedh
Jiuadh, 22.— Michael, 22, 142, et
seq., [App. 645. — as to jF7aw;i [App.
51G. — Glossary, 847. Books re-
ferred to by the O'Clerys, 21, 22.
— Martyrology (of Donegal), 363. —
(Michael) Lives of the Saints, 340,
— Seaan, 19, — other works of the
O'Clerys (besides the Annals), 21,
86, 162, 173
0*Cnaimhin, 211
0'CoinUsg,{Murchadh RiabhacK), 163
O'Colla (Friar Paul), 164
0'Comhra{dh^(q'CvtTTY)j 210
(yConchobhair ; Feidhlvmidh [App.647
O'Connally, 211
O'Connell, John (of Kerry) j Poem on
History of Erinn, by, 350
O^Conuing, 211
O'Conor (Rev. Chas.) on Tighernachj
63, 66 n. [App. 524.— on Flann,
67. — on the Annals of Innisfallen,
80. — on the so-called Annals of
Boyle, 81. — on the Annals of Ul-
ster, 86.— on the Chronicum Sco-
torum, 129. — on the Annals of
Connacht, 113, 117. — on Oisi'n, or
Ossian, 300
O'Conor, Charles, of Belanagare ; on
Flann, 53. — Observation on Annals
of Connacht, called by him of Kil-
ronan, 114.— on MacPherson's Os-
sian, 300
O'Conors, the, 226. — ^the first named,
214. — Character of the house of
the, 1 1 5. — The O'Mulconry s, their
historians, 219. — Cathal Crobh
Dexirg [App. 547. — Toirrdhtalbach
Mdr (l^lrloch), 414. — Birth of,
[App. 536. — Rudhraidhe (mon-
arch, A.D. 1156—1172), 361, 398,
iH. — Murchadh, Lord of Offkly,
395.— of Corcomroe [App. 630.—-
the founder of the, 346
O'Conor Dorutj 116. — MS. in posses-
sion of, 356.
O'Cormacan, 210
O'Cronins of Fermoy, descended from
Afof/h RuUh, 272
(rCul/eamfiain (Cullen), [App. 488
OUMndiis {Murchadh Riubhach), 192
O'Cuiruin, 79. — GioUa Caomhain-^
1(\3. — Historian of the 0*Ruarcs,
*2\0.-^Sigraidh', 183, 184
O'Daly (Hugh), 195
O'Davoren, 121.— Law Glossary by,
123. — Donnell-; MS. by, (a.d.
1590), 886
O'Dea, 210.— Fosterers of Turloch
O'Brien (a.d. 1270), 236
0*Deorans of Lehister, the, 848
Odhar, 30, 169
Odhbha, Battle of (1072) ; 421
O'Doherty, 183
O'JJomhnuUl, [(ODonneW), the first
named, 214. — the name occurs
288 times in the Annals of the
Four Masters ; (O'Brien 264 times'),
158. — Aengusy 834. — Domhnatl^
Colonel (1723), 827, 831.— JWa^A-
nus (Life of St. Colum CilU, by),
828.— the O'Donnells, 827, 330.—
Poems on the (O'Clery MS.), 17a
--Aedh Dubh, i07.—Aedb Ruadh
(Hugh Roe), 22, 896, 406.—
O'Clery's Life of, 22.— a Conn-;
basely fighting on the English side,
407. — at Beal an atha Buidhe
(1598), ^n.—Ball Deara, 406.—
Brother Bonaventura, 147. — Cal-
bhach, son of Manus, 407. — Coirn,
i07.—Domhnan Mdr (1241), 406.
—Conally 331.— List of Obits of
the [App. 670. -—Manus, 407.—
Niall Garbh, 407.— Hugh i of Lark-
field, [App. 570.— Sir Neal, 381.
— Sur Richard Annesley, 881.—
Toirrdhealbach [App. 566.— O'Don-
nells called ''Conair, 415.— O'Don-
nells, the historians of the; (see
Cinel Conaill), 219.— O'DonneH's
Life of St. Colum CilU, 407 [App.
540. [gus, 834
O'Domhnallain, (O'Donnellan), Aen-
O'Donnelly (Owen), 195
O'Donovan, Dr. John, 99. — on the
name Letha [App. 603.— mistaken
comments on the preference of
O'Gara to O'Donnell, 167.— his
edition of the Annals of the Four
Masters, 86, 160, 160, 445.— his
Grammar, 457
O'Dowda ; Bally-, 223.— Ceremony of
the Inaguration of, 126 [App. 542
O'Driscolls, 190.— of Cork, of the
Ithian race, 207
0' Drama ; Solomon, 483
O'Dubhthaigh, 82, 94
O'Dubhghennain, (see 0*Duigenan),
94, 145
O'Dugan, 178. — Historian of the
O'KeUy's, Jbh Main^, 219, 658.
O'Duggans of Fermoy descended from
Monh RuUh, 272
O'DuMn^, Diarmaid, 313, 315
O'Duigenans, 94, 145,— Book of the,
22, 23.— Historians of Clann Afaol-
ruanaidh (MacDermotts, MacDon-
achs,ctc.), 219. — of Eilronan ; An-
nals of the, 118
Hill
'1
708
INDEX.
OFei
0*I>um6tt historian of the race of
Eoghan M6r, 219
(yDmnn'a Poem on the Kings of
Leinster [App. 484 n,
Oenach Clochair (Manister, Ckmntj
Limerick), 805
Otngobay son of Obkn^ 868, [see Atn-
goba, App. 610.]
Otngtu, 44, 46, 48, 9B5, etc. (and see
AenguSJiSoa of NaUluagh, 863
[App. 610
Oenna; Mac Nia, son of [App. 605
(yFerghaiU {Murchadh Finn), 102
OTergus, Dr. John, 98.— Book of
'Liber Flavns Ferguslorum*'), 76
[App. 531
h erndl^B conntrj ; O^Mulconiys, his-
torians of, 219
OffaUy iUa Failgh^, 302, 365, 895
Official records of the Genealogies,
etc., 203-4
G'Flamn, 399
O'Flaithbhtartaigh fOTUherty), 63,
211, — the, descenaed from oenach,
son of Duach Tengumha, K. of Con-
nacht (ad. 499), 15.— Mac GiUi
Kelly historian of, 219.— Ca/Aa/,
102,— on the FUi [App. 462, 469
OTlanagan ; Theophilus, 366
QFlannagain (^Eochaidh), 20, 138 —
Muirchtartach, son of Fhiikbhear-
tach [App. 647
O'Floinn, Eochaidh, 69. — (/?ticfA-
raidhe)^ 102. — ^Poemon Aengus Oil-
mucadh, 241.— Poem on the Tuatha
D€ Danann, and Battle of A£agh
Tuireadh, 241,— C7i Fhloinn, [App.
548.
0*Flynn (see Ui Fhhinn) [App. 548
QGara, 20d.—Ferghal, 146 [App.
640, 648 — the expatriated Friar,
356. — Succession of the Chiefs of
the [App. 646
Ogham writing, 41, 80 [App. 464,
468, etc.— Ancient tract on, 190. —
Inscription on Oscar's Tombstone,
304.
Ogma " Grian Aineach'\ 249
0*Gloiam, 211
O'Gorman ; Maurice, 104, 167 [App.
639,— the Chevalier Thomas, 104
O'Grady, 210, 237.— Mr. Standish
Hayes [App. 690 n.
O'Griffy (Griffin), 237
O'Hanlon, 73
O'Hara, 1U2, 147, 209.— the O'Haras
[App. 648
O'aariagain ; Cinaeth, 205. — Poem
by [App. 479, 613, 643.
0*Hea, 210
O'H'Eaghra, CO*Haia) (Ihutrettn),
102, 147 [App. 546
O^Heeren, 88, 178
O'Hehir (Hare), 287
O'Higgins, 180
0*Hogan, 211.
aSuidhrm (0*Heerin>.-> Gt2b aa
Naemh, 88, 178
(yHurly. 2^10
Ot=^ot, 177,
Oiblen, 863 [App. 610
Oi Conchobhar; St. UUany son of
[App. 608
OieachCAileaeh), 401. etc
OiUan Darair€ Q' Valentia UfauHfO,
272
Oilean na Naemk, 111 [App. 589
OiUn, stone builder of Cbnstantinmle,
222
OilioU Oluim, 43, 96, 207, 208, 361.
—Death of, 812.— Genealogy of
the races from, 168, 208, 209
Oifltriallaich, Carn, 100
Oirchis, or Airchis ; (" nWTCy^ ; 879
J[App* 616-
Otrear Cfunn, 287
Oirdnidhe, Aedh ; Monarch, 868
Oisin, 200, 209, 299, 800, 894 et seq.
— Poems ascribed to, 801 et seq.,
304.— Otnh and CaoilU, dialogue
with St. Patrick, 200
OiTTB, orAideadha; ("Tragedies'^
— [" Historic Tales", Na 6], 278
O'Karbri, Johannes, 828
O'Keef, 209, 211
O'KeUy,— the race of, 208.— of Ihh
Mami; 0*Dugan, the historian of,
219
O'Kcnnedy, 211.— Jfoc an Ghobhans
historians of, 219
OlioU Olum, 96, etc. (see OiUoU)
Oil; Uch-, the; (the Great Lamenta-
tion), 49
Ollamhs, 2, 12, 14,29, 74, 204 [App.
462.— the duties of the, 239, 248.
their education, 240. — Classifica-
tion of, 241. — Duty of, in keeping
the Geneak>gies, 204.— Qualifica-
tions of an Ollamh by law, 204,
241, 265.— of Music ; qualifications
of the, 256
Ollamh Fodhla,2lS
Ollarbha, Battle of, 807
O'Liddy, 210
0*Lochain; Cuan, 9, 42, 63 [App.
496 ; — correction of translation ^a
word in his poem on Tara, 10 n.
O'Lochlainn of Burren« 212, 235 [App.
630
0 Longan, 120
INDEX.
709
OfLorcan, (Larkin\ 211
G*Lwnin, 86, 86 [App. 633.— in Fer-
znanagh, 212.— (Gillapatrick-), 86,
169
CMeachair (O'Meagher), 147
CMahonjf ht)m AUgenan^ 210
CMain^, 211
O'Maelch0fiair/,U5 [App. 663; 644
O^Maeilsechlctinn; Domnall Breagh-
ach, 387.— /2oen, 413, 414
0*Meara, firom Ailgenatiy 210
**Omma Monnmenta usque Cimba-
oth'', etc., 68, 67, 68, 70, [App. 618,
619
OfMuireadhaighy 100
O'Mulconry, 79, 176.— Paw/m, 118.—
Historians of the O'Conors, 219
O'MuUoy, Hugh, 98
0*Mulvany, Melaghlin, 82
O'Muirg, 100
aNeachtain, 196, 210. — Tadhg
(1716) ; forged "prophecy" by, 418
[App. 628
CTNearnhnainn; Cael, 308 [App. 694
O'Neill, 208, 214.— the first named,
214.— the race of, called "Eoghan",
416. — a man of the clann, ** pro-
phecy" of, 418. — the O'NeiUs of
Ciaie, 210.— the Cenel Eoahain,
407.— Brian; alliance with fadhg
0*5r»eii,236,— O'Dugan's poem,668
O* n-Eoghany 210
Onna (Harper and Musician), 217
On Festiyal of St John Baptist, 429.
App 634
Ophelania, 433
O'Quhm, 210
O'Rafferty, DonneU (Abbot of Kells),
831
O'Raghallaigh, 101
Orainn (qu. Crainn) [App. 470
Orator of Dublin, the; {ConamkaU),
403
Oratory, ritual for consecration of an,
357, 378
Order of Poets, qualification of the,
220
Orders, holy; unqualified candidate
for, 372
Orders of Wisdom ; the Seven, 9
Ordination of the FiU (le. Poet, Doc-
tor), 2
Ordnance Survey, the, 370
O'Reardon, 209, 217
0*Regan, 211
O'Riada, (now Reidy), 210
CRiain, (O'Ryan), [App. 488
Oriel {Airghiall), 361
O'Riordan, 209.— Historian of O'Car-
roll of Ely, 217
Ornamentation of Croziers, etc., by
Bishop Tassach, 368
Ornaments; of feathers on a poet's
gown, 383. — on shrine of Domh-
nach Airgid, 322.— in B.LA. Mu-
seum, 38 n.
O'Ruairc, 101. — Brian na Murtha,
194.— of Breifn^, the, 336, 337, 398.
*— the 0*Cuimins historians of the,
219. — Ualgarg, 398. — William
Gorm, 308
O^Ruanaidk, John, 82
Oscar ^ son of Owin, 300, — Ogham in-
scription on Tomb of, 304
O'Scoba ; 100, — of Clonmacnoise, the
books of, 21, 100
O'Scully, 210
O'Seasnain, 210
O'Sheehaa, 211
O'Siodhachan, 211
O^Slebhin, GillacomguUl ; (chief poet
of UladK) App. 479
Osnadhy Cill-; (Battle of) [App. 483,
686 n.
Osraighe (Ossory), 17, 302, 421,
etc.
Ossian [see Outn], 297, 300, et seq.
Ossory, 17 ; — Donnell Mac Gilla Pa-
trick, K. of (1166), 421.— ifa^A
Raighn^ in, 302
Ostend; Irish MSS. written at (1631),
366
O^Suileabhain, meaning of the name,
267 (see 0*Sullivan)
O'Sullivan, 209. — Meaning of the
name, 267. — the, senior to Mac
Carthy, 226
O'Taidhg; {Gilla na Naemh), 102
O'Troighthigh, 346 [App. 607
Othna, 42, 63
OTuomy, 211
Ounce, an; (Uing^9) [App. 493
Owen, 210. — Bace of the family
called, 210
Oz, bare rib of an ; presented to Conn,
888
Oxen, Hill of the {Drom Damhghairi,
— Knocklong), 271
Oxford; MSS. in, 26.— Copy oiFeliri
compared, 371
Paidin O'Mulconry, 118
Pagan worship; pretended, [App.
686 n.
Painting of the eyebrows, 809
Palestine, 222
Palladius, St., 342, 398
Paper not used in ancient Erinn
[App. 470
Paris; Bibliotheque Nationale, 26
Paps of ^inami, the, 809
710
IXDEX.
Parchment; birch wood used before
invention of [App. 470
Partholan, 171, 225,— Brecany son of
[App. 587 n. — Colony referred to
by i'inntan, 241. — his physician,
221. — ^Tale of the Immigration of,
294-6
Parthians and Bactrians, the; of com-
mon descent with the Gaedhil;
(from Magog, son of Japhet), 205
Paste, blae and red; ornaments in,
823
Paten of St Tighernain ; (the Mias
Tighemain), 838
"Patricius Cothirthiacns [App. 608
Patrick, St. ; and the noble saints of
Erinn, 369. — Letters in Erinn be-
fore, 4. —Buried at Down, 410.
— the Canon of, 373 [App. 612.
— Ard- Patrick (Co. Limerick),
808. — Cothraw/, another name for
[App. 623. — £eac Phatraic, or C*or-
raig Phatraicc (the Rock of Cashel)
[App. 623. — Croriers of (and espe-
ciaUy the BachaU losa [App. 600,
etc), 603 n.— His chariot, St. Seek-
naif, and St. Fiacc [App. 606.— His
miracles first collected by St Colum
CaU [App. 608 BeU of Saint,
336, 337 [App. 631 n. — Gospels,
a relic of Saint, 321. — Brogan, the
scribe of, 308.— Death'of (March
17, 493), 416.— Miracles of [Ai)p.
609. — His Dialogue with CaoiU€
and Oisin, 200.— His Law of Affi-
liation, 225. — Mac Cecht, one of the
three smiths of, 337. — Saved from
poisoned drink, 370. — Sketch of his
nfc in Book of Armagh, 347.— The
Cuilefadh of, 336.— Tripartite Life
of, etc., 339 et seq., 342-3 [App.
G09.— The tooth of, 33S<.— The fes-
tival of, 368 [App. 811
Patrick the Younger; life of St Pa-
trick by, 349
Paul (old); and Spiritual Directors,
368
Pedigree, a, distinguished fh>m a ge-
nealogy, 214
Pedigrees and Genealogies, the Books
of, 203. — of the Irish saints, 353,
367, 358.— of Mac Firbis, Book of,
121, 216 [App. 541.— of " scholar-
ship", [App. 495— of St Eimhin,
351,— of the Dalcassians, 209
Penal Laws ; Duald Mac Firbis one
of the victims of the, 122
Penitential Pilgrimage to sea, a, 292
Pentateuch, the; (the Deich m-Brei-
thir), 9, 31
Persecutions of religion in Irebuid.
Personal descriptions in tale of
Tain Bo Chuailgn^, 38.— Desc
tion of Connac Mac Airt, 44
Pestilence in 1095, 404
Peter and Paul, church dedicate
Saints, 325
Peter, Epistle of, firom heaven, 66::
— and the apostles and disciples,:
Petrie, Dr. George ; on the Sfihrti
Tara, 11, 12.— on the ancient b
16.— on the murder of Duald 3
Firbis, 122. — on the autograph
the Annals of the Four MaA
149.— his Paper on Tara, I^, I;
885.— on Litany of Aengos. 3^
381. — on the Ordnance Son
370 — Possessor of a b^ ol St 1
trick, 337. — his work on the Roq
Towers ; mistake in, corrected. 3
— his Ancient Music ; fairy Inlli
in [App. 505.— -Description of I
Domnnach Airffid, 322
Pharaoh=Faro, 869.— Ceogris, 44
Philip de Breusa, 433
Phillipps, Sir Thomas, 26
PhUosopher (Fi/0, [App. 462
Philosophy, or Poc^try; the four di
sions of, 240
Physicians; (the first in Erinn), 2
— treatment of ConcAMar M
Nessa by his, 276
Picts, the; {Cruithne/inns), 2SS. V'
— high spirit of the, 224 [App. ^
— references to the, 414. 417
Pictish Tale ; the ** Treachery
Scone", a [App. 591 n.
Pictish word; ** Cartaif\ the or
one preserved, 20
Pictiers (Poictiers) ; the Picts in, 4
Pig of Mac Datho, the [App. 48*;
Pillar Stone ; the Plam of the, (Mo
an Charthf, in Scotland), 287, 'J-
—the, of CnamhchoUl; 385, 402
Pilate's wife, 367
Pilgrimage; of SnedAgvs and 3/
Riaghla, 333. — ^to sea; a penitc
tial, 292
Pilgrimages to the Holy Land, 38*J
Pilgrims, Roman, in Erinn, 381
Pillows, 310
Pinginn [App. 493-4
Pipers, 248
Plague (in a.d. 1095), 404,— Fic
on the festival of St. John Bapti
385, 402, 404
Plagues of the 7th and 8th centuri
425
Pknts, healing; bath medicated wi
250
INDEX.
711
Plato; Maximiu TyriuB, school of
[App. 463
Poems and Tales ; Of the Imagina-
tive, 296
Poems, Ancient Historical ; (O'Clery
MS.;, 173.— On the O'Donnells of
Donegal (O'Clery MS.), 173.—
Fenian, 299, 301. — Religious, by
early saints, 367, — Poem to the
Holy Trinity, St. Colum CilU'8,S29
Poet; A dhna, the, 383
Poetess ; Etan^ the, 248
Poets (see FiU), 2, 240, 243.— Quali-
fication of the Order of, 220.—
the seven degrees of, 220. — the
official gown of a (Tuighen)^ 383.
— Privileges of, taken away, 384.
of Comi, the three, 388 [App.
620.
Poetry (see Philosophy), 240.— The
Twelve Books of, 301. — ^.^ibbrevia-
tion in MSS. 18 n.
Poictiers (Pictiers), the Picts in, 450
Poisoned drink; St. Patrick saved
ftx)m, 370, — poisoned weapons of
the Britons of Fotharta, 450, —
Oengus poisoned spear, 44.
Pull'bttf; (Lighthouse of, near Dub-
lin), 269
Polo ; Marco [see Marco], 26, 200
Pope, Supremacy of the, in St. Pa-
trick's time, 373 [App. 612
Portico thatched with wings of birds,
311
Port Lairg€ (Waterford), 60
Portloman; parish of, (Westmeatli),
285
Port I»atrick, 287
Posts, four (to beds), 311
Prayers, Ancient Forms of, 357, 378
Preface to O'Clery's Glossary [App.
558,— to O'Clery's Ltahhar Uahh-
a/a [App. 654,— to O'Clery's R^iti
lliograidhe of [App. 548
Prerogative; assertion of royal, re-
sisted, 333
Priestliood ; Canon on Education for
the, 372
Priests clad in white [App. 605. —
English persecution of Irish, 356
Primacy of Ardmarha (Armagh), 373
[see Canon of St. Patrick. [App.
612].— Hereditary succession to,
390, 400.
Primogeniture, rule of, 227
Prim-act'ia, " Prime Stories**, 243, 251
Printing ; effect of discovery of, 6
Priscian, Codex of (at St. Gall;, re-
ferred to by Zeuss, 27
privilege of bunting, royal, 333
Privileges of an Oilamh, etc., 3
Probus, 390, 397
Profession of a champion, 279
Professor; the Classical (Ferleighiun)y
2n., 9n., 56, [App. 495
" Prophecies" ; Of the so-called, 382
et seq., 410. — Political use made of
forged, 430.— as to the Death of
Conor Mac Nessa, 275. — Druidical,
284, 386-7 [App. 617.-in ancient
Gaedhilic "i?ai7^", 385.— of St.
Patrick, by Finn Mac Cumhaill^
303. — Use made of forged ; by Sir
G. Carew, (a.d. 1602), 344 [App.
6,35-6,— Passages from Cambrensis
(Expug. Hib.) concerning some,
432, [App. 634
Prophet and Poet ; office of, at Tara,
399
Protestant Archbishop of Cashel, the
first, 233
Protestant persecution of Catholics,
442
Province ; Sreng's, 246 [App. BG3,
Psalms, copy of the; St. Colum
CaWs, 321,327
Psalter, [see Saltair'LWy etc.
Ptolemy Lagus (Toiameus Mac
Lairg€) [App. 521
Qualifications of a Poet, 220, 243
[App. 583-4.— of an OUamh, 239-
40, etc. — of an Ollamh of Music,
265.
Race, Foot- ; with Caei7/<f [App.587 n.
Bace, the Red-haired man^s; the
Tliree Conns, of, 407
Baces in Erinn, characteristics of
the, 223
RachUiinnj 38. — Congats adventures
in the island of, 262
Bahan (King's County), [see Raith-
f«], 340,374.
Raighnf, Magh- ; the grave of Goii
in, 302
Ratth Chumhaill (Rathcoole), 403
Raith Muighif (Rathmoy, or Ratoo,)
[App. 631 n.
Raithin (Rahan, King*s County), St.
Mochuda of, 340. — Ecclesiastical
city of, 374
Rnith Mddhbhif [App. 480
Ramhach (see Roth Itamhach\ 385,
401, 421, 423, 427
Randall, the son of Amhiff, 403
Ranks of learned men in ancient
Erinn, 2 et seq.
Ranna ; Mac Kamara of, lino of, 234
Rann^ Saltair na; the, 21, 360 (and
see 609).
Ransom of a noble; a MS. the, G
r
712
INDEX.
Bi^hoe {Rath Bhotha), tOO, [App.477
Rath (see also Raiih)
Rathangan (JZateA Inuihain) [App.487
Bath Beagh (Raiih Beothaigh), i49
Rath Bhotha (Baphoe), 100, [App.
477
Rath Breisi; Balur, builder of, 222
Rath Chormaic (at Tara), 402
Rath Colptha (now Baholp, Down)
[App. 608
Rathcoole, (Co. Dublm) (Raith Chu-
mhaill), 403
Bathconnac(CaCork); Cam Tigher-
naigh near, 267
Rath Cro, 416
Rath Cruachan, 33, 36
Bathlin Island (Rechrainn), 280
Baths, Forts, and Cathairs, 449
Batisbon ; shrine in monastery of, 336
BaviUy (^Raith Biligh) [App. 488
Baymund, 432
Becapitulation (Lecture XXL), 435
Rechraintif now Bathlin Island, 280
Rectaidh Rig-derg [App. 521
Bed Hand, CaMaVof the [App. 547
Bed-Heads, the tliree [App. 483,
587 n.
Bed-haired man*s race; the three
Conns, of the, 407
Beeves, Rev. W.; edition of Adam-
nan's Life of Colum CilU, 342.—
edition of Primate Colton's Visi-
totion [App. 613
Beferences to Historic Tales, etc., as
serious authorities, 241
'^Reformation, the**; iconoclast rage
of [App. 604
Regamam; the Cow-Spoil of, (Tale
of) ; [App. 585 n.
Believo, alto; ornaments on shrine,
322
Beichcnau, Irish convent at; MS. for-
merly at, 27, 28
Beidy, (O'Riada), 210
R^m Rioghratdhe, 162 [App. 548 et
seq.
R^in, Ftdhnacha Magh, 898
Belies, 321, 332, 335, 336, 368, 406.—
of St. Colum Ct/ZiT, 406.--Iconocla«t
rage at the '* Beformation** [App.
604
Beliquary, 326, 336
Renduin, 108
Reochaid Mac Fatheman, 38 [App.506
Reta M6r, Laighes, [App. 481-2
"Bhetoric", [App. 042.
Riabhach O' Cuindlis {Murchadh), 192
Riabhach 0' Coinlisg (^Murchadh), 163
Riaduy Cairbr€y (ancestor of Dalria-
dan race), 516
Riagan, (O'Began), 211
Riaghaii do rightktbk, 198
Riaghail (St.), on the Semap a Fa-
nait, 428,
Riaghla, Mac^ 333; — and Snedgu;
Tale of the Navigation of, 289
Bib of an ox, and of a boar, 388
JW6A, (ZocA), 109
Ripdomy, 38 L^pp. 506
Righbaird; Raith [App. 591 n.
Rt^he, (Glenn), 72, 73
Rtph'Dhamhna [App. 475
Rufh^f the river; (/2a» na Ragk\ 260
Ringm or Rigruiy stone-boilder oC
AUeachy 222
Bings-End, near Dublin, 269
Rioghraidhe; {R^tm-), 162 [App. 548
et seq.
Ri Raithj the ; of Tara, 387
Bitual for Consecration of a Chnrcfa,
ancient, 357
Boad, ancient ; from Naas to Tara, by
Claen, 270.— Boad of Cualaim, the
great, 259
B(Mids, the Five ; finished in the time
of Conn, [see S/ighe], 63.
Robhartuighj Ua ; Ziomhnall, 331
[App. 599
Boche (Fr.) Bishop of Kildare, 151
Boden, Earl of; (Mac Firbis aato-
graph), 227
Bods of gold-bronze [bed rods], 310
Roen, son of Muircheaitadi, royal
heir of Tara; 413
Roiqh n€ Rosgadach, 218
Roileag laoch LeUh€ Ckuinn, 164
Roilgechj Druim; Crmmthir Cotiaiif
from [App. 608
Roirtnn [App. 487
Roirend (in Offaly), 302
Rots f the Fera^; [App. 641, — Fiackay
king of; 333
Boland the Brave; Story of, 25.
Boman Consul, Altus a; 277, [App.
642.— Boman letters, undal or cor-
rupt, 324. — PUgrims, the three
times fifty in Erinn, 381 [App. 615
Bomans, excessive pride of the, 224
[App, 580
Bomantic Adventure of CwJiulavm
in Rtchraim, 280
Bome ; in " Letha"* [App. 604, 616.—
Cir stone-builder of, 222.---Supre-
macy of (temp. St. Patrick), 373
[App. 6l2.~the holy Bishops of,
369.— College of St. Isidore, in, 26,
156, [App. 644.— Altar of St. Peter,
in, 662-3.— pilgrimage of Conall to,
662-3
Rondin; Caeilt^Mac, 306, 307
INDBX.
713
Jtonan, E. of Leinster (a-d. 610)
[App. 588 n.--TRle d[ Motif athar-
taighy son of; 277. — Bonan Mac
Aedha, 194
Ros; the Chief FiUot Erinn, 170.—
Argat-j 449, fand Bee Bats],
Ros, son of Rudhraidy [App. 465
Roa Broc (Badger Wood), 302.— St.
Moling^s Church at, 392
Ro8 na Righ, 187, 266.— DoMTs arri-
▼al at, 286.— Battle of, 187 [App.
589 n.
Boscrea; St. Cronan of, 335
Bosses of Sliabh Bdn (Connacht); the
three, 426
Ross Ruadhy 84. [App. 513
Ross^ the Fera-y 333, [App. 641
Boss, men of; sent out on the sea, 333
Bossmore, Lord (preserver of the
Domnach AirgtcT), 327
Roth Ramkach ("Bowing WheeP,
the) ; " Prophecy of the", 385, 401,
421, 423, 427
Bound Tower at Aengus* Church,
LHseri Aengusa, 364. — Petrie*8
Work on the Bound Towers, 381
Boyal Branch; the Champions of
the, 270, 274
Boyal heir of Tara; Roen^ 413
B.I.A.; Collection ci MSS., in the
Library of the, 24
Boyal residences in Erinn; the chief,
[App. 588 n.
RuaJh, 96,— Kmg DaMs Queen, 284
Ruadhan, St. ; Bell rung by, at Tara,
337
Ruaidridhh^ OCaisid^ 85
Ruamann, the Dane, 403
RudhraidAe, 96. — Monarch, (b.c. 212)
[App. 465, 474.— Zoc^ 429
Budridan or Ultonian race; Aengus
C«t7irZV of the, 363
RuUhcheam [App. 590 n.
BuLsa, Ecclesiastical, 357, Zl^.—lAo-
nactic (of Discipline;, 357, 373.—
of St. Colum CUl^ the, 374 [App.
613.— of the Gray Monks, 375
Bumoid, St. ; Ward's Life <A, 381
Bushet, floor strewn with, 310
Bye, the (the riYcr Righ€), 266
SabhaU Phatraic, (Saul, Co. Down),
20
Sadhbh (SaUna), [App. 515,5850.—
death of, 312
SaerUreatAack, (Latinized ^'Joftl-
nus", or JusttD), Biabop, 293
Satrrlannaibhk'Erenm^ ArgainCkmr'
pri Cmn-caiiforr, 262
Sai, I see Sam], 2o, 1>^ [App. 4^1,
462
Saiphir Chiarain ; Story of [App. 531
Satghir (King's Co.); St. Ciarancft,
340 342
Saingel (Singland), Battle of, 396
Saints ; Erinn called the Island of,
320. — Ancient inyocations to the,
357, 380,— Genealogies and Pedi-
grees of the Irish, 853, 357, 358.—
LiTCS of the, 339 et seq, 342, 357
St Gall, in Switiserland; Irish MS&
in Monastery of, 27, 379
Saint MuUina, [see Tigh Moling\ 281
Salbhuidhe, Echaidh ; (father of iV«-
«a), 262 [App. 636-7
Salchoid; (Sallyhead, Tlpperary),
Battle of, 403
Sallair na Rann, the, 21, 360.— the
spurious [App. 609
Sahair of Caisel (Cashel), 19
Saitair of St Bioemarch, 28
5a/^air of Tara, 9, 10, 11, 41, 42, 204
[App. 464, 496,— 656-7
Samhainy or FestiYal of Norember
Etc, 284, 286, 418 [App. 466
Samhair, the river [App. 485
Samhna, Cnoc; Battle of, 312
Sanctuary ; of the OUanUCa wand, 3.
—with St. Colum CilU, 328
Sanskrit ; Gen. Vallanoey's specula-
tiona from, 300
Saoi Candin^ [App. 495
Saoi, 2, 8, 18, 29, 42, 57, 74, 76 [App.
461, 462, 463,
Saracens; strength of the [App. 580
Saraid [App. 515
Sdran, 874
Satire, the first in Erinn, 248
Satirists, 248
Saul, SQO^Sabkaa Phairaic), Co.
Down, 20
Saxon Saint, Qildaa a, 353
Saxons, ^* powerful and tyrannical**,
418.— the gray, 396.— ** the creep-
ing'', dullness of, 224, [App. 581.—
Twenty thousand, kifled ; C' pro-
phecy'^ of), 418.— sway in Erinn,
422^" wicked", 423.— Women, 3.
— "Prophecy" of the coming oi
the, 387
ScdU; Ath in^ [App. 481 the DaUi
an-, 385, 419 [App. 618
sal, the, 390
Scaihat.h of Buanainn [App. 503
Scattery laland (Irus Cathaigky, 339
ScamlinaTlan ; Pwgall Monack dia-
guiaed aa a, 279
Hrariff rC>. Clares 267
SmiJiwA { MilitJfT School of Om
tith Ifldr, 279, [App. GH9 n.
Sr^l air Chairf/ri Ctm^^M, 19^
46
J
714
IHDBZ.
iWJ
Seel Fiachna mic Reatakh, 198
Sc^ (Tales), 242, 24a, 282
Schdanhip, "Pedigree** of [App. 495
SchooU, Military; in ScoUJEUid, 279,
fApp. 689 n.~SchoolB of DiTinity
in Erinn, 291
Scholar, a; 2n.
Sciadh ard na Con [App. 640
Sciath-bel; Crimhthann, 450
SdathBhacall; Cono//, 331
Scone, the Treachery of [App. 591 n.
Scoriath^ King of the Feramorca in
West Munster, 253
Scota, {Fert Scota) ; {Gieann Scot-
thin); 448
Scotland ; Of Flann's Synchropisms of
the Kings of, 55,— School of Eoch-
aidh Echbhedtl m, 383.— the Dal-
riadanraceof, 412, 414, 415.— the
Saints of, 369. — curachs trading to,
257,— /-ererfacA Finn, King of, 287,
288,— Military Schools in, 279
Scotomm ; the Chronicum, 120, 126,
128 [App. 542
Scots (Milesians) the, 450
Scott, Sir Walter, 297
Screene; in Tireragh, Sligo; (Jft//-
lachRuaidhe\ 284 ; [andsee^cat/f].
Screpall [App. 493
"Screptra" of Maelsuthain O'Cear-
bhuill, 79
Scripture Genealogies, 205
Scriptures, ancient copies of the, 321
Scuap a Fanaity the, 420, 421, 423,
426, 428 [App. 632, 634
Scythia, 222, 447
Seaany 19, — son of Cucogry O'Clery
[App. 561
Sea, the Ictian (^Muir n-Ichi)^ 454
[App. 592 n., 605
Sead, Loch Btl, 426, 427
Stadna, 209
Seaghais ; Battle of, (a.d. 499), 499
Seanadh mhic Maphnusa, 22
Seanaigh, Ath- ; (Ballyshannon, Co.
Kildare), 420
Seanarj the Phdn of, 15
Seanchoj son of Ailell, 218
Seanchas Mdr (see Senchus), 16, etc.
Seanchadh, 46
Seanchaidhe, 3, 204
Seanchua, in TireriU, 171
Seanchuachf the O^Duigenans of, 22
Seangarmna, Tipra (in Kerry) ; 306
[App. 594
Seandrach, Agallamh na, 307, [App.
594
Stachnailly Domhnach, (Dunshaugh-
Un; [App. 606
Sechnall, St. •, 344,— (" Secundinus",
373, 610,— his Hjnm, 352.— St.
Fiacc and St. Patrkk [App. 606
Seciuidiniui(SeacAfia^37a [App. 612
Sedna, the "proj^iet^ 422 — **Pn>.
phedes** of [App. 627, 628
Segetius, priest under St. German
[App. 601
Setrqltgh€ Choncukmmy the [App.
637-8
Seia (knowledge) [App. 461
Selga, Dumha ; (hunting moond), 391
Senach, 15
Senait Mic Maghnusa ; the Annsb
of, called Annals of Ulster [qn. v.],
52, 74, 83, 85, 117, [App. 533, etc
Senan, St. (of Inis CcUhaigk, or Scat-
teir), Life of, 339
StncJian Torpeisi^ 8, 2d, 30, 41
5eiicAi«M<fr,the,l6,91[App.617;655
Seniority, ancient law of pr^erence
by, 261
Seradh; Magh [App. 489, 490
Strcay (Love Stories), 294
Scrinium, or reUquary, 326
Sermons, Homilies and ; ancient, 357
Seudgoy 217
Sexton, family of, 210
Sheeling, Loch; (iStVeann), 418
Sheep, the Widow's ; case of, 43-4,
Sbenar, the Plain of; (Seanar), 15
Shetland Islands inhabited by Fomo-
xians, 249
Shield, Ck>nall of the Cnmer, 331
Ship, the strange; called the Both
Ramhachy 401
Shrine of the arm of St. Lachtawy 211
Shrine belonging to Mr. Monseli, 335
Shrmes ; Traceries on, 323,— in Mu-
seum of R.LA., etc., 321, 336
Sianarty the (plaintive song), of the
Women of Erinn, 334
Sidhe {Bean-sidhey Fersidhcy) [App.
504
Sidh Neannia, the fairy mansion
[App. 591 u,"-Siogmali of y 286
Sieges; (Historic Tales — Forboia),
267
Sigmally 286,— the £ury mansion of
[App. 591 n.
Sipraidh O'Cuirmny 183
Stleann, Loch (Loch Sheeling); the
gloomy waves of, 418
Silks for dress, 310
Sil Muirtdhaighy [see Siot]^ 115
Silver Hand, Nuada of the, 246, 247
Silver ; door-lintel of carved, 310.
Simeon Breac in Thrace, 244
Simon Magus, 402, 403,— i/o^A Rwth
educated in the East by, 272
5m, the Banshee [App. 599
INDEX.
715
Singland, Co. Limerick (5atii^e/),
Battle of, 396
Siogmall of Sidh Neatmta, 286
Siol Mmreadhaigh ; the Race of the,
(Murrav). 67, 83, 219, 226
Siol Aodha, 210
Sitric^ son of Mac Aedha^ 331 [App.
599— Son oiAmhlaibh, 414
Sinbhdaiuech (Conor O'Brien of), 212
Siubhdatneach, the Wood of, 235, 236
SUtir, the river (Suir) [App. 486
Skellig Rocks, the {Gias Charraig),
815
Skreen, the Hill of ; AcaiUy 230, 264
Sitting, Aedhy 415
Slaing€,Inbher, (the Slaney), 257^ 447
Slane (the enchanted house of Cleitech^
near)) 308
Slaney, the, 447; landing of the
French with Labhraidh Maen in
the, 257
Slane, the Yellow Book of, 20
Slanga, the son of Parthalon, 221
Slattery, Most Rev. Dr.; Archbishop
ofCashel,337
Skughter, Battle of the Hill of;
(CaM Chnuic an Air), 312
Slavery of the Aitheach Tuatha^
alleged, 263
Slecht, Magh ; Battle of, 101 rApp.636
JSieibhtif (Sietty), 4, 342, 349 LApp.607
[and see Fiacc']
Slemhain, 38
S/iabh an larainn, 101, 102
Siiabh Ban (in Connacht), the three
Rosses of, 426
Siiabh Crott, the Mountun of Harps,
427
Siiabh Mairg^y 17
Siiabh Mis, (in Kerry), 448,— (in An-
trim), 394.
Siiabh n-Ealpa (the Alps), 284
Siiabh na m-Dan (Co. Tipperary) 396
Slighe Asail (and see ^^AlidhluacraP^
'^Cualann'S ''Dala''\ib^
Slighe Mdr, the, 463
Siu^ech, 96, 146
Sliocht Brain Finn, 211
Sliocht Diarmada, 110
Sling, the (Cranntabhaill), 276
SlotlifUl Fellow, Tale of the Flight of
the, 313, 316
SLaAionEADHA, of the ; C Military
Expeditions*'); ["Historic Tales'*,
No. 11], 284
Smdil^ Smirdubh Mac, 426
Small Pox, " Galar breac"*, 84
Smirdubh Mac Smdil, 426
Smith, Mr. Qcorge; his undertak-
ing of O'Donovan'f edition of the
Annals of the Four Masters, 161,
202, — copy of the Felir^ Aengusa
transcribed for, 371
Smiths ; of the Tuatha D€ Danann,
249,— St. Patrick's three, 337
Smith, the Anglican form of Mac an
Ghobhan, 219
Snaelt, 304 [rectius Suaeitl
Snamha Aighnech, Cuan; (Carhng-
ford), 287
Snedhgus, 333, — and Mac Riaghla,
Tale of the Navigation of, 289
Sobhairc^y 217, 449
Society ; Irish Archaeological and Cel-
tic, 77 n. etc. — Ossianic; (publica-
tion of) [App. 690 n. — Gaelic (pub-
lication of the), 14 n. [App. 689 n.
—St. Patrick's, of Melbourne, 468
Soilaech ; Siiabh [App. 591 n.
Soiltean na n-Gaaan, 102
Solly head, near Tipperary {Salchoid),
Battle of, 403
Solomon's builder, Ailtan, 222
Song of (he Women of Erinn, the
plaintive, 334.
Sorrowful Stories of Erinn, the three,
319
Sorar, 48
Sorceress, 249
Sosta, Cluain-, (Clonsost), 862, 353
Sovereignty of Erinn, the [App. 621
Spain, 222, — Bragantia in, 44.—
Flight of Aedh Ruadh to, 396.—
his death in, 406,--(8ee Mom^a),
243, — an Irish Bishop builds a
church in, 293, — voyage in a curach
to, 293
Spaniards, the, fierce and haughty,
224 [App. 581
Spear, cast of a, 311, 388y— of Oisin,
the, 306
Spears (see Arms), 245
Spiritual Directors, 868
Spris, Captain, 396
Sraibhtbin^; Fiacha, 386
Srath Ciuada, (Clyde), [App. 591 n.
Sreng's Province, 246, [App. 663
Sreng, herald of the Firbolgs, 243, 246
Sruibh Brain, 427, 429
Sruth Cheanna mhdir, 272
Staff; Tablet-, rra6Aa//./or^); [App.
471.— Staff of Jesub (the Bachall
Isu), 101, 330, 338 [App. 639, 600
Star, the Morning ; (a river), [App.
485.
Staruidhe [App. 495
State Papers, vol. ii., referred to [App.
604
" Staves of the Poets" [App. 464
Stephen and the Martyrs, 368
716
IITDBZ.
Steward; the kingr'a diief, 828
Stockholm; no reetiges cf Iriih M8S.
fiyand in the coUectioos at, 5
Stone, a warriar'a (Zitf MiHdh), 894.
— Patrick coining to Erinn on a,
898.— Shrieking under Comi, a, 888.
—Writing on [App. 464
Stone bnildings in Erinn, Mac Flrbis
00,228
Stonee, conch ornamented with, pie-
ciou0,dlO,81l
StoiTtellen; Feinigh, 220, — (Sean-
chaidhe), the, 3, 8 n.
Strand of But^(the) [App. 465, 475
Strath Clvde, [App. 591 n.
Stream, the, coiled SnUh Cheanna
mkdiry 272
Strongbowe, Eari, 432 [App. 603.
Study the materials of Iridi History ;
how to, 437
Suadh [see AgallamA], etc, 888
Suaelt, \r, Snaeit], 804.
Suantratffhej the (sleep mdodyX 254,
255 [App. 608
Suocetus, *<qui est [deus beili]**;
Succession; law of; 227, — ^by primo-
geniture, 227,— of the Kings, in
Twhernachy taken firom Eochaidh
OTlynn, 69,— O'Clery's, 162 [App.
648 ct seq.
Suibhn/, 50
Smdh€ Laighen, Sliabh; (*< Mount
Leinster'*) [App. 475-8
Suidh, 17 [App. 462
Suirg€, 217, 449
Sulliyan (see O'SuUeabhatn, 267, etc.)
Sun, Vallancey*8 speculations on wor-
ship of the, 366
Sunday; law of, 662.— Canon as to
absence firom Mass on, 872, — le-
gend, as to observance of the, 293
Supremacy of Home, Canon on, 873
[App. 611
Surgeon of Nuadha Airgecui'lamhy2i7
Surgeons, 249, — ^treatment of Conor
Mac Nessa by his, 276
Susanna, 369
Swans, Plain of the Two (Ifo^A Dd
Gh€is\ 302
Swimming, exercise of, 315
Swineherd of 3/i7cAm ; St Patrick, 394
Synchronisms ; part of the lore of the
an Ollamhf 240,— of Flann of Mo-
nasterboice, 54 [App. 509.— In B.
ofBallymote[App.520.— In B. of
Lecain, App. 522
System of law and policy in ancient
Erinn ; a regularly denned, 4
Taball Filidh, (Poet's Tablet} ; [App.
464, 465
TiUets (of atone and wood); [App.
464,465
TadAg, son (tf Catkal (TCcmor, 96
Tadhg ''cm Teaghkngh'*, C^d the
Housdiold"); rAppu547
Tadhg Cam O'ClenffAy 11,
TocMo MacNAmm of Banna, fiae of,
234
Tadhg sod ci Ciany 147, 809 [App.
688 n^Tide of the AdreDtares of,
818.— his igQgrese from Cashel intn
Meath [App. 598
Tailcermj the; or Tailgemi, 386. 387,
889, 893, 397 [App. 617 et seq.;
624
Tailitm, 72. — the Fires of, 287.—
Games at, 287,— Founded by Lwgh
Mac Eiihhnn [App. 478,— Battle
of, 448 [App. 586 n.
Taiki, the wife of Eochaidh Mae
Eire, 287
Tain B^Aingettr 288, 586 n, 587 n,
589 n,
Tdin Bo Chuaagn^,the; 8, 29, 81, 69,
278. — Story of the reooTery of the
Tale of the, 29, 80, 32, 193, 278 —
Language of Tale of Brmwhean Da
Deroa, dder than that of the Tsle
of the; 259.— of the I>ate of the
[App. 507.— MS. in British Mu-
seum, 346
Tain Bo Dartadha, 185
Tain Bo Flidais, 185 [App. 581
Tal, the House of [App. 479
Talbot deMalahide, Lord; 457 n.
Tales and Posms ; Of the Imagin»-
tiTe 296
Tales'; Of the Historic, 238, 243.—
List of in B. of Leinster, 243 [App.
583, 584.— Use to be made of the,
454. — their authority as pieces of
History, 239, 241
Tales of the Immigrations (TorAoai-
ladh) d: Parthaion, otNemhidh, of
the Firbolas, of the Tuaiha ZV
Dananuy of the Milesians, etc., 295
Tales,— (the Three Sorrowfhl Stories
of Erinn), 319
Tale of Aedh Oirdnidhi and the en-
chanted goblets [Ai^ 532
Tale of the Courtship of Ailbhi (by
Finn Mae CumhaiU\ 283
Tale of the Ttftn Bo Aingen^ 283,
586 n, 587 n, 589 n.
Talc of the Berolt of the Aitheach
TuaMa, 230, 262
Tale of the Death of Aithim/, 319
Tale of the Argain Caihrach Bdirch€,
261
Tale of BaiU Mac Buain [App. 464
INDEX.
717
Tale ol the Conrtahip of Beg-folad,
283, 319
Taleof theCaTeof BeZocA Conglais,2%9
Tale of the Irruption of the Boyne,
[App. 631
Tale of the Voyage of Dreacnn, 267
Tale of the Navigation of Su Breti-
dainn^ 289
Tale of the adventures of Brian^ son
of Feabhall, 318
Tale of Bricrenn's feast, 846
Tale of the Bruighean Bheag na A-
Almhain^, 313
Tale of Cairbr^ Cinn Cait, 198
Tale of the Caithreim Cheallachatn
Chaixil, 238
Tale of the Cath Muigke Tuireadh, 244
Tale of King Cathal Mac Fmghuin€,
353
Tale of theCathreimChonghail Chiair-
ingnigh, 261
Tale of the Bruighean Chaerthamn^
313, 318
Tale of the Triumphs of Charlemagne
[App. 631
rale " "
Tale of the Bt uighean Chtis€ an Cho-
rainn^ 313
Tale of the Feis Tight Chondin Chinn
t'Sieibhtf, 313
Tale of the Tain bo Chuailgn€, 29, 30,
32, 185 [App. 607
Tale of the man who swore by St.
Ciaran's hand [App. 532
Tale of the birth of Conn Ced- CaiJtach
[App. 531
Tale of the Red Route of Conall Gear-
nachy 319
Tale of the adventures of Conall Gul-
bany 319
Tale of the Death of Conchobhar Mac
Nessa [App. 633
Tale of the Tragedy of Conchobhar
Mac Xessay 274
Talc of the adventures of Conla
Buadhy 3\S
Tale of Cionstantine the Great [App.
532
Tale of CorCy the son of Lughaidh
[App. 4G9
Talc of the adventures of Cormac
MacAirty 189,318
Tale of the Cave of Cruachainy 283
[App. 532
Tale of the Sick bed of Cuchulainny
[App. 505
Tale of the Tragedy of Curoi Mac
Dair^y 273
Tale of the Bruighean Da Chof/ay 260
Tale of the Bruighean Da Derga,
186, 242, 258
Tale of the Tdin Bo Dartadhoy 185
Tale of the Cathreim Dathi, 242
Tale of the Debility of the Ultonians,
37, 187
Tale of Deirdr^and the sons of Uis-
neachy 294, 319, (and 96, etc)
Tale of the Pursuit of Dtarmaid and
Grainmfy 313
Tale of the Destruction of Dinn High,
252
Tile of Donnchadh O'Braoin [App.
632
Tale of the Forbuis Droma Damh-
ghoir€y 198, 200, 271
Tale of the Exile of the sons of Duil
Dearmaity 319, 468
Tale of the Feast of Dun na n- Gedh,
191
Tale of the Siege of Howth (Forbais
Edair)y 266
Talc of the Cave of Beann Edair, 2f'3
Tale of the Courtship of £imer, by
Cuchulainny 278
Tale of the Bruighean Eochaidh Big
Deirgy 313
Tale of the Sons of EochaidhMuighmh'
eadhoin [App. 531
Tale of the Courtship of Etainy 319
Tale of Fiachna Mac Reataichy 198
Tale of the Tdin bo Flidais, 185 [App.
531
Tale of Fraech Mac Fidhaigh [App.
603
Tale of the Imtheacht an Ghilla Dea-
cair, 313, 316
Tale of Queen Gormlaith, 131, 294
Tale of Labraidh Loingseachy 251
Tale of the tragical fate of of the chil-
dren of Liry 319
Tale of the Tomhaidhm Locha n-
Echachy 294
Talc of the Death of the Udy Zuatne,
189
Tale of Mac Cots/y the poet, and the
Fairy Woman [App. 632
Tale of the Loinges Mac Duil Der^
mnity 319, [App. 468
Talc of the Echtra Macha, inghini
Aedha Ruaidhy 283
Tale of MaeUuthain 0" CearbhaUl, 70
[App. 631
Tide of the Navigation of Maelduin,
289
Talc of the Wanderings of Maelduifiy
185
Taleof theTragedy of Maelfothartaigh
Mac Ronaiuy 277
Tale of the Courtship of Queen
Meadbhy 282
Tale of the Cath Muighe Ltana, 243
718
INDEX.
Tale of the CaiK Muiahe Bath, 243
Tale of the Battle of Muirtheimn€, and
Death of Cuchulainn, 319
Tale of Niali Frassach L App. 631
Tale of Niail " Naoi^hicutachr and
his sons [App. 531
Tale of Tadhg &Briam and the DctU
[App. 632
Tale of the Sluaghtd Dathi co Sliabh
n-Ealpa, 284
Tale of the Navigation of Snedgus and
MacRiaghIa, 289
Tale of the adTentures of Tctdhg Mac
Cein, 318
Tale of the Tochmarc Momera, 243
Tale of the Second Cath Muighe
Tuireadh, 247
Tale of the Sons of Tuireann,Sl9
Tale of the Imramh Ua Corra, 289
Tale of the Children of Uumeach [see
Deirdr€\ 319, (and 96, etc.)
Tallacht, (Tamhlacht), near Dublin,
26, 174, 353, 362, 364, 379 — the
Brmghean Da Derpa, near, 259. —
the Martyrology of, 353, 362, 364
Tamhlorga Filidh (StaTes of the Po-
ets) [App. 464
Tanaidh€Mac Uidhir, (Mac Guire),
419
ranaiJAtfO'Mulconry, 83
Tanaist^ oi Luighiii^ the, [App. 646
T4NA; Of the, ("Cow-spoiU"); [-His-
toric Tales", No. 7] ; 277
Tara, anciently called Druim Cain
[sec Teamuir], 244 [App. 620.—
Battle of (A.D. 978), 403.-Saint
Fiacc as to the desertion of, 343
[App. 605.— Bell rung by Saint
Ruadhan round, 337. — Feast of,
287.— Palace of, 285.— The first
Feis of, by Ollamh Fodhla, 218.—
The Saltair of, 9, 10, 11, 41, 42,
204 [App. 464 ; 496, 666.- Cabur,
stone-buUder of, 222. — Troighlca-
than, rath-builder of, 222. — Various
mounds at, named [App. 614
Tarbhgha [App. 492
Tassach, Bishop ; artificer of St. Pa-
trick, 368 [App. 603,611,
Taulchinn€ (the Juggler) [App. 618
T.C.D. Library; MSS. in, 23.— Prin-
cipal vellum MSS. in, 102
Teabhtha, (Teffia, in Westmeath), the
Feara Cul of, 286
Teach Midhchuarta, the, 46, 187
Teach Moling (now St. Mullens),
231, 302
Teach Riaghala (T^lla) [see Riagh"
ai'n, 428
Teach Screptra, 79
Teadgh rrectins, Ta<ikg'\ Mae
mic OUeUa Oluim, 147
TeaghlaigA^ TadAg an [App. 54!
TecUach an Ckaagair (Hill of the
toi7),451
Teamair, 10, 48, [and see Tan
Teamair Breaph^ 409 [Appi 6^
Teamair Luachra, 185
Teamhrach, 10, [and see Tara].
Teanga Bitknua^ the [App. 532
Teathra^ 384
Tech, [see TeacK]
Techet, Loch; (now called 1
O'Gara) [App. 547
Technical language, abuse of, b]
Poets, 45.
Teffia (see Teabhtha), 286
Teinim Laegha. the, 240, 257
TeUtown (jTaiiUin), the Fair of,
'^Temora" of MacPhenoo, the,
(see Tara)
Temple Daidhi [App. 593
Templeport, Lake; Inis MadoCy i
''Ten Commandinents, the; (i
m-Breiihir); a name given tc
Pentateuch, 9, 31
Tengumha,Duach, 15, 16 n. [Apf
Termonbarry (Coonacht), SL 1
bharr of, 338
Terndg's nurse, 427
Testimonium of Annals of the ]
Masters [App. 544
Tetbannach, Tighemach-; K.Qf S
Munster, 267
Tethna [App. 477
Thatch, 300,— coloured, 310, 311
Thersites, the Fenian; {Conan
Moma), 317
Tly>mond, 209_£arl of, accept
of title by 0*Brien as, 237.— HU
oi the Wars of, 195, 233.
Thrace, the Firbolgs in, 244..
Picts from, 450
" Thumb of Knowledge" ; Finn's,
396
Thurles (Durlas), 421
Tiberius Caesar, oontemp. with <
mac Mae Atrt [A]^. 520
Tibrad, Gort na ; Battle at, 395
Tibraid^, 419 [App. 621
Tighe Chondin Churn t-SUibhe, i
313
Tighemach, St., 823.— Tetbannaa
of South Munster, 267. -the
nalist, 41, 52, 57, 74.— Deat
[App. 517.— 4ii8 references to <
authorities, 61. — ^his Chronol
61.— i'ragment of in T.C.D., 9
Letter from Ber. Dr. Todd
R I A., concerning [App.517.—
INDEX.
719
rioiiB versioDS of passages as to Cim*
booth [Appk 619. — References to the
Bachall Isu in [App. 603. — his
entry of the death of Conchohhar
Mac Nessa [App. 637
Tiffhemaigk, Carrie; (mountain near
Rathcormac, Co. Cork), 267
Tiffhenuiin, Mias- ; the, (Paten of St.
TighemanX 338
Tiphernan OrRuairCy 101
Tiahernmas ; Edlenn, son of [App. 621
Twh Moling (St. Mullens, Co. Car-
low), 231, 302,
Tin-bath, 63
Tipperarj; flight of Brian Ruadh
0*Brien into North, 236.— Topo-
graphy of [App. 630
Tipra (or Tobar) Cheanna mhdir, 272
Ttpra Seangannna (in Kerry), 806
tApp.694
Ttpraii Airghi [App. 508
Tiora^iT, 419 [App. 621
Ttpraii^ O'Braoin, (O'Breen), 82
Tir Aedha, 70 [App. 627
Tir Chonaill (Tirconnell), 329.—
Aedh, King of, 401.— List of obits
ofchief8[App.670
Tir Fiachrach, S2, 418
Tir Oiidia, 22
Tirechan's (St.) annotations on Life
of St. Tatrick, 347.— Quotation
from [App. 608
Tirerrill ; march of Fomorians to, 249
Tinncharna, Eochaidh, 327
Tirren (the,) sea, 16
Title and Dedication of O'Clery's
Glossary [App. 657
Title and Introduction to Mac Firbis*
Genealogies [App. 572
Tlachtguy daughter of MoghRutth ji02
Tobar (or Tipra) Cheanna nthdir, 272
Tobias, 369
Tochar eter dhd mhagh (the " cause-
way between the two plains", at
Gtifdll, near Tullamore), 449
TocHMABCA ; Of the (" Courtships'O ;
[" Historic Tales", No. 8], 278
Tochmarc Emir€; Tale of the [App.
637-8.— Tale of the Tochmarc Mo-
m&a, 243, 282
TocHOMi«ADH (Immigrationsof a Co-
lony), " Historic Tales" of, 294
Todd, Key. J. H., S.F.T.C.D., Pres.
R.I.A., 22 n., 26 n., 60 n., 77 n.,
84 n., 174, 467 n., [App. 646, 650.—
his Letter on Fragment of Tigher-
nagh [App. 5 17.— in Oxford to com-
pare the Felirtf, 371. — on contrac-
tions in MS. of Domhnachy 327. —
possessor of St. Patrick's BeU, 337.
—on thePicts, 460.— Belgian MSS.
lent to, 362. [App.647.— his notes to
Book of Obits, etc., of Christ Church
(as to the Bachall Isu) [App. 602
Toghail (the destruction of a Fort),
257, 265, 283
TooHLA, Of the, ("Destructions");
["Historic Tales", No.3], 267, 266,
283
Toichleach Ua Gadhra [App. 646
Toilette, Credhi\ 309
Toirrdhealbhach Mar Ua Conchobhatr
(O'Conor), 414 [App. 636
Toirrdhealbhach OBnain, 234. [See
Warsof Thomond.[
Tolameus Mac Lairg^ (Ftolemj.JjtL'
gus) App. 621
Tolka river, the {TulchlainnX 269
ToU'cinn, " tonsured head" [App.618
ToMADHMA (Bursting of Lakes), Sto-
ries of, 294
Tomaltach, 109. 110 [App 539
Tomaltach Og Mac Donnchaidh [App.
547
Tomb of Oscar; Ogham inscription
on, 304
Tonn Chliodhna, the, 306
Tonsure (the toll cinn) [App. 618
Toomrcgan (Tuaim Drecain\ 418
Tooth of St. Patrick, the, 338
Topographical information in tract in
B.of Lismore (conversation between
St. Patrick, Owi'/i, and Caoilt€)j
200. — in tract on Diarmaid and
Grainn^y 314. — Notices in Fenian
Poem, 305.— Tract (the Agallamh
naSeandrach), 307. — from Emania
to Lusk, 282
Torchair [App. 489, 490
Torchill LApp. 490
Torna Etgeas, 191. — his Poem, as to
burial of Dathi, 288
Torna G* Maeilchonair€ ^ 148
Torolbh the Dane, 403
Torry Island [App. 563. — Conaing's
Tower on, 244
Toruigheacht JJhiarmada is Ghrain€,
313
Towers, Round; Fetrie's work on
the, 381
Traceries on shrines, 323
Trade with Scotland in curachs, 257
Tragedies {OiU€oT Aideadha) ; (His-
toric Tales, No. 6), 273
Trdigh Caeil (the Strand of Cael),
311
Trdigh EothaiU (near Ballysadare),
246
Trdigh mBaiU [App. 475
Tralee, Beramam near ; Finn at, 305
'il
720
IKDEX.
TransformatioD into birds, fiiiry, 426
TrarelB of the Gaedhil before reach-
ing Erinn, 222
Tebbs*'; "Hie Lbttebs and the"
rOabint
rApp.468
^r«^/tl
TrekUl the Dane, 403
Trenmdr, 304
Tredit CtreTxt, near Tara), 19, 391
" Trias Thanmatargiu*S Colgan*s, 143
—quotation from, 887 n.
Tribute ; History of the Origin of tiie
Boromean, 230
Triuchadh an Aicm^iyn, Kerry), 448
Tri'Liag; Dun, (Duntrileague), 312
Trim (BatU Atha Truim) [App. 604
Trinity, the Holy; Coium CUU*s
Hymn to, 829
Trotffhleathanj rath-builder of Tara,
222
Trophy, barbarous ; (see Brain). 275
Troy ; Story of the Destruction of,
25
Trumpeters, 248
Tripartite Life of St.Patrick, 330 [see
Patrick] ; [App. 609.— MS. in Bri-
tish Museum, 345, 346.— on St
Mac Carthatmiy 325. — (Passage
fh>m), 344
Tuadh Mhumhauij 209
Tuagh Inbher (Mouth of the Bann)
[App. 475
Tuatm dd Ghualann (Tuam), 290
Tuaim Drecain^ (Toomregan), 49, 60,
418.— St. Biicin of (637), 418
Tuatm nZ)re«7an [App. 513
Tuaim Tenba; {Dinn Righ); [App.482
Tuan Mac Camfl, 171
Tuath Emrms, 389, [App. 621
Tuatha D€ Danann, 28. — Genea-
logy of the, 215.— ill Erinn, (a.m.
8303), 244.— fighting under /mn,
315. — [see Fairies, etc. [App. 505.
—Physicians of the, 28, 221.—
Secret Agency of the, 286
Tuath Amroisy 389, [App. 621.
Tuatha Fiodha, the (Forest Tribes),
450
Tuathal Mael Garbh, 65, 69
Tuathal Teachtmary 230, 264, 303 —
the daughter of [App. 585 n.
Tuighen (the poet's official gown),
383,384
TuiUf in the east ; a Couch made at,
310
Tuil^n; St. Caimech of, 336 [App.
600
Tuirbh€ (Tnrvey, near Malahide,) 258
Tuireann, Tale of the Sons of, 319
Tuirn'n bright na Righ (m Scotland),
287
Tulach,
Tuiach na n^l
Co.Diiiain;Lie2
Tukhlamn^ tm% (the ToUca ri^
269
TuUa, near Cabinteely (TW/ckA m
Espuc\ 382
TuUoch (see Tealack\ 451
Tuiach na F€in€y 308
Tuluighy '' to humble** ; oomiectioi
the word with TaUcetun [App.
Tundal, 194
Turgesius the Dane (Aa>. 840), 56,
Turloch; the Wars of, 234.- J
O'Conor, 183
Turvey, (^Tuirbh^), nev MaUki
Bay of, 258
Tutors, sulMtfdinate, 8
Tyranny over Ir^and, 355
T^rella, Co. Down (TVixcA Bigkai
428
Tyrone {Tir Eoghaim\ 829
Tyrrhene (rundi) See, the, 16.
Ua Brain, 58
Uachiair, Lock, 108
Ua ChongbhaU, 1, 11, 12, 18, 21, 1
—Book of the, 13, 44, [App. 49i
Ua Conchobhair [see O'Conor] ; C
thai Crobh'Dtarg [App. 547
Ua Cormaic; Abban, mm of, Z
[App. 616;— Poem by Giila
Chomdedh, 70 [App. 626
Ua Corra, Imramh; Tale of tl
289
Uada, in Leighis (Letx) [App. 481
Ua Duinechda (see Coigu) [App. 6
Ua Flainn ; Aenghus, 399
Ua Floinn ; see aFloinn,
Ua Gairbh, 222
Ua Gormain, Matlmair€, 853, 3
[App. 609
Uaimh, (JJatha, etc.) [App. 586 n.
Uais, 72.
Ualgarg O'Ruairc, 898
Ua Lughair, DubhthacA, 170
Uamackf Colman [App. 608
Ua Neamhnainn, &ae^ 308 [Appi 51
Ua Robhartaigh, Domhnall^ 331
Uatha, Of the; C*Cavee*'>— -[•*Hist<
ric Tales", No. 9], ?,8S.— L^olAc
Uath ; Uaimh [App. 586 n.
Uch, (« uch oiry 49
Uch, uch, 187 [App. 571
Uchbadh, 130
Ugain^ M&r, 63, 68, 207 [Ai^ 52
451.-Raoe of; 207-8.— Monaid
(B.C. 633), 252.— the sons of, 218
Ugair/, son of AililL K. of Leinstei
421
Uibh Foirchellam, 17
INDEX.
721
Ui Briuin, IQQ.--Gillauaaiil^, lord«of,
414
Ui Cremhthainn, imMf of, 325
Ui Diarmada, 13
Uidhir, Mac; Tanaidh^, 419
Uidhr€; Leabharnah-, 182 [App. 570
UiFaiighif {Off&\y% 302, 365, 395
Ui Fhloinn ; Daik Mdr [App. 548
Ui Main€, 312
Ui MeU^ Roman pilgrims settled in,
381 [and see /we/if, App. 615]
Ui Neid; Cam, (Co. Cork), 422
Uing^ (an ounce ?) [App. 493
Uinch€ defeated by Finn, 303
Uisneachy the sons of; 10, 14, 30, 36,
96, 260, 276 [App. 527.— Tale of
Deirdr^, and the sons of, (" Aithid
Dheirdrire Macaibh T."), 294, 319
r/iMir,218
Uladh, 185, 207.—Maffh-, [App. 631
n.— the Mesca, 185 [App. 637.—
the Ceasnaoidhean, 37 [App. 637-8
Ulc (see Belagh Mic Uilc\ [App. 508
Ulidian race, the, 207, 863
Ulkach, Christopher, 148
Ulster, Annals of, 23, aS [App. 533.—
Fragment in T.C.D., 90
Uitan, St., 343,— teacher of Tirechan,
347, 350 [App. 607-8
Umaill [App. 565
Umhaiil; Burgheis-, (Borrisoole), Mo-
nastery of, 178 [App. 561
UmhalU 346
Uncial letters, 324
Uraicept [App. 471
Uraichecht [App. 501
Urchair, BaiU-ath-an-, (Ardnurchar,
Westmeath), 276 [App. 593
Ussher, Archbishop; as to Flann's
synchronisms, 53. — his Translation
of Canon of St. Patrick [App. 612
Valentia Island, anciently Vairbrtf,
(or Darair€\ 272
Vallancey, recKless theories of, 17. —
his nonsense about "Crccw**, 366
Valoignes ; Hamo de, 432
Vandal warfare of the English in Ire-
land, 355
Vassalage of Tuaiha D€ Danann, 248
Vat of red ale, 388. — of royal bronze,
311
Ventry (^Finntrdigh), 808, 815 [App.
697
Verse; Chain-, (Conachlann), 365
Victory, the Hill of the {Tealach an
Chosgair), 451
VioUtion of a King, 388 [App. 621
Vision of Adamnan, the, 424. — of
St. Brictn (BaiU Bricin\ 418
Visioof (/»), Tales of, 296
Virgin, the Blessed; honoured, 367.
—Ancient Litany of, 357, 380
[App. 616. — Representation of the
Blessed, 323
Virgin Saints of Erinn, the; under
Brighid, 369
Virguiar characters [App. 470
Visitation, Primate Colton's ; Dr.
Reeves* edition of [App, 613
Vows of Chivah-y, 280, 314
Waldron, Laurence, M.P., 174 [App,
646
Wales, Ancient laws of, 201
Walter, the daughter of [App. 665
Wand of the Poet, the iFUasc Fili)
[App. 464. — Sanctuary under, 3
Ward (see Mac an Bhaird), 330,
142.— Father Hugh, 20, [App. 646.
—His life of St. Rumold, 381
Ware, Sir James, 97, 107, 127, etc.—
on Litany of Aengus, 380. — his refe-
rence to Flann, 63.— to the Annals
of Connacht, 105 — Mac Firbis em-
ployed by, 127 (and see 122).
Wars of the Danes with the Gaedhil ;
the History of the, 188, 232
Wars of Thomond, the History of
the, 233
Watchguards, Finn*Sj 315
Waterford (Port Lairg€u 60
Wave of Cliodhna, the, 306
Waves, Magical, of the Tuatha D^
Danann, 447
Well ; of Scangarmain, the (in Kerry),
306— the, called Tobar Cheanna
Mho'ir, 272
Westminster, the Cardinal Arch-
bishop of ; Crozier in the possession
of, 338
Westminster Abbey, Papers concern-
ing Ireland in the Chapter House of,
[App. 604
Wexford, the Picts landed in, 450
Wheel ; Rowing, (see Both RamhacK),
383,401,421,423,427
White ; Priests clad in [App. 505
White Book of Christ Church, re-
ferred to [App. 603
Whiteness of Lime, 310
Wicklow (Inbher Dea) [App. 485
Widow's, the, Sheep ; Case of, 43-4.
Wife of an 0//ainA,Privileges of the, 3
Wilde, Mr. W. R. ; Census Report by
[App. 630
William, Clann ; (Burkes of), 422
William Gorm O'Ruairc, 398
William Ruadh O'Ruairc, 398
Windele, Mr. John, of Cork ; nego-
ciation with him as to fragment of
Book of Lismorc, — [Note. This
47
722
INDEX.
fragment b«, since the deMrexy of
these Lectures, been restored to the
oi^rinal Book at Lismore], 199
Wings of birds worked in thatch, 310,
311
Wisdom ; the Seven Orders of, 9
Wiseman^Cardinal ; Crosier in powes-
■ion of, 838, 48
Witches, 249
Writers (historic) of the xn., zni.,
and XIV. centuries, 82
Writing in Erinn before St. Patrick's
time; Of[Api>. 468
Women; the six best, in the world
[Ajvp. 515. — of Erinn; the Plain-
tive Song of the, 334— Foreign
stammering (Saxons), 385
Wonders of Erinn; tlie Cj
Trdiyh £!atkaiU, one of tiif.
Wood; wiieiajjr on Tablets of
4G4
'•World* ; I>air€ Dornmhar, " J
ror of the whole**, 315
Worship of the Sun, discord
Vallancey, 366
Wurzburg, MS. at; 27.
Yellow Ford, Battle of {B.I /^
Buidhe), 417
Yew cover of I>omhttnch Auyni
Yew tree over Baile'U grave"; T
of the TApp. 465
Zeuss (Graniraatica Coltica\
noted by. 27
I' t^
'.4 J
[finis.]
3 /
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